The Agenda

First Dialogue, May 19

Archbishop Robert G. Casey & Maureen O’Connell

Archbishop Robert G. Casey serves as the Tenth Archbishop of Cincinnati. A native of Alsip, Illinois, he attended Mundelein Seminary, where he earned a Master of Divinity Degree in 1994. He was ordained to the priesthood for the Archdiocese of Chicago that same year. After serving in three roles as pastor, he was appointed Auxiliary Bishop of Chicago on July 3, 2018, and ordained a bishop on September 17, 2018. He became Vicar for Vicariate III and, in 2020, was named Vicar General of the Archdiocese of Chicago. Archbishop Casey was appointed Archbishop of Cincinnati on February 12, 2025, and installed to this archbishopric on April 3, 2025.

Maureen O’Connell is an educator, writer, and community organizer who directs the CENTERS initiative at Loyola University Chicago’s Institute of Pastoral Studies, a Lilly Endowment project to seed synodality in the US Church by fostering collaboration, formation, and bridge building among 16 Catholic higher education institutions. She holds a PhD in Theological Ethics from Boston College and has more than 20 years of teaching and leadership experience in higher education. From 2022 to 2025, O’Connell served as Director of Synod and Higher Education Engagement with Discerning Deacons.

Second Dialogue, May 19

Dr. Cynthia Bailey Manns & Ken Johnson-Mondragón

Dr. Cynthia Bailey Manns is the Director of Adult Learning at Saint Joan of Arc Catholic Community in Minneapolis. She holds a Doctor of Ministry in Spiritual Direction from the Graduate Theological Foundation in Florida and currently serves as Adjunct Faculty at United Theological Seminary of the Twin Cities. She is an experienced spiritual director, supervisor, and retreat leader. Dr. Bailey Manns is one of four lay people from the United States who were appointed by Pope Francis to participate in the Synod of Bishops on Synodality.

Ken Johnson-Mondragón is the Director of Pastoral Engagement for the California Catholic Conference, where he promotes the application of the social doctrine of the Church by increasing awareness and engagement of California’s roughly 11 million Catholics. He has more than 25 years of national leadership in Hispanic/Latino ministry, and he served for five years as national staff for the USCCB’s V Encuentro – a synodal process of consultation and pastoral planning for Hispanic/Latino ministry. He currently serves as a consultant to the USCCB Committee on Laity, Marriage, Family Life and Youth.

Workshops, May 21

Three workshops will be offered separately, so all can attend all workshops. Workshop leaders will be offering practical ways of implementing ideas from Tuesday’s discussions, that can be used in our places of ministry.

Three workshops will be offered separately, so all can attend all workshops. Workshop leaders will be offering practical ways of implementing ideas from Tuesday’s discussions, that can be used in our places of ministry.


Synodal Spirituality as a Practice: Walking Together as the Body of Christ – Jean Musto Hawley, M.Th., M.Ed. and Fr. John Grace

Synodal spirituality is not a program, rather it is a way of being Church together. It means listening to the Holy Spirit together, honoring the gifts of every baptized person, discerning locally and globally, and bearing fruit as one Body in Christ. We are invited to listen deeply, walk together, and share responsibility for the mission of the Church in the context of prayer, reflection, and meditation. Join us as we discuss what Synodal Spirituality is and practice how we apply it to our everyday lives as a People of God in the world today.


Called by Baptism, Gifted for Mission – Dr. Megan Lowes-Bolin

Our Baptism is not just a moment—it is a lifelong call to mission in the Church. This workshop helps participants recognize the gifts God has placed in each person and learn how to affirm and encourage those gifts in others. Together, we will explore practical ways to help people step more fully into their baptismal calling and use their gifts in the life and mission of the Church.


Enlarging our Tent:  Listening to and from the Margins – Dr. Ansel Augustine

In this workshop, Dr. Augustine will lead participants in a discussion on the importance of engaging communities that may be outside of our normal demographic.  He will share personal examples and practical steps on how to enter into this sacred and important process.

Fr. John Grace is the pastor of Immaculate Conception Church in Hampton, VA. He was ordained for the Diocese of Richmond in May 1979. He has served in multiple parishes several universities over the years. In all his ministry settings, he has focused on developing leaders by helping people share their unique gifts, listen and support one other, and discern the Spirit already present in order to build up the Body of Christ and bear the fruit of the Kingdom.

Jean Hawley is the Director of Religious Education at Immaculte Conception Parish and a Lay Ecclesial Minister within the Diocese of Richmond. She is an adjunct faculty member of Saint Leo University, Old Dominion University, and VLCFF (the Virtual Learning Community of Faith Formation) at the University of Dayton. Jean is also pursuing a Th.D. in Applied Theology at Saint Leo, with a focus on co-responsible formation of clergy and lay ecclesial ministers.

Dr. Megan Lowes-Bolin, EdD, CSJ Associate, is a Catholic educator, ministry consultant, and higher education professional dedicated to leadership formation, young adult ministry, and faith- based community engagement. She currently serves as the Director of Young Adult Ministry for the Diocese of Cleveland and teaches management, leadership, and nonprofit administration courses at John Carroll University. Megan has pursued advanced studies at John Carroll University, Loyola University Chicago, Creighton University, and Villanova University.

Dr. Ansel Augustine is presently the Assistant Director of African American Affairs for the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops and the former Director of the Office of Black Catholic Ministries for the Archdiocese of New Orleans. He is also on the Faculty of the Institute for Black Catholic Studies at Xavier University of Louisiana, Graduate Theological Foundation, and Loyola University New Orleans’ Institute for Ministry. He is the author of Leveling the Praying Field: Can the Church We Love, Love Us Back? (Orbis Press) and Praying with Our Feet: Encountering God in the Margins (Loyola Press).