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Mother Mary Assumpta Long, O.P.
Mother Mary Assumpta Long, O.P., is the Prioress General of the Dominican Sisters of Mary, Mother of the Eucharist in Ann Arbor, Michigan. She holds a S.T.L. in Sacred Theology from the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas in Rome, and has taught at the elementary, secondary and junior college levels. Mother Assumpta is a former President of the Forum of Major Superiors and has served on the boards of the Fellowship of Catholic Scholars and the Shrine of the Immaculate Conception. In the early 1990s she was invited by John Cardinal O’Connor to assist with the initial formation of the Sisters of Life in New York. In 1997 she and three other Sisters founded the Dominican Sisters of Mary, Mother of the Eucharist; in the intervening 20 years the Community has grown from four to over 130 Sisters with an average age of 31 years old. The Community currently has Sisters teaching and serving as administrators in elementary and secondary schools in Michigan and seven other states across the country, and serving at the Pontifical North American College Seminary Library in Rome.Susan Conroy
Susan Conroy made her first trip to Calcutta to work with Mother Teresa and the Missionaries of Charity in 1986. In 1987, at the request of Mother Teresa herself, Susan stayed in the Order's convent in the South Bronx, New York, in contemplation of the religious life. During that visit, a time she calls "the most profoundly meaningful experience of my life, " Susan came to know Saint Thérèse of Lisieux, "the greatest saint of modern times," who has had as great an impact on Susan's life as has Mother Teresa. Susan did not enter the Order, but in 1991, during Lent, she once again returned to Calcutta to work with the Sisters among the dying destitutes. She and Mother Teresa kept in touch until Mother's death in 1997. Before being called Home to God, Mother Teresa gave Susan permission to write a book about her experiences. Mother Teresa's Lessons of Love and Secrets of Sanctity is Susan's first book, followed by Praying In The Presence Of Our Lord With Mother Teresa (an updated version of which is due out soon). Today, Susan travels around the country giving presentations on her experiences with Blessed Teresa of Calcutta. Susan also translates books from French into English. Each book translation relates to Saint Thérèse of Lisieux, including The Power of Confidence by Father Conrad DeMeester, The End of the Present World and the Mysteries of the Future Life by Father Charles Arminjon, and The Plays of St. Thérèse of Lisieux. Susan has made numerous personal and television appearances for local as well as worldwide audiences. On EWTN's global television network, she hosted a 13-part mini-series of shows called "Speaking of Saints" as well as a brand new mini-series called "Coming to Christ" which started airing on EWTN in June 2014. Susan published a new book from Our Sunday Visitor which served as a "companion" to the mini-series, sharing the title: "Coming to Christ: Resting in His Love." Just in time for Christmas 2014 Susan published her 9th book - the nearest and dearest to her heart - about her own beloved mother. Like her website, it is titled: "A Legacy of Love" and contains personal reflections upon her kind, loving and gentle mother. It has already been referred to as her magnum opus, the greatest of her works, the fruit of an 8-1/2 year labor of love.Susie Loyd
Susie Lloyd is the youngest of a big Catholic family. Her early education came from reading good books (the TV broke) and from her parents who made her memorize the Baltimore Catechism. She is a wife, mom of seven, and a homeschool lifer. She has an existential crisis towards the end of each school year whether she needs it or not.She is the surprised recipient of three Catholic Press Association awards. Her first two books, Please Don’t Drink the Holy Water and Bless Me, Father, for I Have Kids (Sophia Institute Press) bring comic relief to Catholic homeschooling families in the modern world. Her latest book, Yes, God! draws parenting lessons from the home lives of young priests and religious. Her articles have appeared in Faith and Family, Catholic Digest, Latin Mass Magazine, Crisis, Catholic Match Blog, Catholic Answers Magazine, Franciscan Way, TAN Homeschool Blog, and National Catholic Register. She writes from the middle bench of her beat up minivan.
Professor Helen M. Alvaré
Helen M. Alvaré is an Associate Professor of Law who prior to joining the George Mason faculty was an associate professor at Catholic University's Columbus School of Law. Professor Alvaré received her law degree at Cornell University in 1984 and a master's degree in systematic theology from The Catholic University of America in 1989.Professor Alvaré practiced with the Philadelphia law firm of Stradley, Ronon, Stevens & Young, specializing in commercial litigation and free exercise of religion matters. For three years, she worked at the Office of General Counsel for the National Conference of Catholic Bishops, where she drafted amicus briefs in leading U.S. Supreme Court cases concerning abortion, euthanasia and the Establishment Clause. For the next ten years, she worked with the Secretariat for Pro-Life Activities at the NCCB. There, she lobbied, testified before federal congressional committees, addressed university audiences, and appeared on hundreds of television and radio programs on behalf of the U.S. Catholic bishops. She also assisted the Holy See on matters concerning women, marriage and the family, and respect for human life.
Professor Alvaré chaired the commission investigating clerical abuse in the Archdiocese of Philadelphia and is an advisor to Pope Benedict XVI's Pontifical Council for the Laity, as well as an ABC News consultant. Her scholarship regularly treats current controversies about marriage, parenting, and the new reproductive technologies.
Dr. Janet Smith
Janet E. Smith is the author of Humanae Vitae: A Generation Later and of the Right to Privacy and the editor of Why Humanae Vitae Was Right: A Reader. Prof. Chris Kaczor and Prof. Smith co-authored Life Issues, Medical Choices, Questions and Answers for Catholics. She has recently edited with Fr. Paul Check, Living the Truth in Love: Pastoral Approaches to Same Sex Issues. Her articles have been published in many academic journals, has been a regular columnist for the National Catholic Register and blogs on CatholicVote.com.She is serving a third term as a consulter to the Pontifical Council on the Family and serves the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian unity as a member of the Anglican Roman Catholic International Commission, III
She has received two honorary doctorates and several other awards for scholarship and service.
Prof. Smith has appeared on the Geraldo show, Fox Morning News, CNN International, CNN Newsroom, AlJazeera and has done many shows for various series on EWTN.
More than two million copies of her talk, “Contraception: Why Not” have been distributed.
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Conference Details
The 2018 Catholic Women's Conference in Worcester, MA will take place November 10, 2018 on the campus of Assumption College.
When: November 10, 2018
Where:
Assumption College
500 Salisbury St
Worcester, MA 01609