Day on Hope and Healing
Featured Panelists
Paul F. Aspan, Ph.D.
Paul F. Aspan, Ph. D., Associate Professor of Theology, joined the SJU Theology Department in the Fall of 1987. In addition to holding degrees in theology and religion from Notre Dame and Yale Divinity School, respectively, his doctorate from Vanderbilt is in New Testament. His other areas of teaching and publication also include Catholic Higher Education, Theology and Pedagogy, Fundamentalism, and Religious, Violence and Terrorism. He served as chair of the SJU Theology Department throughout the 1990's and currently directs the SJU Teaching Institute.
Mary Liz Austin
Mary Liz Austin is the president of Healing Voices, Inc., a Maryland based non-profit serving survivors of clergy sexual abuse. She is a pastoral counselor who received her training at Loyola College in Baltimore. The board of Healing Voices includes therapists, spiritual directors and clergy abuse survivors. The organization attempts to provide recovery resources and other opportunities for healing. More information can be found at www.healingvoices.org.
Raquel Kennedy Bergen, Ph.D.
Raquel Kennedy Bergen is an Associate Professor and Chair of the Department of Sociology at St. Joseph’s University in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She is the author of numerous scholarly publications and the books, Wife Rape: Understanding the Response of Survivors and Service Providers;” and Issues in Intimate Violence. With Claire Renzetti and Jeff Edleson she edited, Sourcebook on Violence Against Women and the recently published anthology, Violence Against Women: Classic Statements. In 2004 she was appointed to the Pennsylvania State Ethics Commission. She has volunteered as an advocate for battered women and sexual assault survivors for the past 15 years.
Reverend Walter Cuenin
Rev. Walter Cuenin was ordained for the Archdiocese of Boston in 1970. He has a doctorate in Sacramental theology from the Gregorian University in Rome. He has been adjunct professor at Weston Jesuit School of Theology and at Boston College in the Institute for Religious Education and Pastoral Ministry. He is the pastor of one of Boston's largest parishes at the center of the sex abuse crisis. He is a founding member of the Boston Priests' Forum and a leader in the response to this crisis.
Beverly Cutler, Ph.D.
Bev Cutler, PhD, has been a staff psychologist and adjunct faculty at St Joe's since 1990. She earned her doctorate at Temple University and received postdoctoral training at the Psychoanalytic Center of Philadelphia. Her professional interests include bereavement and human sexuality.
Edward Hastings, Ph.D.
Edward Hastings is currently the Director of the Center for Sport, Spirituality and Character Development at Neumann College in Aston, Pa. He holds a Doctoral degree from Duquesne University in Formative Spirituality and a Master's degree in Systematic Theology from The Washington Theological Union.
Elizabeth Jaeger, Ph.D.
Elizabeth Jaeger is an Assistant Professor of Psychology at St. Joseph's University. She received her Ph.D. in psychology from Temple University and her B.A. in psychology from Earlham College. Prior to joining the faculty at St. Joseph's University, Dr. Jaeger served as an Assistant Research Professor in the Department of Psychology at Temple University.
Dr. Jaeger's research is concerned with both basic and applied issues as they relate to the impact of early care and education on children's development. From 1995- 2001, she served as a Co-Principal Investigator on the NICHD Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development. The study is a national, multi-site longitudinal study examining the effects of variations in early rearing experiences on development through fifth grade. Dr. Jaeger has been especially interested in the impact of ethnicity on variations in childcare contexts and their influence on child development.
Dr. Jaeger has also been involved in a number of evaluations of child care interventions in Philadelphia. She served as a Co-Principal investigator on the evaluations the Philadelphia Early Childhood Collaborative and an initiative called "Child Care Matters". Both were local efforts aimed at increasing the supply of high quality child care in Philadelphia communities. Dr. Jaeger was the Principal Investigator for the Philadelphia Child Care Quality study, conducted for the Improving School Readiness Project of the United Way of Southeastern PA (UWSEPA). This research informed the design of the Early to Learn: Partners for School Readiness (E2L) project, a multi-faceted intervention being implemented by UWSEPA to help children enter school ready to learn. Dr. Jaeger is currently serving as the Principal Investigator for the evaluation of E2L, and its related literacy initiative known as Early to Read.
