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"Practicing Catholic: Ritual, Body, and Contestation
in Catholic Faith," a conference examining Catholicism
as a living tradition in different time periods and social
worlds throughout history, was held at the College on Oct.
18-21.
Consisting of scholarly presentations, liturgies and live
performances by Holy Cross faculty and other internationally
distinguished historians, cultural anthropologists, artists
and theologians, the conference addressed such questions
as: How do Catholics share and negotiate power? How does
Catholicism function on a personal level? What is the current
role of the laity within the church and how has that role
changed over time? How can and will Roman Catholics practice
their faith in the 21st century?
Ritual performances included a Ritual Mass of Anointing,
complete with a series of choreographed processions; the "Chalice
of Repose" project, a palliative, pastoral service to
the dying integrating historical scholarship, musical performance,
spirituality and medical treatment; a musical presentation
of the "sound" of Hildegaard of Bingen's mysticism;
and a sung Vespers service.
The conference is part of a semester-long series of events
addressing Catholic practices and rituals. The integration
of more than 12 fall courses with the work of the conference
fostered participation by students, four of whom had the
opportunity to respond formally to academic papers presented
during the program. Members of the Holy Cross faculty from
the philosophy, religious studies, Spanish, sociology and
anthropology, visual arts and psychology departments had
an opportunity to develop and share pedagogy on the subject
during a summer seminar.
The event, which was sponsored by the Center for Religion,
Ethics and Culture, is being held in conjunction with an
installation by artist Lewis deSoto, in the Iris and B. Gerald
Cantor Art Gallery, O'Kane Hall.
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