Blogs

By Gloria Falcao Dodd and Father Johann Roten, S.M.

The third Marian Forum hosted by the International Marian Research Institute ("IMRI") on Friday, October 14, 2016 had 94 people registered for the event, including 15 foreign countries, and 21 of the United States of America! Most participants chose the online format, while 19 attended in the Learning Teaching Center at the Roesch Library building at the University of Dayton.

This two-hour conference featured talks in the first hour by IMRI professors, an IMRI graduate, and an IMRI doctoral student. Fr. Johann Roten, S.M., an IMRI professor, introduced the topic and the speakers. Fr. Thomas Thompson, S.M., an IMRI faculty member, presented "Paul VI: 'Mary, Mother and Exemplar for the Church". An IMRI graduate, Sr. Danielle Peters, who has her Doctorate in Sacred Theology from IMRI, gave her paper on "Mary and the Church in the Teachings of John Paul II". Fr. Alexandre Awi Mello, an IMRI doctoral student who personally interviewed the Pope, shared his paper from Brazil about "Pope Francis' View of Mary and the Church". The second hour was spent in discussion rotating questions from the on-site participants and the online audience via a chatbox. The conference concluded with the announcement of the topic and date for Marian Forum IV. See the photo gallery for some visuals of the event.

The next session of our Marian Forum will be April, 7, 2017. The title will be "Mary and Ecological Spirituality." We would like to know if Mary is a spiritual model to help us live responsibly in today's threatened nature and world. What are you thoughts and suggestions?