Symposium Speakers

Kathy Chesto

Kathleen Chesto-O'Connell is the speaker for Session 3 and will look at family spirituality in times of hurt, loss, conflict, tensions, despair and loss. Kathy describes herself as “a woman of faith, a wife, a mother, a storyteller.” Kathy holds a doctorate in ministry from Hartford Seminary and a master's in religious studies from St. Joseph College .  She is also the author of numerous books, articles and videos on spirituality and family life and a recipient of the Emmaus award for excellence in catechesis, the NACFLM award for outstanding service to families and the National Catholic Press Award for educational materials. You can read some of her articles online: Being Home when God Comes and Faith is Best Served Family Style. Visit kathy's website at www.kathleenchesto.com

Thomas Knieps-Port le Roi

Thomas is the speaker for Session 5, looking at how marital and family spirituality converge and diverge. Currently the holder of the INTAMS Chair for the Study of Marriage & Spirituality at the Catholic University of Leuven, Belgium, Thomas was one of a team from INTAMS ( International Academy for the Study of Marital Spirituality) who contributed to the Listening 2004 process. From 1995 until October 2005 Thomas was Senior Researcher at INTAMS and Editor of the INTAMS review. His English language articles include Marriage and the Church: Theological Reflections on an Underrated Relationship in Adrian Thatcher’s Celebrating Christian Marriage (T&T Clark, 2002) and Sacramental Marriage and Holy Orders: Towards an Ecclesial Ministry for Married People in Marriage and the Catholic Church edited by Salzman, Kelly and O'Keefe. (Crossroad, 2005). Visit the INTAMS website at www.intams.com

Rick McCord

Rick is Executive Director of the Secretariat for Family, Laity, Women and Youth of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. A few years ago Rick gave a presentation to diocesan coordinators of family life ministry in which he shared Ten Ways to Think About How Family Sensitive We Are. More recently Rick has been heavily involved in the US Bishops’ National Pastoral Initiative on Marriage. It is this project that he will be talking about during a special symposium session on Friday evening. Rick last visited the UK in 2004 when he took part in the family listening days in the Dioceses of Portsmouth and Salford . He has followed our work closely and it is a great delight that he can not only join us for the Symposium but also share with us a very significant aspect of the US Bishops’ work in supporting marriage

David Thomas

David was an advisor (peritus) to the US Bishops at the World Synod on Family in 1980. The deliberations of this Synod led to the papal exhortation Familiaris Consortio whose 25^th anniversary will be celebrated by the symposium. David’s books include the award-winning Catechism of the Catholic Church: Family Style and Christian Marriage: A Journey Together. Read more about David’s background and locate some of his other writings on family spirituality from his webpage at Bethany Family Institute. David describes the symposium as “a unique opportunity to hear from expert and experienced leaders in the field of family spirituality and to explore with them exciting and bold new ways to connect with and support today's families facing deeply challenging lives."