Deb Bauer, president of Mater Ecclesiae College.

As stated on the Regnum Christi website, the mission of the RC movement is “to bring Christ’s redemptive message to every heart, and to imbue every human endeavor with the spirit of the Gospel…to extent Christ’s Kingdom in full collaboration with the Church and its bishops.”

RC consecrated woman Deb Bauer will get the opportunity to fulfill this mission in a notable fashion starting this month both on the local and national level.

Deb, who is President of Mater Ecclesiae College in Greenville, Rhode Island, has been invited to attend a conference on the New Evangelization in Washington, DC from September 15-17, 2011, and to participate as a member of the New Evangelization Committee for the diocese of Providence, Rhode Island.

On the National Level

The New Evangelization conference is sponsored by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) Committee on Doctrine and the School of Theology and Religious Studies at The Catholic University of America.  Deb’s invitation was extended by Cardinal Donald Wuerl, who serves as Chairman of the Committee on Doctrine for the USCCB.

Deb is one of 50 young Catholic theologians selected to participate in the USCCB conference entitled “The Intellectual Tasks of the New Evangelization.” Those nominated must have received a doctorate in theology or a field related to the New Evangelization within the last five years. 

Deb has a doctorate in Education, and her dissertation is “Lay Principals and Catholic Elementary Schools: Upholding Catholic Identity.”  Hailing from Durand, Wisconsin, Deb has been a member of the consecrated women for 13 years.

“I’m excited to attend,” said Deb.  “Evangelization is my passion.”

Deb remembers “getting goose bumps” as she first read one of her now favorite documents, “Evangelization in the Modern World” written by Pope Paul VI.  She knew after reading the document she felt called to do just that.  “Before I was even called to be consecrated, I knew I was called to missionary work.

“I have been following the new Vatican committee on Evangelization ever since it was established,” she said. “There will be a synod on this topic next year.  I am eager to see how we will apply the ideas during the upcoming conference, and I am excited to represent Regnum Christi and be able to take back what I learn to share with everyone in the movement.”

Some of the speakers at the USCCB conference will include Cardinal Daniel DiNardo of Galveston-Huston; Dr. Janet E. Smith, from Sacred Heart Seminary in Detroit; Dr. John Cavadini from the University of Notre Dame; and Archbishop J. A. DiNoia, OP, secretary, Vatican Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments.  The closing Mass will be celebrated by Cardinal  Wuerl.

On the Local Level

Deb has also been invited by Msgr. Jacques L. Plante, head of the New Evangelization Committee for the Diocese of Providence, to be a member of his committee.

Msgr. Plante said in his letter to Deb that he had been asked by the Bishop of Providence, Thomas Tobin, to put together a committee of people from around the diocese who could “provide suggestions and ideas on the ongoing work of evangelization” in the Diocese of Providence.

According to Deb, Msgr. Plante sees the committee as “contemplative” and a sort of “think tank.”  Msgr. Plante said, “I believe that this committee would offer good insights on ways and opportunities for us to inculcate a Catholic Ethos among our own members and thereby within the general society as well.”

Deb explained that she is acquainted with Msgr. Plante from her work in student outreach in the Providence diocese. “”He is coming this month to Mater Ecclesiae to say the inaugural Mass to begin our school year,” she said.

Let’s keep in our prayers Deb and all the young theologians and Church leaders working toward the goal of a New Evangelization!