Diocese to host regional liturgical conference

Photo courtesy of Karin Hurley

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Members of the Diocese of Salt Lake City who attended the 2009 Southwest Liturgical Conference were from left (back row) Timothy Johnston, Fr. Javier Virgen, Deacon Ricardo Arias; (front row) Cece Holt, Juliana Boerio-Goates, Maria-Cruz Gray and Karin Hurley. Not shown is Jakob Rinderknecht.

SALT LAKE CITY — The Catholic Diocese of Salt Lake City will host the 2011 Southwest Liturgical Conference (SWLC), offering four days of workshops and nationally known speakers to Catholics throughout the region.

Because the conference is scheduled for next February, the diocese’s annual pastoral congress, which has taken place in October the last three years, won’t be held.

"This year, the pastoral congress study will be folded into the SWLC study week," said Susan Northway, the diocese’s director of religious education. "We figured that it’s not prudent to offer two of those opportunities so closely together."

The four-day SWLC will address English translation changes to the Roman Missal that will be made next year, but also provide information about other aspects of the Catholic faith. In addition, for the Spanish-speaking community there will be workshops about the sacraments and RCIA as well as a keynote address by Dominican Fr. Jorge Presmanes, who spoke at last year’s pastoral congress. The conference also will offer a day geared toward Catholic educators, Northway said.

"The main focus is the Roman Missal, but our breakout sessions … obviously will address some broader topics, like liturgical formation and spirituality, and also topics like how to deal with change in the parish," said Timothy Johnston, liturgical director for the diocese. "Not only will it give us an opportunity to build community within the diocese, but it will strengthen and encourage ongoing formation and catechesis for our ministers and for the laity because the conference is open to anybody."

All Catholics can benefit from the conference, Johnston said. "The liturgy is an integral part of our life, whether we are conscious of it or not. And so it is good for us to come back to the liturgy to reflect on it … because it puts us in a position to constantly reflect on our relationship with Christ and his Church and how we participate in that. This particular conference will provide some very practical things because we’re not talking about a lot of theory, we’re talking about the missal and how this is going to affect you every Sunday, every time you go to daily Mass."

The SWLC is scheduled for Feb. 2-5, 2011. Keynotes speakers are Father Paul Turner, who holds a doctoral degree in sacred theology and whose books include "The Catechumenate Answer Book;" Dr. David Fagerberg, an associate professor in the Department of Theology at St. Paul Center for Biblical Theology; the Most Rev. Gerald Kicanas, bishop of Tucson and vice president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops; Dr. Jane Regan of the Boston College School of Theology and Ministry; Father Jan Michael Joncas, associate professor, department of Catholic Studies at the University of St. Thomas in Minnesota; and Dominican Father Jorge Presmanes, with the Congar Institute.

Early bird registration for the entire conference is $130, which includes banquet tickets. Early bird registration is open now and runs through Dec. 10.

Late and onsite registration is $150. Single day (register any time) registration is $60. Online registration ends Jan. 28. The website is www.swlcslc.org.