BC’s Acclaimed C21 Center Marks 20 Years

BY ALIX HACKETT SPECIAL TO THE CHRONICLE

On January 6, 2002, Professor of Theology Thomas Groome was among the millions of Catholics around the world to read the shocking results of a Boston Globe investigation that exposed a decades-long pattern of sexual abuse within the Catholic Church, and efforts by the Archdiocese of Boston to cover it up. Not long after, Groome was one of about 25 people called into an emergency meeting by University President William P. Leahy, S.J., to discuss BC’s response to the unfolding crisis.

Everyone in attendance was in agreement: Boston College could not stay silent. Instead, recalled Groome—now a professor in the School of Theology and Ministry— “we decided to face it head-on.”

The result was the Church in the 21st Century Center (C21), which recently celebrated its 20th anniversary. Initially launched as a two-year program, C21 was created to serve as a catalyst for the renewal of the Catholic Church by publishing papers and hosting lectures and conferences exploring three main areas: roles and relationships within the Church, sexuality in the Catholic tradition, and handing on the faith to the next generation. The Catholic intellectual tradition was later added as a fourth area of focus.

No topic was off-limits. In the center’s first year, speakers at C21-sponsored events discussed Catholic attitudes toward homosexuality and debated the role of women in the Church. The center even invited the Globe reporters who uncovered the abuse

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