Memo Date: April 10, 2017 To: Priests, Deacons, Brothers, Sisters, Parish & Chancery Staff From: Sue Stubbs, Director, Victim Assistance Program, Office of Child & Youth Protection Re: “Framing a Catholic Response to Gender Ideology” Conference

Please consider participating in an upcoming conference entitled, “Framing a Catholic Response to Gender Ideology” at Saint John Vianney Theological Seminary in Denver, Colorado. They have arranged an outstanding group of presenters on this important topic.

The conference runs from Tuesday, May 16, 2017 (4:00 p.m.) until Thursday May 18, 2017 (3:30 p.m.). The cost is $150 which includes all meals (Tuesday dinner through Thursday lunch). Accommodations at a special rate are set up at the Courtyard Denver Cherry Creek. Please see the attached conference brochure and a detailed list of presenters and topics.

If you know any colleagues who would be interested in this conference, please share this invitation with them as well.

www.SJVDenver.edu/conferences

Framing a Catholic

Response to

Gender Ideology

Tuesday, May 16 (5:00pm)- Thursday, May 18 (3:30pm)

St. John Vianney Theological Seminary

1300 South Steele St. Denver, CO 80210

Gender ideology …

is having a devastating impact on children and

teens.

ignores God as Creator and promotes a view

of individual autonomy which is simply sinful.

redefines the parent-child relationship,

casting parents as “oppressing” children by

raising them as boys or girls.

undermines basic Christian anthropology by

defining the person as a disembodied mind

and the body as a mere instrument.

St. John Vianney Theological Seminary, in cooperation with the

Catholic Women’s Forum and Courage International, is proud to announce our upcoming conference:

“Framing a Catholic Response to Gender Ideology.”

The conference will explore an authentically Catholic response to gender ideology from the medical, psychological, philosophical, theological, pastoral, and legal perspectives. Aiming to serve key personnel involved in Catholic Charities, Catholic Schools, Seminary Formation, Counseling and Diocesan Staff, we will present the issues involved and discuss ways to prepare a proactive, truthful and compassionate response to gender ideology when these issues arise. We hope to equip participants to return to their dioceses and be proactive catalysts for advancing this discussion and preparing to respond to gender ideology at the diocesan level.

Cost: $150 (includes all meals) For registration and additional

information visit: http://sjvdenver.edu/conferences email:Lynda.Fitzsimmons@archden.org

or call: 303-282-3427

Framing a Catholic

Response to Gender Ideology

Discount Rate for Reservations Prior to April 24 Courtyard Denver Cherry Creek

1475 S. Colorado Blvd., Denver, CO 80222 303-757-8797

www.courtyardcherrycreek.com Mention “Archdiocese of Denver May 2017”

for the group rate

The Cultural Impact of Gender Ideology: What Happened and How Did It Happen So Fast?

Mary Rice Hasson, JD Director, Catholic Women’s Forum at the Ethics and Public Policy Center

The Legal Situation in the US Helen Alvaré, JD

George Mason School of Law

The Church faces a serious challenge

from an organized and sweeping

agenda...

“Organized religion is at the heart of LGBTI oppression and needs to be deconstructed. [But] How can one

deconstruct an institution that provides hope and comfort to millions of

desperate people? ... An engagement needs to come from groups within the churches. They need capacity-building

and support…LGBTI organizations need to appropriate Christian values

for a progressive rights agenda.” --Atlantic Philanthropies 2010 report, “A

Meeting of Queer Minds”

…which Pope Francis has characterized

as “ideological colonization”:

“We are experiencing a moment of the annihilation of man as the image of God.

… In Europe, America, Latin America, Africa, and in some countries of Asia,

there are genuine forms of ideological colonization taking place. And one of these - I will call it clearly

by its name - is [the ideology of] “gender.” Today children – children! – are taught in school that everyone can

choose his or her sex. Why are they teaching this? Because the books are

provided by the persons and institutions that give you money. These forms of ideological colonization are

also supported by influential countries. And this is terrible!”

