'Year For Priests' Clergy Conference Rome 2010

I have mentioned before about the conference in Rome for priests in January organised by the Conferences of Catholic Clergy of the USA and Australia. Quite a number of priests from the UK have written to me asking how can they register. Unfortunately the website, which has been up since April, still says this is not possible. I hope we won`t miss out. However yesterday the website was updated with a programme of events so it must still be happening. Here is the programme:



Arrive at Casa Bonus Pastor (Via Aurelia 208 - 00165 Roma; tel.0039-06-69871282 fax 0039-06-69871435, e-mail: info@casabonuspastor.it) on Monday 4th January. Conference registration from Noon-4.00pm, with formal commencement and welcome at 4.00pm.


The programme includes the daily celebration of Holy Mass in the great basilicas, and on some days Vespers and Benediction. Our celebrants will include: His Eminence, William Cardinal Levada, His Eminence, Antonio Cardinal Canizares, His Eminence, James Cardinal Stafford, His Excellency Archbishop Mauro Piacenza, and His Excellency Archbishop Raymond Burke. We hope to be at the Holy Father's Mass on the Solemnity of the Epiphany.


Our speakers will include the following:


'Perspectives of the Priesthood in recent times' (Rev.do Mons. Anthony McDaid)


'Three Patristic Texts on the Priesthood: Gregory Nazianzus' De Fuga, John Chrysostom's Six Books on the Priesthood and Gregory the Great's Pastoral Care' (Rev.do Padre Joseph Carola SJ)


'Liturgy and Language: The "Sacral Vernacular" (Liturgiam authenticam 47) of the new English Translation of the Roman Missal' (Uwe Michael Lang)


'Preaching to Priests: Wisdom from the Middle Ages' (Rev.do Paul Murray OP) and 'The Genius of the Roman Rite in the identity of the priest' (Rev. Fr. P. Gunter OSB)


The daily schedule will make provision both for free time, and also evening 'convivium' to promote fraternity among the Fathers.


We will conclude the Conference on Friday 8th January with an excursion to the delightful town of Bagnoregio, birthplace of St Bonaventure, north of Rome.


Rev.do Mons. Anthony McDaid is from the Congregation for Clergy of the Roman Curia.


Fr Uwe Michael Lang is a priest of the Congregation of the Oratory of St Philip Neri in London. He studied theology and classics in Munich, Oxford and Vienna and holds a doctorate in theology from the University of Oxford. He was ordained to the priesthood in 2004 and worked in parish and school ministry until 2007. He has published various articles on Patristics and liturgical studies, including his doctoral thesis, John Philoponus and the Controversie of Chalcedon in the Sixth Century (Leuven 2001). His book Conversi ad Dominum. Zu Geschichte und Theologie der christlichen Gebetsrichtung came out first in German in 2003 with a preface by then-Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger and has since been translated into English, Italian, French, Hungarian, Spanish, Croatian and Dutch. Recently, he has edited and contributed to the volumes Die Anaphora von Addai und Mari: Studien zu Eucharistie und Einsetzungsworten (Bonn 2007) and The Genius of the Roman Rite: Historical, Theological and Pastoral Perspectives on Catholic Liturgy. Proceedings of the 2006 Oxford CIEL Colloquium (Chicago 2009). Fr Lang is a staff member of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments in the Vatican and Coordinator of the Master programme in “Architecture, Sacred Art and Liturgy” at the Università Europea di Roma/ Ateneo Pontificio Regina Apostolorum. In September 2008, he has been appointed by Pope Benedict XVI as Consultor to the Office for the Liturgical Celebrations of the Supreme Pontiff.


Father Paul Murray, O.P. is a member of the Irish Dominican Province. At present he is Professor of Spiritual Theology at the Pontifical University of St Thomas (“Angelicum”) in Rome. From 2001 to 2005 he was Vice-Rector of the University. At present he is President of the Spirituality Institute, and also serves as Spiritual Director at the Convitto Internazionale San Tommaso, a Pontifical College for young diocesan priests from all over the world. Before going to Rome, Father Murray worked for many years in Dublin, teaching in various institutes, including the Dublin Diocesan Seminary and University College Dublin. In 2000-2001, at the invitation of Cardinal George, Father Murray occupied the Paluch Chair of Theology at the University of St Mary of the Lake, Mundelein Seminary, Chicago. Works published by Father Murray include the following: T.S. Eliot and Mysticism: The Secret History of Four Quartets, (1991); A Journey with Jonah: The Spirituality of Bewilderment (2002); The New Wine of Dominican Spirituality: A Drink Called Happiness (2006); ‘I Loved Jesus in the Night’, Teresa of Calcutta: A Secret Revealed. He has also published four books of poetry, one of which was awarded Poetry Ireland Choice.


Paul Gunter OSB. Monk of Douai Abbey since 1985 Ordained 1991. Did Parish Work for 10 years. Did his Doctorate on Edmund, Bishop and the Genius of the Roman Rite in 2006, since which time he has been a Professor at the same Pontifical Institute S. Anselmo in Rome. And Consultor of the Office of the Liturgical Celebrations of the Supreme Pontiff since 1988. Genius of the Roman Rite in the identity of the Priest.