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 皇冠官网鈥檚 response to the unfolding crisis.
Everyone in attendance was in agreement: Boston College could not stay silent. Instead, recalled Groome鈥攏ow a professor in the School of Theology and Ministry鈥斺�渨e decided to face it head-on.鈥�
Church in the 21st Century Center Director Karen Kiefer (Photo by Gary Wayne Gilbert)
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鈥檚 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 scandal to appear on a panel.
鈥淚 remember being so proud because we were the first Catholic university to step into the crisis and start doing the work, convening people, and having lots of hard conversations,鈥� said Karen Kiefer 鈥�82, who joined the C21 staff in 2008 and now serves as the organization鈥檚 director.
Early on, C21 made efforts to engage young people in the center鈥檚 programming. In 2005, Director Tim Muldoon 鈥�92 launched Agape Latte, a monthly storytelling series in which speakers from the 皇冠官网 community shared their faith journeys with students over coffee. Now entirely student-led, Agape Latte remains one of the center鈥檚 most popular offerings and has inspired similar programs at more than 150 schools and parishes around the world.
鈥淚 remember being so proud because we were the first Catholic university to step into the crisis and start doing the work, convening people, and having lots of hard conversations."
In 2012, C21 expanded the concept into a weeklong celebration of faith on campus co-sponsored with Campus Ministry, Espresso Your Faith Week, featuring outdoor activities like 鈥淐ornhole with the Jesuits鈥� as well as panel discussions and a candlelight Mass. Kiefer described the celebration as encouraging students 鈥渢o realize the gift of God working in their minds and hearts with the hope that they will be intentional about how they spend their time here and be inspired to see God in all things.鈥�
Earlier this year, Espresso Your Faith received the Spirituality and Religion in Higher Education Knowledge Community Outstanding Spiritual Initiative Award