--Pope Francis, meeting with the Polish Bishops, Cathedral of Kraków: 27 July

2016

Welcoming and Accompanying Catholics with Confusion about Sexual Identity Father Philip Bochanski

Executive Director, Courage International

What Does the Science and Practice of Psychology Tell Us about Gender Identity? Suzanne Hollman, PsyD, MSc

Institute for Psychological Studies

Why is Gender Ideology Incompatible with Catholicism? Susan Selner-Wright, PhD

St. John Vianney Theological Seminary

The US and Global Situation

What Is Gender Ideology and Why Do US Dioceses Need to Be Prepared to Respond to It?

Pia de Solenni, S.T.L., S.T.D. Associate Dean, Augustine Institute, Orange County

The Emperor’s (New) New Clothes: A Look at the Logic of the (Not So) New Gender Ideology

Margaret Harper McCarthy, PhD John Paul II Institute for Studies on Marriage and the Family, CUA

Transgender Surgery and Christian Anthropology Deacon Patrick Lappert, MD

Plastic Surgeon and Deacon of the Diocese of Birmingham

The Context

The Perspective of Medical and Psychological Science

The Philosophical and Theological Perspective

The Pastoral Perspective

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Framing A Catholic Response to Gender Ideology

May 16-18, 2017

Saint John Vianney Theological Seminary

SPEAKERS AND PRESENTATIONS

Helen Alvaré, JD

The Legal Situation in the US

The law concerning gender in the United States is a patchwork of federal, state and local law

featuring poorly defined terms and emerging from ideology and politics versus science or

morality. This talk will outline the basics for those in the frontlines of diocesan response.

Helen Alvaré is a Professor of Law at George Mason University School

of Law, where she teaches Family Law, Law and Religion, and

Property Law. She publishes on matters concerning marriage,

parenting, non-marital households, and the First Amendment religion

clauses. She is a consultor for the Pontifical Council of the Laity, an

advisor to the USCCB, and founder of WomenSpeakforThemselves.com. She cooperates

with the Permanent Observer Mission of the Holy See to the United Nations as a speaker

and a delegate to various United Nations conferences concerning women and the family.

She is a founding member of the Catholic Women's Forum.

Father Philip Bochanski

Welcoming and Accompanying Catholics Experiencing Confusion About Sexual Identity

Our pastoral priority toward people who are experiencing confusion regarding their sexual

identity, and towards their parents and loved ones, must be to welcome them in the name of

Christ and to help them to understand and accept God's plan for their lives. This talk will

consider how "speaking the truth in love" to someone about his or her identity, vocation and

relationships can lead him or her to a greater self-understanding and fulfillment in Christ. It will

also consider the impact that the experience of confusion about sexual identity can have on the

life of the parish, and how clergy and others in ministry should respond.

Father Bochanski is a native of suburban Philadelphia, Pennsylvania,

and was ordained for the Archdiocese of Philadelphia in 1999. In

addition to various parish assignments he served as chaplain of the

Philadelphia chapter of the Courage apostolate for five years. Father

Bochanski presently lives in the Diocese of Bridgeport, Connecticut,

where he serves as the executive director of Courage International, providing support and

assistance for local Courage chapters and their chaplains, as well as continuing formation

for priests and others in ministry. He is an award-winning author and has published

several books, articles and audio lectures on such topics as Church history, spirituality,

evangelization and pastoral care.

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Pia de Solenni, STD

What Is Gender Ideology and Why Do US Dioceses Need to Be Prepared to Respond to It?

This talk will orient us to the current state of the phenomenon Pope Francis has called Gender

Ideology and the various forms this ideology is taking in US dioceses today.

Dr. de Solenni is a Professor of Moral Theology and Associate Dean of the

Augustine Institute in Orange County. Since earning graduate degrees in

theology from the Pontifical University of the Holy Cross, she has had

work appear in various publications including The Wall Street Journal

Europe, The Washington Post, National Catholic Reporter, Our Sunday

Visitor, Patheos, and National Review Online. She is a consulting member of the

Pontifical Academy of St. Thomas Aquinas and a member of the Catholic Women’s

Forum.

Deacon Patrick Lappert, MD

Transgender Surgery and Christian Anthropology

Deacon Lappert will present a discussion of the “transgender” phenomenon, its historic roots, the

scientific evidence for the existence of such a condition, and the moral and ethical problems of

the use of medicine and surgery in the treatment of this condition.

