Then and Now: A Catholic Worker National Gathering in Chicago
Celebrating the 50th Anniversary of St. Francis Catholic Worker House in Uptown Chicago, October 4-6 2024
Program
All events held at St. Gertrude Church Social Center (1401 W. Granville Ave. Chicago, IL 60660) unless otherwise noted *
| Friday, October 4th |
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| Arrival to St. Gertrude Church Social Center (1401 W. Granville Ave. Chicago, IL 60660) anytime after 2:00pm |
| 6:00 pm: Welcome by the Catholic Workers of St. Francis House, and Benedictio by Father Mike Gabriel, pastor of Saint Gertrude Church. |
| 6:15 pm: Dinner |
| 7:30 pm: Featured Opening Speaker: Michael Bremer Michael lived at St. Francis CW House in Chicago from 1990 to 1995. He has been deeply involved in international peace efforts, including Witness for Peace in Nicaragua in 1986-87, Walk for a Peaceful Future in Israel/Palestine in 1992, and was part of three delegations to Iraq with Voices in the Wilderness from 1998-2000. He was also one of “The Missouri Peace Planters,” a group of fourteen peace activists who simultaneously entered ten of Missouri’s 150 nuclear missile silos and planted sunflowers as a symbol of nuclear disarmament on August 15, 1988. In recent years, Michael has been involved in providing meals and support to Venezuelan immigrants at the Greyhound bus depot and local police stations in Chicago. |
| 8:15 pm: Video letter from John C. West, Archbishop of Santa Fe, on Nuclear Disarmament |
| 8:45 pm: Singalong with Chris Inserra, Ellen Buttitta & Buddy Bell |
| 9:30 pm: Quiet time at the Social Center. Note: Those who want to hang out longer are invited to the Ministry Center across the street. |
| Saturday, October 5th |
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| 6:30 am: Yoga flow with Dan from St. Francis CW House * held at the St. Gertrude Ministry Center, 6214 N. Glenwood Ave. |
| 7:30 am: Mass at St. Gertrude Church, 1420 W Granville Ave. |
| 8:00 am: Breakfast |
| 9:00 am: Plenary Panel Session I Lessons Learned from 50 years of St. Francis House With Denise Plunkett, Sam Guardino, Ruthy Woodring, Lucky Marlovitz, and Karl Meyer. |
| 10:45am: Break |
| 11:00 am: Roundtables & Workshops, Track I * held at the St. Gertrude Ministry Center, 6214 N. Glenwood Ave. • Dorothy Day’s call to “live in state of permanent dissatisfaction with the Church,” with Brian Terrell, long-time Catholic Worker and peace activist who lives at Strangers and Guests Catholic Worker, a farm in Maloy, Iowa. • Land Justice and Indigenous Representation in Catholic Worker Spaces, with Laura Lasuertmer from the Common Home Farm (Bloomington, IN), Katya Coffey-Burns, a former Day House Catholic Worker in Detroit, Regina Bambrick-Rust from the White Rose CW Farm (La Plata, MO), and Mike Miles from the Anathoth Community Farm (Luck, WI). • Nuclear Weapons, Anti-nuclear Activism and Nuclear Accountability, with Ann Suellentrop, Vice Chair of PeaceWorks KC, and John LaForge, Co-director of Nukewatch. • History of the Catholic Worker and Non-Violent Activism, with Michelle Nickerson, a Professor of History at Loyola University Chicago, and author of the book “Spiritual Criminals: How the Camden 28 Put the Vietnam War on Trial.” • Following Jesus in a Pro-Rich, Pro-War, Pro-US Empire (and an update & support for Jessica Reznicek), with Frank Cordero from the Des Moines CW. |
| 12:30 pm: Lunch |
