On May 27, at 2pm Rome time, the participants of the Program of Church Management 2019/2020 presented their Capstone Projects in order to complete their year-long journey with us. Each participant had in fact prepared a final project, which can be useful for his/her diocese or religious community, using the best practices and skills learned in class.
On May 21, 2020 we hosted a Webinar of the Speaker Series “Stewards of Providence: Making the Resources of the Church Fruitful.”
Luca Olivari (Leader of the Consulting unit at LUISS Business School, former Advisor to the General Council of the Marist Brothers,) Sr. Patricia Murray, IBVM (Executive Secretary of the International Union of the Superiors General - UISG,) and Sr. Gabriella Bottani, SMC (Global coordinator of Talitha Kum, the International Network of Consecrated Life Against Trafficking in Persons) spoke about Managing Networks in International Religious Congregations. Roberto Dandi, Faculty member at the Program of Church Management, will moderate the webinar.
ABSTRACT: Like all organizations with an international orientation, religious orders and congregations need to coordinate and relate with overseas communities and balance between control and local autonomy. The ability to create synergies across and within Countries may be key to be efficient and united. Moreover, global challenges require more complex networks of collaboration, including inter-congregational and inter-faith networks. What international models are best suited to thrive in today’s world? How do these models balance between control and local adaptation?
Luca Olivari, a management consultant for over 20 years, leads the Consulting unit of LUISS Business School. Mr. Olivari has been Adjunct Professor for Organization Turnaround at LUISS Business School since 2006 and instructor of Management at the Program of Church Management. From 2014 to 2019, he was Advisor to the General Council of the Marist Brothers, supporting the restructuring of the global management of their Education Institutes across 80 countries, covering more than 700 entities.
Sr. Patricia Murray, IBVM, is Executive Secretary of the International Union of the Superiors General (UISG.) Sr. Pat, a religious of the Institute of the Blessed Virgin Mary (Loreto Sisters,) has a Master’s degree in both Education and Theology and a Doctorate in Practical Theology. She is a member of the General Council of her congregation and is the former Executive Director of Solidarity with South Sudan, a network of 260 religious congregations focused on building the capacity of South Sudanese to become teachers, registered nurses, midwives, sustainable farmers and pastoral agents.
Sr. Gabriella Bottani, SMC, has been the global coordinator of Talitha Kum, the International Network of Consecrated Life Against Trafficking in Persons, since 2015. Talitha Kum is part of the UISG and coordinates the anti-trafficking efforts of about 2,000 religious sisters across 77 countries. Before leading Talitha Kum, Sr. Bottani played an essential role in advancing anti-trafficking efforts in Brazil by serving vulnerable children and women in favelas and leading a national campaign against human trafficking before and during the 2014 FIFA World Cup. Throughout her career, her work has inspired generations of anti-trafficking advocates within the Catholic faith.
Take a peek at Luca Olivari's presentation:
If you wish to watch the whole webinar please click on the video below:
Transparency and Governance in the Churchis the title of the webinar we hosted on May 5, 2020.
The webinar explored how best practices of organizational transparency can be applied to Church management contexts, and the direct and indirect ethical implications of transparency practices for Church managers. It identified the ethical considerations that should be taken into account in transparency-related decision making processes (for example, privacy, security, accountability, etc.)
It also considered if the idea of “crystalline transparency” is realistic and appropriate in Church management contexts, through the examination of over 20 years of research and professional practice of experts of the sector.
Msgr. Martin Schlag
Director of the Markets, Culture and Ethics Research Centre
Claudia Ciocca
Former Director at the Secretariat for the Economy of the Holy See
Antonino Vaccaro
Academic Director of the Center for Business in Society, IESE
David Bender, Jr.
Partner Haynes and Boone, LLP
Here is an introductory video made for the webinar:
You may watch the recording of the webinar here:
Many questions were asked during the webinar. We have collected them here, hoping to address them fully in the future.