Trained and board-certified as a general surgeon and as a plastic and

reconstructive surgeon, Dr. Lappert is a Permanent Deacon in the

Diocese of Birmingham in Alabama. He is a veteran of the Naval

Service, retiring with the rank of Captain, USN, after serving for

twenty-four years. Deacon Lappert divides his time between his private

practice of plastic surgery and serving as deacon at Annunciation of the Lord Catholic

Church in Decatur, Alabama. He is also chaplain for Courage in the Diocese of

Birmingham.

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Suzanne Hollman, PsyD, MSc

What Does the Science and Practice of Psychology Tell Us about Gender Identity?

Through a critical review of the literature in Neuroscience and Biology, Dr. Hollman will

examine the current state of scientific controversy and consensus in this area. The conflation of

body politics with empirical research necessitates an evaluation of the state of current

experimental findings in this area. She will examine what is known about the biology,

neuroscience, psychosocial factors and potential comorbid psychopathology related to the

contentious areas of transgender issues and gender identity in children and adolescents.

Dr. Hollman holds the positions of Associate Professor, Co-Director of

the PsyD Program, and Clinical Supervisor at Divine Mercy University,

the home of the Institute for Psychological Studies. Originally from

South Africa, Dr. Hollman earned her PsyD at George Washington

University and MSc in the History of Medicine from Oxford University.

She is the author of papers on Attachment Theory, Cross-cultural psychiatry, and is a

reviewer for the Eastern European Social Science journal, Seminare. She is a member of

the Catholic Women’s Forum.

Susan Selner-Wright, PhD

Why Is Gender Ideology Incompatible with Catholicism?

Drawing on the unbroken tradition of seeing the human person as an embodied spirit, this talk

will review why the Church teaches that our bodies are as much ourselves as our souls are, that

our human nature sets boundaries for actions consistent with our flourishing, and that there is a

direct connection between the physical and the spiritual. It will also discuss how modern notions

of the body as mechanical and of freedom as autonomy have undermined these basic tenets of

our tradition.

Dr. Selner-Wright is the Archbishop Charles J Chaput Chair of

Philosophy at St. John Vianney Theological Seminary in Denver.

Her academic specialty is the thought of St. Thomas Aquinas. She is

the author of the Endow study guide, Aquinas for Beginners, and of

scholarly articles published in journals including Logos and the International

Philosophical Quarterly. She is also the translator and editor of On Creation, a

translation of St. Thomas’ De potentia Dei, Q. 3, published by the Catholic University of

America Press. She is a member of the Catholic Women’s Forum.

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Margaret Harper McCarthy, PhD

The Emperor’s (New) New Clothes: A Look at the Logic of the (Not So) New Gender Ideology

The claim of the talk is that behind the invention of the category of “gender” is the attempt to

abstract the human being from the constitutive dimension of sexual difference—namely, the

rhythm of generations, both those that have gone before and those that will follow—and

ultimately from the human (creaturely) condition itself. The talk will endeavor to offer a way to

face this new challenge.

Dr. McCarthy is an Assistant Professor of Theological Anthropology at

the John Paul II Institute for Studies on Marriage and Family at The

Catholic University of America, in Washington, DC. She is the editor of

its online quarterly review, Humanum, and also publishes regularly in the

international Catholic review Communio. Her book Recovering Origins:

Adult Children of Divorce is forthcoming. Dr. McCarthy is a member of the Catholic

Women’s Forum.

Mary Rice Hasson, JD

The Cultural Impact of Gender Ideology: What Happened and How Did It Happen So Fast?

This talk provides an overview of gender ideology's impact on the culture, both globally and in

the U.S., with particular attention to the ideology's inroads into education, health care and

business. It suggests important ways individuals and institutions can respond, with compassion

and conviction.

A fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Center in Washington, D.C. where

she directs the Catholic Women’s Forum, Mrs. Hasson leads the CWF’s

Gender Project, which provides workshops and presentations on gender

ideology, transgender issues, feminism, and Catholic anthropology to

Catholic clergy, diocesan and parish staff, educators, apostolic leaders, and

parents. An attorney and writer, Mary is the editor of Promise and Challenge: Catholic

Women Reflect on Feminism, Complementarity, and the Church (Our Sunday Visitor:

2015) and co-author of the report What Catholic Women Think About Faith, Conscience,

and Contraception (EPPC, 2012). Her work has appeared in The Federalist, Our Sunday

Visitor, The Washington Examiner, and First Things, as well as in policy journals and

scholarly publications.