| 2:00 pm: Roundtables & Workshops, Track II * held at the St. Gertrude Ministry Center, 6214 N. Glenwood Ave. • War and Peace in the Middle East, with Kathy Kelly, board president of World BEYOND War and a co-coordinator of the Merchants of Death War Crimes Tribunal, and Cassandra Dixon of Mary House Catholic Worker in Wisconsin Dells, a residential carpenter and human rights activist who has been traveling to Palestine territories for over a decade. • Art & Creativity in the Catholic Worker, with Becky McIntyre, a former Los Angeles Catholic Worker and one of the artists behind the Catholic Worker newsletter The Illuminator. Becky is a freelance print-maker, muralist, and digital artist living in Philadelphia. • Reparative Justice, with Lucia van Diepen from the Peter Maurin Farm in Marlboro, N.Y. • Listening, Learning, Loving, a facilitated Conversation about our diverse experiences with and beliefs about abortion, with Laura Lasuertmer from the Common Home Farm in Bloomington, Indiana. • Peter Maurin and the Personalist Revolution, with Lincoln Rice, author of The Forgotten Radical Peter Maurin. |
| 3:30 pm: Break |
| 4:00 pm: Plenary Panel Session II Younger Voices of the Catholic Worker, a conversation about the unique challenges and opportunities we face in our time/generation in the Catholic Worker. Some of the topics to be discussed include late stage capitalism and the climate/environmental catastrophe, organizing in a digital age and an increasingly secular society, the meaning of non-violence, and youth mentoring in the CW.Catholic Worker National Gathering marking the 50th Anniversary of St. Francis House in Chicago! With Alexandria Addesso (New Jersey CW), Allyson Winter (Little Platte CW Farm in Wisconsin), Hope Vaughn (Emmaus House, Chicago), Theo Kayser (St. Louis CW), Liam Myers (Maryhouse NYC), and Nikki Apeldoorn (Noëlhuis, Amsterdam CW) |
| 5:45 pm: Group photo |
| 6:00 pm: Dinner |
| 7:30 pm: Storytelling & Toasts: Celebrating the 50 years of St. Francis CW House in Chicago |
| 9:30 pm: Quiet time at the Social Center. Note: Those who want to hang out longer are invited to the Ministry Center across the street for a Music Jam. |
| Sunday, October 6th |
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| 7:00 am: Yoga flow with Dan from St. Francis CW House * held at the St. Gertrude Ministry Center, 6214 N. Glenwood Ave. |
| 8:30 am: Breakfast |
| 10:30 am: Mass presided by Mark Bartosic, Auxiliary Bishop of Chicago * held at the Gym in the Social Center (1401 W. Granville Ave.) |
| 11:30 am: Wrap-up conversation |
| 12:15 pm: Closing Lunch |
| 1::00 pm: Cleaning up & goodbyes |
| After wrapping up at St. Gertrude, all are invited to St. Francis Catholic Worker House (4652 N. Kenmore Ave.) for the cutting of the House’s 50th birthday cake! |
Maryhouse, NYC NY • Peter Maurin Farm, Marlboro NY • New Jersey CW, Elizabeth NJ • Dorothy Day CW, Washington DC • Sadako Sasaki CW House, Norfolk VA • Duncan & Porter House, Pittsburgh PA • Ammon Hennacy House, Los Angeles CA • Temenos Catholic Worker, San Francisco CA • Nashville Greenlands, Nashville TN • Tomorrow’s Bread Today, Splendora TX • Emmaus House, Chicago IL • St. Francis of Assisi House, Chicago IL • St Hedwig Haus of Hospitality, Charleston IL • Strangers and Guests Farm, Maloy IA • Des Moines CW, Des Moines IA • Hope House, Debuque IA • Mustard Seed Community Farm, Ames IA • Common Home Farm, Bloomington IN • St. Peter Claver CW, South Bend IN • Christian Radical/Catholic Worker, Bloomington IN • (former) Day House, Detroit MI • Manna Community Meal Soup Kitchen, Detroit MI • Grand Rapids Catholic Workers, Grand Rapids MI • Winona CW, Winona MN • St. Francis House, Columbia MO • White Rose CW Farm, La Plata MO • (former) Holy Family House, Kansas City MO • St Louis CW, St Louis MO • Dayton CW, Dayton OH • Anathoth Community Farm, Luck WI • Little Platte CW Farm, Platteville WI • Mary House of Hospitality, Wisconsin Dells WI • The Great Turning Farm & House, Madison WI • Casa Maria CW, Milwaukee WI • Casa Esther CW, Omro WI • Jeannette Noëlhuis, Amsterdam CW