Changing Faces

Intercultural Ministry and Hospitality

Jesus on the Border
April 2nd and 3rd, 2009
St John's University

Featuring Fr. Gary Riebe-Estrella, SVD, and Dr Miguel Diaz. 

The Changing Faces series invites all of us to explore transformative approaches to intercultural ministry.

Keynote:  Jesus on the Border
Dr. Miguel Diaz
Thursday, April 2, 7:00 pm
Stephen B Humphrey Theater, Saint John's Univerity

Borders are often associated with human limitations and related to issues of identity and communal belonging. They can be used to separate human communities and prevent persons, families, and nations from life-giving interactions. In this keynote address, Dr. Miguel Díaz highlights the identity of Jesus, the Galilean, as someone who engages in border-crossings for the sake of transforming and creating inclusive communities within the Church and society.

Dr. Miguel Díaz is an Associate Professor of Systematic Theology at the College of Saint Benedict and Saint John's University in Collegeville, Minnesota.  A graduate of the University of Notre Dame, he is past President of the Academy of Catholic Hispanic Theologians of the United States (ACHTUS). He recently served as a member of Barack Obama's Catholic advisory group during the 2008 presidential campaign. Dr. Díaz is co-editor of the book, From the Heart of Our People: Latino/a Explorations in Systematic Theology (Orbis Books, 1999), and he is the author of the Hispanic Theological Initiative’s 2002 award-winning book, On Being Human: U.S. Hispanic and Rahnerian Perspectives (Orbis Books, 2002).  

Workshop: Jesus on the Border
Fr Gary Riebe-Estrella, SVC
Friday, April 3, 9:00 am
Quad 264, Saint John's University

We live in an intercultural world where we daily cross the cultural boundaries that are used to separate persons  from each other.  Most of the time that means bumping into each other's cultures. This workshop explores how cultures work and what difference that can make in our ministries. Looking at the world from someone else's perspective can make all the difference in the world.

Fr. Gary Riebe-Estrella is Mexican-American, born and raised in Los Angeles, California.  As a Divine Word Missionary, Gary has spent the majority of his ministry dealing with the challenges of cultural diversity in formation for religious life and in theological education and ministerial preparation. He was part of his community’s provincial leadership team for eight years, has served as Vicar of Education for the Diocese of Tucson, was Director of the USCCB Project 13 on Hispanic Vocations and Formation, is a member of the CMSM Formation Committee, served for eleven years as coordinator of formation for his congregation in North, Central and South America and was elected in 2005 as the Coordinator of the SVD Panamerican Zone. Gary serves on both the Program Advisory Committee and on the Board of Directors of the Center for the Study of Religious Life. He is president-elect of the Academy of Catholic Hispanic Theologians of the United States (ACHTUS). His most recent work has involved resourcing religious communities which are accepting non-dominant culture U.S. candidates and communities exploring their organizational cultures as they contemplate possible restructuring. Gary holds a doctorate in Practical Theology from the Pontifical University of Salamanca in Spain.  He currently serves as Vice President and Academic Dean of Catholic Theological Union in Chicago.

Register online through the School of theology at https://www.csbsju.edu/sot/forms/ChangingFacesRegistration.aspx

Co-sponsored by:

Companions on a Journey at the College of Saint Benedict, funded by the Lilly Endowment, Inc

Saint John's School of Theology • Seminary

Diocese of Saint Cloud