Enter Through the Narrow Gate

Bishop Daniel E. Flores

Bishop of Brownsville, Texas and member of USCCB Committee on Evangelization and Catechesis. Bishop Flores also serves as a member to the following committees: Ad Hoc Committee for Religious Liberty, Committee of Divine Worship, Sub-Committee on Pro-life Activities, and the Committee for Ecumenical and Inter-Religious Affairs. In addition, he is a member of the Board of Directors of Catholic Relief Services (CRS), the charitable arm of the USCCB for international assistance.

Dr. John Cavadini

Professor of Theology at the University of Notre Dame and Director of the McGrath Institute for Church Life. The author of several theological books, he also writes essays, articles, and reviews in popular journals and is frequently called upon by Church leaders, ministers and teachers to talk on these subjects. He has served a five-year term on the International Theological Commission (appointed by Pope Benedict XVI) and in 2018 received the Monika K. Hellwig Award from the Association of Catholic Colleges and Universities for Outstanding Contributions to Catholic Intellectual Life.

Dr. Scott Hahn

Founder and President of the Saint Paul Center for Biblical Theology and Chair of Biblical Theology and the New Evangelization at Franciscan University of Steubenville. Over the last three decades, Dr. Hahn has delivered thousands of popular talks and academic lectures, nationally and internationally, on a wide range of topics related to Scripture, Theology, and the Catholic faith. He is also the author or editor of over forty popular and academic books; his works include best-selling titles Rome Sweet Home, The Lamb’s Supper, and Hail Holy Queen.

Patricia Cooney Hathaway, is Professor of Spirituality and Systematic Theology at Sacred Heart Major Seminary. She will be the moderator of Saturday's “Through the Narrow Gate” Panel Presentation.

Fr. Peter Ryan

Breakout session topic: "The Spectacular Joy of Heaven and the Real Possibility of Missing Out on It." Two problems undermine our efforts to evangelize: We not only fail to communicate the marvelous appeal of heaven, but we give people the impression that they need not strive for it anyway because missing out on salvation is practically impossible. Evangelization will succeed only if we help people see that heaven is a supremely wonderful gift, but one we will exchange for everlasting sadness unless we respond to grace.

Dr. Eduardo Echeverria

Breakout session topic: "At The Crossroads: Interpretations of Vatican II and the Implications for the New Evangelization."  Pope Benedict XVI identified two basic ways of interpreting Vatican II documents: a difference that is at the root of the conflict over interpreting Vatican II and its implications for the new evangelization. Are the Council’s documents justifiably interpreted as being in discontinuity and rupture with the Church’s living Tradition? Ironically, Neo-Modernists and Neo-Traditionalists both agree with this way of reading the documents; the former are “boosters” and the latter “knockers” of Vatican II. Alternatively, should these documents be interpreted as being in continuity with the truths long asserted by the Church, even as we recognize that the Council was engaged in a creative retrieval of the authoritative sources of faith, a new ressourcement – of Scripture and Tradition – so that Catholicism might move forward faithfully into the future, itself renewed and enriched in its now developed understanding of those truths, a rich aggiornamento, so that it could evangelize the world as it is today? 

Dr. Ralph Martin

Breakout session topic: "Participating in the Prophetic Mission of Jesus: Implications for the New Evangelization." The primary way in which people thought of Jesus was as a prophet. Why was this the case? What implications does this have for our participation in the prophetic mission of Jesus both as lay people and as clergy?

Fr. Richard Cassidy

Breakout session topic: “Entering the Narrow Gate in the Acts of the Apostles:  Learning the New Evangelization from St. Paul.” As an evangelist St. Paul journeyed to countless Roman cities. He learned to enter the gates of these cities on Christ’s terms not on Roman imperial terms. Utilizing visuals of ancient imperial gates, Fr. Cassidy will present St. Paul’s approach for evangelizing via the narrow gate.

Dr. Robert Fastiggi

Breakout session topic: “Mary and the New Evangelization.”  St. Paul VI spoke of Mary as “the star of evangelization,” and St. John Paul II referred to her as “the star of the New Evangelization.” This breakout session will examine the Blessed Mother’s “inseparable bond to the saving work of her Son” (Vatican II, SC 103) in light of Scripture and Catholic teaching. Special attention will be given to the insights of Vatican II, St. John Paul II, and the role of Mary as “Mother of the Church.”

Fr. John McDermott, SJ

Breakout session topic: “Suffering and the New Evangelization.” Our technological, hedonistic society seeks to avoid suffering at almost all costs, but cannot.  Many blame God for their suffering.  What sense is there in suffering?  What are its causes?  How does one overcome them?  How does suffering fit into our eternal salvation or damnation?  Only Catholic Christianity can give an answer to the problem of suffering that, satisfying mind and heart, empowers believers to accept love into their lives, take up their crosses, and grow to the full stature of Jesus Christ (Eph. 4:13-16).  This is Christ's message which our world needs to hear for its salvation.