2025: The Ministry of Healing in Challenging Times
Are you called to bring Christ's healing presence to a wounded world?
Join us as we explore the profound connection between pastoral leadership and healing ministry. This thought-provoking lecture series challenges church leaders to embrace the fullness of Jesus's ministry—not only teaching and preaching but also his revolutionary approach to healing.
What You'll Discover:
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Jesus as Healer: the biblical foundations for healing ministry in modern contexts and how Christ's example informs pastoral care today.
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Healing through Accompaniment: the transformative power of presence in chaplaincy across various contexts—hospitals, prisons, and beyond.
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From Lament to Hope: pathways for cultivating healing and renewal within parish communities, moving from shared pain to collective hope.
Mark your calendars for this enriching exploration of ministry and healing in our contemporary context.
Register to Attend
- Click here to register.
Speakers and LIM Alumni Responders
| February 13, 2025 | 7:00 pm CT | |
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Dr. Thomas Ryan is the University Chaplain and a Professor of Theology and Ministry at Loyola University New Orleans. He served as the Director of the Loyola Institute for Ministry (LIM) from 2007–2023. Dr. Ryan's research interests include the history of biblical interpretation with a focus on medieval exegesis, the history of spirituality, and faith and popular culture. In addition to work on Aquinas's biblical commentaries, he has written on the spirituality of medieval interpretations of the Song of Songs, the material spirituality of paint-by-numbers Last Suppers, New Orleans post-Katrina, and the medieval Feast of Corpus Christi as an expression of the sensus fidelium. He is co-editor of the series "The Bible in Medieval Tradition" published by Eerdmans. In the Romans volume, he translated selections from Thomas Aquinas's Commentary on Romans. That volume won first place from the Catholic Press Association in the Scripture—Academic Studies division. Additionally, he wrote the Year A (2022-2023) and the first half of Year B (2023-2024) "Understanding the Word" portion of World Library Publication's Living the Word: Scripture Reflections and Commentaries for Sundays and Holy Days. | |
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| March 13, 2025 | 7:00 pm CT | |
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Chaplaincy in Hospitals, Prisons, and Beyond |
Rev. Jeannie Alexander is the executive director of No Exceptions Prison Collective. She is also a co-founding resident of Harriet Tubman House, an interfaith community dedicated to restorative practices in earth stewardship and human rights. She has served as the Head Chaplain at Riverbend Maximum Security Institution, where she facilitated the creation of an unprecedented number of programs for those in minimum security and on death row. In addition, she co-created interfaith communities in prison based on a model of liberation theology. She is a death penalty and prison abolitionist. Her publications include contributions to And The Criminals with Him (Wipf and Stock 2012), Tokens blog, and Bitter Southerner. |
| April 10, 2025 | 7:00 pm CT | |
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Healing and Renewal in the Parish Community |
Dr. Elsie Miranda is the Director of Diversity and Inclusion at The Association of Theological Schools. Previously she served as associate professor of practical theology and director of ministerial formation at Barry University. Growing up Cuban American, she's deeply passionate about how faith connects with real-world social and political dynamics. Her work explores how cultural contexts shape people's experiences and their pursuit of peace and justice, both locally and globally. Her scholarship includes contributions to the edited volumes Hispanic Ministry in the 21st Century: Urgent Matters (Convivium Press, 2016) and Hispanic Ministry in the 21st Century: Present and Future (Convivium Press, 2010). She is also coeditor and contributor to Calling for Justice Throughout the World, Catholic Women Theologians on the HIV AIDS Pandemic (Continuum Press, 2009). |
2024: Navigating Difference, Celebrating Unity: The Promise of Synodality for a Polarized Church
Each 1-hour virtual lecture in this series will explore how the practice of synodality (encountering with love, listening with empathy, and discerning a faithful response) can help people respond to experiences of polarization in the Church.
