OPENING PRAYER AND PRESIDENT’S WELCOME

Katie Diller National Coordinator, ESTEEM

A prayer from Psalms 33. They are happy whose God is the Lord, the people who are chosen as his own. From the heavens, the Lord looks forth and sees all the peoples of the earth. Our soul is waiting for the Lord. The Lord is our help and our shield. Our hearts find joy in the Lord. We trust in God’s holy name. May your love be upon us, oh Lord, as we place all our hope in you.

To each of these invocations, I invite you to respond, “Come Holy Spirit.”

Holy Spirit, Creator, in the beginning, you moved over the waters and from your breath, all creatures drew their life.

Come, Holy Spirit.

Holy Spirit, Counselor, by your inspiration, the prophets bore witness to the word of God.

Come, Holy Spirit.

Holy Spirit, you prepared the Virgin Mary to become mother of the Lord, and you descended upon Jesus on the day of His baptism.

Come, Holy Spirit.

Holy Spirit, Comforter. Christ promised you would always be with us and in us.

Come, Holy Spirit.

Holy Spirit, you continue to unite us, inspire us, and make us a living sign of God’s presence.

Come, Holy Spirit.

Holy Spirit, we praise and thank you for 10 years of creativity and passionate service of the Leadership Roundtable on Church Management. We ask you to bless the proceedings of our annual meeting and be our inspiration as we strive to contribute to a culture of trust, accountability, transparency, and excellence in the Church. We ask all these things through Christ, our Lord. Amen.

Rev.

Michael Garanzini, S.J. President, Loyola University Chicago

I want to welcome the Roundtable here because of the great work that you have been doing. I followed the Roundtable and participated in several events and programs and have come to admire and respect the work that people like Geoff Boisi and Kerry Robinson have done, and the fruitful sharing of your expertise with the Church. When the Roundtable began, there was some trepidation and worry on the part of both the organizers and Church leaders. The spirit, or the atmosphere, then was more self-protective and cautious. But the Roundtable, I think, has proven to be not only worthwhile, but a really necessary forum. I think all sides appreciate the eagerness to help the needs of the Church and to facilitate more competent and more skillful personnel in the Church. The leadership of the Roundtable is sorely needed still.

About two months ago, I was in Rome for my other job, and it just happened to be at the conclusion of a meeting of over 650 treasurers of religious congregations. It was called by the Congregation for Religious Life, but it was called at the insistence of the Holy Father. The Holy Father asked for an open and frank discussion of concerns that he and others had had regarding the use of funds, the use of consulters and advisors, the disposition of Church property and goods, and a host of other material matters. The meeting amounted to what, I think, was a first ever effort of the Vatican to call for transparency and sound decisionmaking, and suggesting to these nearly 650 congregations that we are not there yet at all. That work is sorely needed, and transparency is essential. We probably need a global Leadership Roundtable, an international counterpart to this group, so that the entire Church can benefit from the collaboration among experts and Church leaders. The Church’s work would be more professional and our use of our goods would be wiser and that, again, is sorely needed.

So transparency and professionalism are now the coin of the realm, so to speak. And you have set the way. You have been an example of how that can happen in our Church, and so I congratulate you. I wish you much luck in the two days ahead, and I hope that things go really well for you.