In addition to her research on early care and education, Dr. Jaeger's research focuses on the antecedents and consequences of parent-child attachment relationships across the life cycle. Currently, Dr. Jaeger's students are examining such issues as the impact of individual differences in attachment relationships on language competence in preschoolers and on eating disorder symptoms in college women.
Sister Marie LaBollita S.C.
Marie LaBollita S.C. is a pastoral associate at Our Lady Help of Christian's Parish in Newton, Ma which was recognized as one of the best parishes in the country in a book entitled: Excellent Catholic Parishes. Marie received her Masters Degree in Pastoral Ministry and Religious Education from Emmanuel College. She has extensive experience in pastoral care and counseling. Since the sexual abuse crisis in Boston, Marie continues to reach out as a strong advocate for victims of abuse and their families.
Elizabeth A. Linehan, RSM, Ph.D.
Dr. Elizabeth Linehan is an Associate Professor of Philosophy at Saint Joseph's. She chaired the philosophy department for fifteen years. Her teaching and research interests focus on issues connected with violence, and on exploring nonviolent alternatives for responding to evil. She has taught courses on Violence and Nonviolence, Criminal Justice Ethics, and Ethics and Public Policy. She has published several articles on capital punishment, and is presently on sabbatical writing on restorative justice. Betsy is also a member of the Religious Sisters of Mercy.
Alice McCormick, M.Div., M.O.M., L.Ac.
Alice is a priest sexual abuse survivor who has been involved in the survivor community since 1990. She holds a Masters of Divinity from the Earlham School of Religion and was involved in ministry to the poor and homeless before earning a Masters of Oriental medicine from the International Institute for Chinese Medicine. As a Licensed Acupuncturist and Chinese Medicine Herbalist, Alice has a private practice in Chinese Medicine where she treats a variety of problems, including post traumatic stress and imbalance created in the body, mind and emotions as a result of trauma. Alice is married and has two wonderful school-aged children.
Gerard J. McGlone, S. J., Ph.D.
Gerard J. McGlone, S.J. Ph.D. is currently a Visiting Jesuit Fellow at Saint Joseph’s University. He is also a clinical and research fellow at John Hopkins University School of Medicine, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences. He was appointed to this position in July 2001. He has recently been re-appointed to this same status, until July of 2004. He is an Assistant Professor (applied) at Georgetown University, School of Medicine, Department of Psychiatry. He has also been an Adjunct professor at Loyola College in Baltimore where he has taught psychological assessment. He has also been Co- Director of Research and staff therapist at the National Institute for the Study, Prevention, and treatment of Sexual Trauma. He has been a psychotherapist in many settings while in California, Massachusetts, and Maryland for almost 14 years. He graduated from CSPP- San Diego in 2001 with a Ph.D. degree in Clinical Psychology. He also has 2 Masters, one in Divinity and the other in Theology and 2 in Psychology- Clinical and Counseling Psychology.
His dissertation topic focused on Roman Catholic Clerical sexual offenders and his current research at Johns Hopkins has been on non-clerical sexual offenders. His research at Georgetown will focus on the effects of trauma on faith based communities and how faith based communities might prevent domestic violence in all of its forms.
Fr. Jerry is also a Jesuit priest of the Maryland Province of the Society of Jesus. He entered the Jesuits in 1975. He has taught both at the high school and at the college levels. He has worked as a pastoral associate in many parishes in California, Pennsylvania, and in Maryland. He was ordained a priest by Archbishop Borders in Baltimore in 1987. He is originally a native of Philadelphia, Pa. He currently resides in the Jesuit Community at Saint Joseph’s University.
