Walking Together – A Primer on the New Synodality

Author: Moira McQueen

After attending the Synod on Marriage and the Family, Dr Moira McQueen became deeply interested in the possibilities that the practice of synodality opens up for all members of the Catholic Church. Walking Together is the result of that interest, and she invites you to discover more about this experience for yourself as you think about your answers to the Synod questionnaire.

“It is precisely this path of synodality which God expects of the Church of the third millennium. What the Lord is asking of us is already in some sense present in the very word “synod”. Journeying together — laity, pastors, the Bishop of Rome — is an easy concept to put into words, but not so easy to put into practice.” Pope Francis, 17 October 2015

Dr Moira McQueen’s new book, Walking Together, A Primer on the New Synodality, prepares the way for ‘walking together’ according to the vision of Pope Francis. It aims to explain the history, meaning and relevance of synodality for the Church as it undertakes a two-year process in developing its structure and the laity’s role in doing so. The Primer’s relevance is that it also provides context NOW, while laity are in the process of completing the questionnaires, open to all, that are to be returned to the Office of the Synod to inform the next step of the synodal journey.

Your ministry will most likely engage you in participating in this journey. Walking Together will contribute significantly as a guide to the understanding and objective of synodality as well as its challenges and opportunities for the whole Church, including the contributions of the laity.

For those engaged in parish ministry, education, leadership and evangelization, the Reflection Questions after each chapter open the way for a closer reading, a focus on specific areas, and discussion.

Walking Together, A Primer on the New Synodality is available in Canada on the Novalis website in e-book form and in published form from the end of January 2022 (https://en.novalis.ca/).

BIOETHICS MATTERS: A Guide for Concerned Catholics

Author: Moira McQueen
CCBI | Canada | 112 pages

A practical, must-read book for Catholics who want to know how Church teaching can help them work their way through tough decisions and choices. This succinct yet comprehensive guide clearly sets out Catholic teaching on today’s hot-button issues such as stem-cell research, reproductive technologies, euthanasia, and more. By presenting real-life situations, this guide provides the reader with Catholic ethical decision-making in action.

“Lay people deserve to be as educated as possible in Catholic teaching. It is to the Church’s advantage that they be educated in this area, in light of the laity’s religious and civic responsibilities… As it can be difficult to keep up to date with developments in these areas, as well as to stay informed about church teaching, this book can help Catholics navigate these pressing issues.” – Dr. Moira McQueen

Available online at Novalis … $9.95
Publisher : LES ÉDITIONS NOVALIS
Publication Date : 2011-09-30
ISBN : 9782896463930

Globalization and the Culture of Life: Care of the Frail, Elderly and the Dying
Proceedings of the Canadian Catholic Bioethics Institute 2003 International Colloquium

Editors: Dr. Bridget Campion and Fr. Leo Walsh
CCBI | Canada | 154 pages

In July 2003, over fifty representatives of Catholic bioethics institutes from around the world gathered in Toronto to participate in an International Colloquium, “Globalization and the Culture of Life: Care of the Frail Elderly and the Dying.” The Colloquium had four goals: to give directors and representatives of Catholic bioethics institutes the opportunity to share perspectives; to produce a statement from the discussions that would articulate a Catholic understanding of ethical care of the elderly and the dying; to identify questions for further research and to consider plans for ongoing mutual support and collaboration among Catholic bioethics institutes.

The Proceedings published in this 154-page volume (ISBN 0-9731322-4-8) are arranged chronologically in order to give a sense of the flow of the discussion. The Consensus Statement and signatories are also included. Available from the Canadian Catholic Bioethics Institute … $15.00 CDN / $10.00 US

Ethics and the New Genetics An Integrated Approach

Editor: H. Daniel Monsour
University of Toronto Press | Canada

New advances are being made daily in the science of human genetics. With progress in this area, however, come new ethical dilemmas. At a think tank sponsored by the Canadian Catholic Bioethics Institute, an interdisciplinary group of ethicists, geneticists, physicians, lawyers and theologians gathered in an attempt to apply Bernard Lonergan’s notion of functional specialization to the ethical debates surrounding genetics.

Editor H. Daniel Monsour has brought together a series of articles presented at this think tank. The articles accomplish two tasks: first, they explore some of the advances in human genetics that continue to prompt ethical debate and outline the different stances taken on critical issues; second, they examine those stances in the context of Roman Catholic moral and religious thought. Timely, innovative, and wide-ranging, this collection will be of interest to bioethicists and philosophers, as well as to scholars of Lonergan and of religion. ISBN 978-0-8020-9273-1