I had a busy day today at the CTA conference. I gave a talk in the morning on the history of women in the Church, with particular emphasis on the spirituality of the women mystics. I drew a lot of what I was saying from Mary T. Malone’s wonderful new book, The Elephant in the Church. The crowd who came were so great that we had to be moved to a larger venue, and even there, in the best Redemptorist tradition, they had to go for more chairs.
Here at the Call to Action conference in Memphis I have just spent an hour listening to Kerry Kennedy, the daughter of Bobby. She is a most inspiring person. I could have listened to her for hours. She has the brilliant communication skills, use of language, and engaging personality of her more famous family members.
She has spent the last thirty five years working in the area of human rights all over the world.
This evening in Minneapolis was probably the best evening I have had so far on my tour. It was my first time in a Catholic church on this tour; and the controversy between the pastor and the Archbishop certainly helped to gather the crowd. So the church was overflowing, and the basement hall was also used to fit the crowd — with a speaker installed. So the crowd must have numbered at least four hundred, some having come long distances.
