Communio Circle of the Diocese of Hamilton

On September 21, 2013 an event was held at the Cathedral of Christ the King in Hamilton entitled “Christianity and Secularism: A Conversation for the Year of Faith among Christians, Atheists, Non-Believers and Free Thinkers in the Diocese of Hamilton.” It was organized by the Communio Circle of the Diocese of Hamilton and was based upon the format of the Courtyard of the Gentiles held in Paris, France in 2011. Students from MACSA (McMaster Catholic Students Association) voluteered to help run the event. It began with a discussion among a group of panellists on the topic of Christianity and Secularism in Nicholas Mancini Centre, after which all in attendance were invited to visit the Cathedral Church to look around, pray, and meditate while our Diocesan choir provides music for believers and non-believers as they explored the sacred space together. When the event was held at Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris, a choir came from Taize. We had Canadian composer/musician Peter-Anthony Togni play the organ and accompany the choir. An informal social gathering with light refreshments in the Cathedral Auditorium was held concurrent with visiting the sacred space. The idea was to provide an opportunity for believers and non-believers to engage one another through discussion, art and conversation over lunch. However, when the discussion was opened up to the audience, it became apparent that there weren’t as many non-believers present as we had hoped. Thankfully, one of the non-believers who attended later posted a comment at our blog. Continue reading →

“What do we mean when we call something ‘sacred’?”
Josef Pieper

Our “summer” book event will take place in the Boardroom at the St. Jerome’s University (not at St. Michael’s Church) the afternoon of Friday, September 12th, from 2:30pm to 6:30pm. The book is Josef Pieper’s “In Search of the Sacred” from Ignatius Press, a collection of four talks Pieper gave between 1969 and 1975, some of which have been published elsewhere.

2:30pm Welcome (Moderator: Prof. Nikolaj “Nick” Zunic, St. Jerome’s University)
2:45pm-3:30pm I. The Sacred and Its Negation (Fr. Mark Morley, Blessed Sacrament Parish, Kitchener)
3:30pm-4:15pm II. What Makes a Priest? (Fr. John Redmond, St. Gregory’s Parish, Cambridge)
4:15pm-4:30pm Break
4:30pm-5:15pm III. What Makes a Building a Church? (Stephen Jones)
5:15pm-6:00pm IV. No Mere Words but Reality: The Sacrament of Bread (Seán O’Seasnain)
6:00pm Pizza