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To: Priests and deacons
From: Father Pedro Poloche, STL, JCL, director, Ongoing Formation of Priests
As you are aware, gender ideology has permeated American culture with stunning speed presenting new challenges for the church. To assist priests and deacons with the tools and resources to navigate the current landscape, the Office for the Ongoing Formation of Priests is hosting a two-day clergy study day on Wednesday, October 2, and Thursday, October 3, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Chancery.
The two-day event will feature a series of talks, Q&A after each presentation, case studies and offer a pastoral response to educate and equip you to effectively address these issues that may arise in your parish.
Day 1 Presentations
- The Human Person and Gender Ideology: Concepts and Cultural Context
- Pastoral Implications of Cultural Capture and Key Take-aways
- Gender Medicine: What is it? Help or Harm? Alternatives?
- Pastoral Implications of Gender Medicine
- Case Studies and Questions
Day 2 Presentations
- Catholic Teaching on the Human Person and Medical Ethics
- A Pastoral Framework for Addressing Questions of Sexuality and Identity
- Case Studies and Questions
The event will be presented by Mary Rice Hasson, J.D., of the Person and Identity Project whose mission is to assist the Catholic Church in promoting the Catholic vision of the human person and respond to the challenges of gender ideology. The Project is an initiative at the Ethics and Public Policy Center. Mary is the co-founder and director of the Person and Identity Project. She is an attorney and policy expert and has been a keynote speaker for the Holy See during the United National Commission on the Status of Women, addressing education, women and work, caregiving and gender ideology and serves as a consultant to the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Committee on Laity, Marriage, Family, Life and Youth.
She will be joined by Dr. Patrick Hunter who is a general pediatrician in Pensacola, Florida, and holds an appointment as an assistant clinical professor with Florida State University College of Medicine. He has a master’s degree in bioethics from the University of Mary. He has been studying transgender medicine for close to ten years and collaborating with concerned clinicians and experts from countries all over the world.
It is highly recommended that you attend both days as the content is designed to build on knowledge presented in each session and will result in a more comprehensive understanding. However, if your schedule does not permit two days away, the presenters recommend that you attend Day 1.
Lunch will be served to all participants. Please register here https://giving.parishsoft.com/App/Form/6ffbc823-4cd7-4c91-a459-823082648d04
for the day/days that you plan to attend so we can get an accurate head count for catering.
Should you have any questions or need more information, please contact me at ppoloche@archatl.com or Amanda Hailey at ahailey@archat.com.
We hope that you will join us for this highly informative event.
