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We don’t know why it is, but programs and ministries specifically directed at the needs and concerns of men are few and far between.
Not just in the Church, but in society at large.
Maybe it’s because men are expected to be strong and tough and the solvers of everyone else’s problems. Maybe they’re not seen as natural caregivers, or oriented toward spirituality. Maybe the old stereotype of men as the warriors and breadwinners of the world—a valid stereotype for centuries—has not yet worn off.
Whatever the reason, it was good to see the archdiocese try to fill that gap with its inaugural Men’s Conference held two weeks ago at Fordham University with the theme “Men, Be Who You Are.”
A day-long program, the conference drew 550 men, many in their 40s and 50s but also with a good number of younger men and senior citizens too. They came from all over the archdiocese and surrounding areas, traveling to Fordham on the day after a major snowstorm.
And in an especially telling sign, there was an 85-man waiting list—indicating the strong interest and need for programs like this.
Kudos to Kimberly Quatela, chairperson of the archdiocesan Men’s Commission, who did much of the planning and organization along with her husband, Steve, and other commission members.
She said one of the goals was to remind men that they’re very much needed by the Church. “They have a role, and it’s vital,” she told Catholic New York in an article about the event on Page 3.
Kudos, too, to Cardinal Dolan for providing the inspiration and encouragement of an initiative he’s been wanting to see in the archdiocese ever since he arrived in 2009.
In his keynote address, the cardinal cautioned against the trend in today’s society to place a premium on “having and doing rather than being.”
“Our worth, our identity, our dignity comes not from what we have or do. It comes from what we are,” he said.
Other speakers were Joe Klecko, the former NY Jets’ defensive lineman, and Damon Owens, executive director of the Theology of the Body Institute.
From the welcome remarks by Fordham president Father Joseph McShane, S.J., that opened the program, to the Benediction and Mass celebrated by Auxiliary Bishop Peter Byrne that closed it, the archdiocesan Men’s Conference was a resounding success.
We’re eager to see what else the Men’s Commission will have on tap in the months and year ahead. It’s an exciting mission they’ve undertaken, and it’s one that will do a world of good for a population that’s too often overlooked.
