Church Life Africa: Forming the Next Generation of African Catholics for the Global Church
CLA Summer Conference 2023
Thursday, July 27 – Saturday, July 29, 2023
Time: 8:00am-6:00pm WAT (3:00am-1pm EST) Daily
The growing population and vibrant faith of African Catholics has engendered a long-expressed hope that the future of the church is in Africa. Based on a model of solidarity and mutual enrichment between the Church in Africa and the Church in the United States, Church Life Africa (CLA), a strategic initiative at the University of Notre Dame, takes seriously this hope and calls for an intentional investment in its promise.
As part of efforts aimed at mobilizing young lay African Catholics for substantial theological education, pastoral ministry, and public engagement in service to Africa and the global church, CLA hosts its 2023 summer conference themed “In Solidarity with the Church in Africa.” This second edition of the conference focuses on theological engagements within and between the Church in Africa and the United States as a viable way of investing in the future of the Church whose vital signs are very visible in the African continent.
Featured speakers include University of Notre Dame professors, Timothy Matovina, John Cavadini, Catherine Cavadini, and Kimberly Belcher; Archbishop Emeritus of Abuja, John Cardinal Onaiyekan, and Bishop of Fort Wayne-South Bend, Most Rev Kevin Rhoades; Director of the Lagos Resource Center, Dame Bridget Itsueli, and Dean of Humanities at the Veritas University, Abuja, Prof Michael Udoekpo, among others. The conference will also feature panel discussions, breakout sessions, art exhibitions, and musical performances to accommodate various voices of African Catholics.
CLA Conference 2023 is proudly supported by the University of Notre Dame’s McGrath Institute for Church Life, De Nicola Center for Ethics and Culture, Kellogg Institute for International Studies, and the Department of Theology; the Archdiocese of Abuja; and the Diocese of Fort Wayne-South Bend.
Interested in being a part of this exciting US-Africa engagement? Please complete the conference application.