¡El Futuro Is Here! 2018
Doing Campus Ministry and Theological Education Latinamente
July 31–August 2, 2018
El futuro is truly here. Latinx peoples have been part of the fabric of North American Catholicism for more than five hundred years and their experiences en lo cotidiano (in the everyday) are an important site for theologizing and the focus of pastoral praxis. The Catholic Church in the United States and the academy have arrived at a crucible moment to invest in this new, plural future.
Dominican University is proud to have convened colleagues from around the nation for an innovative, three-day conference that offered the opportunity for rich theological reflection by pastoral ministers, student leaders, and theological educators en conjunto (together). Though their interests in a vital, culturally responsive faith community are shared, these stakeholders typically work separately in the academy. The purpose of bringing us together is to engage in dialogue and develop action steps that adequately move the Church and the academy toward koinonia, or communion. In this way, ¡El Futuro Is Here! seeks to move our colleges and universities beyond the damaging inheritance of assimilation in which cultural difference was erased. Instead, we are developing a means for our institutions to celebrate the cultural practices of our Latinx students and see them as constitutive of a vibrant faith life en lo cotidiano. This can be a moment of opportunity amidst these tectonic shifts of culture and practice of the faith.
We asked:
- What evidence is there that institutional thinking already exists around these complex dynamics?
- How does pastoral and mission-driven praxis reflect the identity of the students that the institution serves?
- Where have there been valid, important, and meaningful attempts to center the daily lived experience of Latinx communities within the core of mission activities of the college or university?
- What promising ministerial practices designed with Catholic, Latinx college students in mind are being developed or should be developed?