Speakers and LIM Alumni Responders
| February 22, 2024 | 7:00 pm CT | |
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An Antidote to Polarization |
Dr. Rafael Luciani is Venezuelan layman, with a Doctor in Theology from the Pontifical Gregorian University; he conducted postdoctoral research at the Julius Maximilians Universität, Germany. He is a professor at the Universidad Católica Andrés Bello in Caracas and Extraordinary Professor at Boston College School of Theology and Ministry. He currently teaches Ecclesiology, Latin American Theology, Vatican Council II and Synodality in the Church. He serves as Expert of CELAM (Latin American Episcopal Council) and Member of the Theological Advisory Team of the Presidency of CLAR (Latin American Confederation of Religious). He coordinates the Ibero-American Theology Project. He is co-coordinator of the Intercontinental Seminar Group Peter & Paul for the reform of the Catholic Church and is an Expert of the Theological Commission of the General Secretariat of the Synod. He has been appointed as Expert of the XVI Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops on Synodality. Amongst his many academic publications in several languages, his most recent book is Synodality: A New Way of Proceeding in the Church (Paulist Press). |
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Milissa currently works for the Chancellor in the Archdiocese of Newark and serves as coordinator for parish strategies and small group ministry. She is a also a board member of the National Community of Catechetical Leaders (NCCL Catholic). |
| March 13, 2024 | 7:00 pm CDT | |
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Dr. Cynthia Bailey Manns was appointed Delegate to the 2023 Synod of Bishops. She is the Adult Learning Director at Saint Joan of Arc Catholic Community in Minneapolis and adjunct professor at United Theological Seminary of the Twin Cities. Dr. Bailey Manns was a delegate from the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis to the Continental Assemblies. | |
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Becky is an Ignatian-trained spiritual director passionate about inviting people closer to Christ. She does this by accompanying people as they navigate deep waters of their faith lives through spiritual direction, writing, retreats, and as founder of Ignatian Ministries. She is author of two award-winning books: The Inner Chapel and Busy Lives and Restless Souls. Becky is part of the Archdiocese of New Orleans Spirituality Center teaching staff where she trains spiritual directors in the Ignatian tradition. Learn more about Becky’s ministry at www.beckyeldredge.com. | |
| April 11, 2024 | 7:00 pm CDT | |
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A U.S. Hispanic/Latino(a) Response to Polarization in Our Church |
Dr. Castillo is the Joe and Kelly George Visiting Professor of Pastoral Studies in the Loyola Institute for Ministry at Loyola University New Orleans. His research interests include Catholic social teaching, liturgical theology, theopoesis, liturgical and theological aesthetics, liberation theology, U.S. Hispanic/Latino(a) theology, catechetics, religious studies, comparative religion, religion and film and cultural identity. |
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Carolina Fierro-Amador is a cradle-Catholic, Mexican immigrant living in northeast Mississippi since 2002. She is the general manager in a small family-owned company and has served in the Saint James The Greater parish in Tupelo in a variety of ministries including English and Spanish as a Second Language, Hispanic Evangelization Committee member, Lector, Eucharistic Minister, pre-marriage talks, RCIA, Church History for eighth graders, and Confirmation preparation. She is married with four beautiful children in heaven and four wonderful children walking with her and her husband. |
2023: Becoming a Listening Church: The Invitation to Synodality
The 1-hour lectures in this series explore how Pope Francis is calling us to practice synodality as a way of being church and the theological and practical implications involved in becoming a more synodal church. Recordings of the lectures are linked below.
Speakers and LIM Alumni Responders
| February 9, 2023 | 7:00 pm CST | |
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A Synodal Church |
Dr. Kristin Colberg is an Associate Professor of Theology at Saint John's School of Theology and Seminary where she teaches classes in ecclesiology, theological anthropology, and theological method. |
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Thomas F. Ryan, Ph.D.
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Dr. Ryan is the Interim Vice-President of Mission and Identity, Professor of Theology and Ministry, and Associate Dean of the College of Nursing and Health. |
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Grant Tregre leads the Social Justice Ministry at St. Joseph the Worker Catholic Church a ministry that addresses the systemic social sins of racism, poverty, mass incarceration, and a host of other social concerns in the New Orleans metro area. |
| March 16, 2023 | 7:00 pm CDT | |
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Dr. Bigelow Reynolds is an Assistant Professor of Catholic Studies in the Candler School of Theology at Emory University. Her research interests include the intersection of ecclesiology and lived Catholicism in contexts of diversity, marginality, and suffering. | |
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Justin Daffron, S.J., Ph.D. |
Fr. Daffron is Loyola's Interim President. |
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Kayla is a student at the School of Theology and Ministry at Boston College, where she is pursuing a Ph.D. in Theology and Education with a focus on preaching. | |
| April 20, 2023 | 7:00 pm CDT | |
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Dr. Jendzejec is an Assistant Professor of Pastoral Studies in the Loyola Institute for Ministry at Loyola University New Orleans. She specializes in the intersection of Catholic theology, religious education, and young adult ministry. | |
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Michelle Collins, Ph.D., CNM, RNC-EFM, FACNM, FAAN, FNAP |
Dr. Collins is Dean of the College of Nursing and Health and is also a professor in the School of Nursing. |
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Marysa has been a Young Adult Minister, Coordinator of Children’s Ministry, and Campus Minister. She is currently a high school religion teacher and Campus Minister and also serves on the Young Adult Council for the Archdiocese of New Orleans. |
2021: The Demand of Encounter Today
The three virtual lectures explored the demands on us of Pope Francis’s call to create a culture of encounter and intended to draw out theology’s public implications and so inspire people to work for the transformation of our Church and world with special attention to racial justice. View flyer »
Speakers
| February 8, 2021 | ||
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Some Notes for Catholics" |
Dr. Ford is Assistant Professor of Theology and Religious Studies at St. Norbert College. He is a scholar-activist and, in his teaching, addresses questions of gender, race, sexuality and social justice. His current book project seeks to articulate a new theology of sex and gender for the Roman Catholic tradition. |
| March 15, 2021 | ||
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Dr. Imperatori-Lee is Professor of Religious Studies at Manhattan College. Her research interests include Catholic ecclesiology, particularly the intersection of ecclesial identity with feminist and Latino/a Catholic thought. She is the author of Cuéntame: Narrative in the Ecclesial Present (Orbis Books, 2018), which elaborates a Catholic ecclesiology from a Latino/a perspective by exploring how narratives shape ecclesiology. | |
| April 12, 2021 | ||
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Dr. Ryan is the Marjorie R. Morvant Professor in Theology and Ministry and Director of the Loyola Institute for Ministry. His research interests include the history of biblical interpretation, the history of spirituality, and the thought of Pope Francis. In addition to work on Aquinas's commentary on the Psalms, he is co-editor of Eerdmans' series The Bible in Medieval Tradition. |