Join priests, deacons and professional lay ministers from around the diocese for a day of formation on gender issues as they relate to ministry. We’ll be hearing from Dr. Abigail Favale, renowned speaker and author of Genesis of Gender, as she delves into the complex intersections of gender, faith, and ministry while sharing her own story of conversion from being a champion of secular gender ideology to rejecting those ideologies and becoming a devout Catholic.
This event invites priests, deacons, lay ministers, and charity directors to engage thoughtfully with contemporary challenges surrounding gender in today’s cultural landscape. Dr. Favale will offer a deep dive into her book’s themes, helping us better understand these complex issues and thereby preparing us to better minister to those in our care.
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Presenting
Abigail is a writer and professor whose work lies at the intersection of Catholic theology, literature, and women’s studies. Her abiding interest as a writer and scholar is the meaning and dignity of woman, and her work explores sexual difference and embodiment in the Catholic imagination.
Abigail supports MICL programming by writing and teaching on women, feminism, and gender from a Catholic perspective. She holds a concurrent appointment in the Department of Theology, where she teaches on topics like Edith Stein’s Theology of Woman and Religion & Literature.
Abigail has a bachelor's degree in philosophy from George Fox University, as well as a master's degree in Women, Writing and Gender and a Ph.D. in English Literature from the University of St. Andrews in Scotland. Her first book, Irigaray, Incarnation, and Contemporary Women's Fiction (Palgrave 2013) was awarded the 2014 Feminist and Women's Studies Association Book Award. Her second book is Into the Deep: An Unlikely Catholic Conversion (Cascade 2018), a spiritual memoir that traces her journey from birthright evangelicalism to postmodern feminism and, finally, to the Catholic Church. Abigail's most recent book, The Genesis of Gender: A Christian Theory, was published in 2022 by Ignatius Press and has already been translated into multiple languages. Her numerous essays have appeared in MICL's Church Life Journal, The Atlantic, First Things, Public Discourse, Comment, and elsewhere. Abigail is also a fiction writer and was awarded the J.F. Powers Prize for Short Fiction in 2017.
She lives with her husband, Michael, and their four children in South Bend, Indiana.
Attendees will receive a free copy of Abigail's book Genesis of Gender
"The question of gender—who we are as men and women—has never been more pressing, or more misunderstood.
Weaving personal experience with expert knowledge, Dr. Abigail Favale provides an in-depth yet accessible account of the gender paradigm: a framework for understanding reality and identity that has recently risen to prominence. Favale traces the genealogy of gender to its origins in feminism and postmodern thought, describing how gender has come to eclipse sex, and how that shift is reshaping language, law, medicine, sexuality, and our own self-perceptions.
With substance, clarity, and compassion, Favale teases out the hidden assumptions of the gender paradigm and exposes its effects. Yet this book is not merely an exposé—it is also a powerful, moving articulation of a Christian understanding of reality: a holistic paradigm that proclaims the dignity of the body, the sacramental meaning of sexual difference, and the interconnectedness of all creation. The Genesis of Gender is a vital, timely resource for anyone seeking to better understand the gender paradigm—and how to live beyond it."
Schedule
9 – Mass
9:30 - Fellowship
10 – Diocesan Staff Welcome - Dr. Favale's Presentation
11:00– Table Discussions
11:20– Break
11:30 – Q&A
12:00 – Lunch
1:00 – Afternoon Begins
1:05 – Discussion Scenario 1 (20 min)
1:25 – Panel Scenario 1 (15 min)
1:40 – Discussion Scenario 2 (20 min)
2:00 – Panel Scenario 2 (15 min)
2:15 – Break (10 Min)
2:25 – Discussion Scenario 3 (20 min)
2:45– Panel Scenario 3 (15 min)
3:00 - End