Edward Miller, Ph.D.
Edward Jeremy Miller began teaching theology at Ohio Dominican College in 1969. He received his Ph.D. (1975) and S.T.D.(1982) degrees from the University of Louvain, Belgium. From 1975 until 1985 he was professor of Roman Catholic theology in the Divinity School of Emory University (Atlanta) and was chairman of its Ph.D. program (Systematic Theology) in Emory's Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. After two years as an officer of the National Endowment for the Humanities, he became dean of the Graduate School, College of New Rochelle in 1987. Since 1992 he has been professor of religious studies at Gwynedd Mercy College. He has published widely on the thought of John Henry Cardinal Newman and on various subjects in medieval theology and systematic theology. He and his wife, Kathleen, have two sons in university.
Catherine T. Nerney, Ph.D.
Catherine T. Nerney, a Sister of St. Joseph of Chestnut Hill, Philadelphia received her Ph.D. in systematic theology from The Catholic University of America. Currently, she is Associate Professor of Religious Studies at Chestnut Hill College in Philadelphia, where she serves as Chair of its Graduate Holistic Spirituality programs, as well as the undergraduate Religious Studies Department. Her area of specialization is the Theology of the Church (Ecclesiology).
In addition to her teaching and research, Sister Catherine Nerney continues to be active in the pastoral renewal of the church, particularly at the parish and diocesan level. As an ongoing theological consultant and presenter for Renew International, Sister Cathy is committed to the promotion of more supportive structures for sustaining Christian life as “life together.” The Church’s ministry of forgiveness and reconciliation is at the center of its community life. Her writing focuses on the everyday experiences of concrete communities as the locus for raising theological questions. She lectures widely on the relationship between authentic community and the Church’s on-going call to conversion, communion and solidarity, three core elements of a maturing, contemporary spirituality. Her most recent book with Hal Taussig, Ph.D. is called Re-Imagining Life Together in America: A New Gospel of Community and is available from Sheed and Ward.
Brian Ortale, M.Div, M.Ed., J.D.
Brian Ortale, B.A., M.Div., M.Ed., J.D., a former Campus Minister and Dean of Students at Catholic Colleges has been an adjunct in the theology department at Saint Joseph's University for six years. His doctoral work in religious ethics at Temple University, to be completed in 2005, combines his interest in First Amendment Law and religion in society. His dissertation topic for the Ph.D. focuses on the separation of church and state and the establishment of programs of religion at state universities. Having spent 22 years in higher education he approaches the clergy sexual abuse crisis in the Catholic Church first from the perspective of the needs of the individuals who have been harmed and the ministry of the Church to heal that harm and secondly from the perspective of the institutional and structural changes needed to heal the harm the crisis has done to the Church.
John J. Rooney, Ph.D.
John J. Rooney, Ph.D., is Emeritus Professor in the Department of Psychology and Director of the Master’s program in Clinical Counseling Psychology at La Salle University. He has also served as Department Chair, Director of the Counseling Center and President of the Faculty Senate at La Salle University. After attending Roman Catholic High School and La Salle College, he received his M.A. and Ph.D. from Temple University. A licensed psychologist in Pennsylvania, he is a member of the American Psychological Association, the American Counseling Association and other professional societies. For several years he had served as a consultant to a number of religious communities and diocese, conducting assessments of candidates for the priesthood and religious life. He has published research, conducted workshops, and presented scholarly papers on this work.
Joseph G. Schaller, Psy.D.
Joseph G. Schaller, Psy.D., is a psychologist in independent practice in Wayne and Doylestown Pennsylvania. After studies in theology, he received an M.F.T. degree from the family therapy program at Hahnemann University (now affiliated with Drexel University) and his doctoral degree from Widener University. In addition to his work with adults, children and families, Dr. Schaller conducts psychological assessments for candidates for ministry in a variety of denominations, and is an Adjunct Professor in the Institute for Graduate Clinical Psychology at Widener University.