“Male & Female, He Created Them,” is the theme of the upcoming Worcester Catholic Women’s Conference. The conference will take place Oct. 7, at St. Joseph School in Webster.
The highlights of the event include five Catholic speakers, time for confession, celebration of the Eucharist, and opportunities to join in fellowship and make new friends, according to conference organizers.
Several priests will be available to hear confessions and Bishop McManus will conclude the event with the celebration of Mass at 5 p.m. in St. Joseph Basilica.
The conference begins at 7 a.m. with registration, followed by a music program, the rosary, and adoration. Confessions will be available during the lunch break held at noon. Lunch is included with the ticket purchase.
Featured speakers begin at 9 a.m. and continue throughout the day.
Organizers announced the five speakers:
• Father Derek Mobilio is a Worcester Diocese native and was ordained a priest June 18, 2022. He participated in the 2019 Tertio Mellenio Seminar in Poland, which was created “to deepen the dialogue on Catholic social doctrine (and the teachings of St. Pope John Paul II) between North American students and students from new democracies of central and eastern Europe.”
• Christopher Klofft is an associate professor of theology at Assumption University in Worcester. He is author of Living the Love Story: Catholic Morality in the Modern World.
• Patricia Sandoval is an international pro-life and chastity speaker, who shares the story of her past abortions, work behind the doors of Planned Parenthood, and life as a homeless drug addict. She hosts a weekly television program “Prolife Report,” on EWTN and is author of the book Transfigured.
• Father Colin Blatchford was ordained a priest in 2014 for the Diocese of Knoxville, Tennessee. He has been the associate director of Courage International since 2020, which provides pastoral and spiritual care for Catholic men and women experiencing same-sex attraction or gender identity discordance who desire to live chastely.
• Deborah Savage, the final speaker for the day, is the co-founder and acting director of the Siena Symposium for Women, Family, and Culture, an interdisciplinary think tank, organized to respond to John Paul II’s call for a new and explicitly Christian feminism. Several of her writings have been published, including, Redeeming Woman: A Catholic Response to the Second Sex Issue, The Therapeutic and Pastoral Implications of Pope St. John Paul II’s Account of the Person, and The Complementarity of Men and Women. She recently joined the theology faculty at Franciscan University of Steubenville, in Ohio.
For more information visit:
www.wcwconference.com
Ticket prices:
$50 for adults $25 for students, age 16-22
Ticket sales:
Purchase tickets online or by sending a check payable to RCB Diocese of Worcester, to WCWC, 12 Maynard Rd., Berlin, MA 01503