The University of Notre Dame and the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem are launching an academic forum to “bring together scholars and practitioners from different faith traditions and disciplines to engage with Jerusalemʼs universal mission and its significance for those who reside within the Holy Land and beyond.”
Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa officially launched the forum, “Within Your Gates: The Forum for the Universal Vocation of Jerusalem,” on Sept. 7, according to a university press release on Sept. 1. The launch event will take place at the university’s academic center in Jerusalem.
“The forum will produce applied interdisciplinary research rooted in Jerusalem’s particular realities and oriented toward questions of daily life that resonate beyond the city and the surrounding region, exploring themes such as the theological significance of Jerusalem, the cityʼs universal vocation, the language of conflict and reconciliation, and agency under conditions of constraint,” the release said.
The forum will be led by Daniel Schwake, director of Notre Dame’s Jerusalem campus, while Pizzaballa will serve as chair on the forum’s Board of Promoters.
Ave Maria University celebrates partnership with Cistercian community
Students and faculty at Ave Maria University’s Ireland campus will celebrate the start of a budding friendship with the Cistercian community at Mount Melleray Abbey with a Mass on Sept. 20.
“Home to a Cistercian monastic community for almost 200 years, Mount Melleray Abbey now enters a new chapter through a partnership between the Cistercian community and Ave Maria University,” the university said in a Sept. 9 press release. “Building upon the Abbey’s enduring tradition of prayer, work and hospitality, the partnership will see Mount Melleray welcome Ave Maria University students as part of the University’s new Ireland study-abroad program beginning this autumn.”
The Mass will be celebrated by Bishop Alphonsus Cullinan of Waterford and Lismore.
“Mount Melleray Abbey has been a place of prayer and hospitality for generations, and we are honored to have the opportunity to contribute to the next chapter in its remarkable history,” Daniel Schreck, chief strategy officer for Ave Maria University, said in the release. “The Abbey forms part of the cultural and spiritual heritage of Ireland, and we take very seriously the responsibility entrusted to us through our partnership with the Cistercian community. The Mass on Sept. 20 represents an important moment for the Cistercians, Ave Maria University, and our many friends in Ireland as we work together to preserve the living tradition of Mount Melleray.”
The launch of the program this fall comes after Ave Maria acquired the abbey following its January 2025 closure due to dwindling numbers among the Cistercian community.
National Catholic Educational Association launches faith-based STEM series
The National Catholic Educational Association (NCEA) and the professional development organization Eduscape are launching a summit series to promote the integration of religion into STEM education for Catholic schools across the country.
The “STREAM Made Simple Summit Series” is a professional development program for Catholic school teachers and principals that “adds religion to the familiar STEAM disciplines of science, technology, engineering, arts, and math,” according to a Sept. 8 press release.
“Summits will be held across the country with many hosted in partnership with a Catholic diocese and each designed to serve up to 300 educators,” the release said.
“The barrier for many Catholic schools has never been conviction. It has been capacity. Teachers are often asked to lead integrated instruction they were never trained to deliver,” the release said. “The STREAM Made Simple approach starts from the opposite end: it invests in teachers first rather than equipment, and it is built so that a school can begin on Monday with the classrooms already in place.”
University of Mary to host fifth annual St. Gianna Medical Professionals Conference
The University of Mary in Bismarck, North Dakota, has announced that the theme of its annual Catholic medical bioethics conference will be “Accompanying the Vulnerable: Catholic Bioethics in a Time of Technological Change.”
“Advances in medicine and technology must always serve the person, especially those who are most vulnerable,” Mary Dockter, dean of the College of Health Professions at the University of Mary, said in an Aug. 31 press release. “While our graduates must be competent in technological advancements, our hope is that they always ask themselves, just because we can do something, should we?”
The Dec. 4-5 conference will feature nine speakers, including Marilyn Coors, associate professor emerita of bioethics at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus; Mariele Courtois, director of the Center for Technology and Human Dignity and assistant professor of moral theology at Benedictine College; and Natalie King, a palliative medicine physician, according to the release.
The speakers will address artificial intelligence, genetic engineering, end-of-life care, reproductive loss, mental health, and the relationship between technology and human dignity.
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