California Catholic Women's Forum

Marriage & Family: Now That's Good for the Children!

The Catholic View for Women of the 21st Century

4-21-2007

CDs of this forum are now available.

Our third forum looks at marriage and family from the eyes of the Church. It takes the 'feminine genius' one step further, applying woman's gift in the married state as the bearer - of new life.  From Mulieris Dignitatem, our guiding document: "The mutual gift of the person in marriage opens to the gift of a new life . . the woman 'discovers herself through a sincere gift of self.'"

Then, once woman is in the vocation of wife and mother, how can she raise her kids in the 21st century? What is the pro-life and pro-family vision of the Catholic Church? How can we make it work in the 21st century? Come here the answers to these and other questions.
Fidelity, Marriage, Family, Society - the Pro-Life, Pro-Family vision - THAT is True Feminism for Real Women.

This forum and speakers have been endorsed by the Rev. Msgr.Francis V. Cilia, Vicar General, The Chancery, Diocese of San Jose. Letter of endorsement [pdf].

Holiday Inn San Jose
(formerly Hyatt San Jose) | Directions
1740 N. 1st Street,  Woodside Room
San Jose, California
408-793-3300

8:30 am (beverages included) until 1:00 pm (lunch included)

Invite family and friends! Download the full brochure. [pdf:239kb]

 

Our Speakers:

Jennifer Roback Morse, Ph. D.,Founder, Ruth Institute, Fellow, Acton Institute for religion and liberty
Dr. Morse has a dream - a pro-life and pro-family dream. Her dream is not modest in scope. It involves a change in the hearts of people. Her dream moves forward, so that we can be who we should have been from the beginning. 

Dr. Morse brings a unique voice to discussions of love, marriage, sexuality and family. Born into a Catholic working class family, Dr. Morse earned a doctorate in economics during her twelve year lapse from the faith. A committed career woman before having children, she taught economics for fifteen years at Yale University and George Mason University.  The devastating experience of infertility brought her to her knees and back to the practice of the Catholic faith. 

In 1991, she and her husband adopted a two year old Romanian boy, and gave birth to a baby girl. She left her full-time university teaching post in 1996 to move with her family to California. Until August 2006, Dr. Morse and her husband were foster parents for 8 children in San Diego County, where they now reside. She is Senior Research Fellow at the Acton Institute for the Study of Religion and Liberty and was a Fellow at Hoover Institution from 1997-2005. She was John M. Olin visiting scholar at Cornell Law School in 1993.

In July 2006,  Dr. Morse was one of the few Americans who lectured at the Fifth World Meeting of Families in Valencia Spain, sponsored by the Pontifical Council on the Family.  Dr. Morse lectured in Rome in April 1997 and in January 2006 at Acton Institute conferences celebrating the Papal encyclical, Centesimus Annus. 

Dr. Morse writes and speaks about love, marriage, sexuality and the family, as well as economics. She is the author of Smart Sex: Finding Life-Long Love in a Hook-up World, (2005) and Love and Economics: Why the Laissez-Faire Family Doesn’t Work (2001).  She is a regular contributor to National Catholic Register, National Review Online, Town Hall, MercatorNet, and To the Source. Her public policy articles have appeared in Forbes, Policy Review, The American Enterprise, Fortune, Reason, the Wall Street Journal, Vital Speeches, and Religion and Liberty.

Dr. Morse’s scholarly articles have appeared in the Journal of Political Economy, Economic Inquiry, the Journal of Economic History, Publius: the Journal of Federalism, the University of Chicago Law Review, and the Harvard Journal of Law and Public Policy, Social Philosophy and Policy, The Independent Review, and The Notre Dame Journal of Law Ethics and Public Policy.   

Her widely acclaimed presentations combine high quality information from the social sciences, the riches of traditional Catholic teaching and her own personal faith journey.
Dr. Morse’s website: www.jennifer-roback.-morse.com

Martha McRoskey, Graduate Santa Clara Univ., mother of 7.
Mrs. McRoskey brings her practical experience to the conference as a wife of 26 years and mother of seven children, ranging in age from 24 to 10.  A busy mother, she developed a reputation as a go-to person for tips on how to raise children well. Her advice is sound and based on Catholic principles. She has developed a philosophy of parenting that is both practical and inspiring.

Presently, Mrs. McRoskey is involved in issues affecting college students, the MySpace world of high school youth, and the busy lives of elementary school children. She is the founder of Parents in Prayer, a prayer ministry for Catholic schools in the San Diego Diocese and is an active member of St. James Parish in Solana Beach, California. A graduate of Santa Clara University, she worked in marketing and advertising prior to having children.  

External Links:

Read About Us

California Catholic Women’s Forum plans April 21 conference on family
March 2007 , The Valley Catholic, the Good News in the Diocese of San José

California Catholic Women’s Forum to explore cultural issues of women in society
October 2005, The Valley Catholic, the Good News in the Diocese of San José

Married Love and the Gift of Life, United States Council of Catholic Bishops booklet
In this thoughtful statement the bishops of the United States reflect on God's wonderful plan for marriage-the ability of a man and woman to form a lasting bond of love and life. In an engaging question and answer format, the bishops explain Church teachings on conjugal love and responsible parenthood and the methods of Natural Family Planning which support those teachings.

In Depth
MULIERIS DIGNITATEM Of Pope John Paul II On the Dignity and Vocation of Women On the Occasion of the Marian Year On the Vatican's website.