Association of Pittsburgh Priests 

"Women and men responding to God's baptismal call to renew ourselves and the Catholic Church, welcoming and including all, for a world of mercy, justice and peace."

In his pastoral letter, Living in the Light of Christ’s Peace: A Conversation Toward Nuclear Disarmament, Archbishop Wester called for discussion on nuclear disarmament as a vital step toward peace in our troubled world. He will reflect on the importance of this conversation and its progress since the letter’s publication on January 11, 2022. He will also address concerns that have emerged since January and how they make the conversation even more urgent. He hopes that our country, indeed, the world, will awake from its slumber and come to recognize the need to disarm from nuclear weapons before it is too late. To prepare for the session, he recommends listening to President Kennedy’s “Peace Speech”, at American University on June 10, 1963 (Just Google it!). 

Archbishop Wester was ordained a priest in San Francisco in 1976. After several pastoral assignments, he was ordained a bishop in 1998 and served as auxiliary bishop of San Francisco until 2007 when he was installed as Bishop of Salt Lake City. Then, on June 4, 2015 he became Archbishop of Santa Fe. Soon after, he completed a profoundly moving trip to Hiroshima and Nagasaki. 

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Save the Dates - Spring 2023 Future Speakers

March 8, How To Stand with Goals of the Pittsburgh Black Collective with Kathy Wilson Humphrey, PhD

April 4, After Palm Sunday: Public Liturgy and Liberation with Ched Myers 

May 2, Women’s Leadership in the Catholic Church: Oxymoron? Token? Reality? with Carolyn Woo, Phd

Special Presentation

History and Significance of APP - 60 years after Vatican II

Art McDonald, author of A Progressive Voice in the Catholic Church in the United States: Association of Pittsburgh Priests, will share how for 56 years APP has worked for a welcoming, inclusive, participatory Church with a strong voice calling for justice and peace in our world.

Hear the stories! Experience the community!      Register

JANUARY: roll out of new APP website, database, and event platform. This has enabled APP to expand its reach and attract members and speaker attendees from well beyond the Pittsburgh area, including international participants!

FEBRUARY: APP members were prominently involved in the Synodality Working Group to promote sessions and provide trained facilitators and resources for local Synod sessions in February and throughout the year.

MARCH: APP Synodal Sessions Stop Banking the Bomb Regular involvement in actions to persuade PNC Bank to stop funding corporations that create nuclear weapons. Support included a letter of congratulations to Fr. Carmen D’Amico for introducing a resolution at the PNC Board Meeting calling for disinvestment.

SPRING SPEAKERS: Fr. Daniel Horan, OFM (Franciscan Spirituality for Today), Olga Segura (Catholic Call To End White Supremacy), Cybelle Shattuck (Care for Our Common Home – Green Congregations), Casey Stanton (The Gift of Women), plus a conversation that included Archbishop John Wester on Nuclear Disarmament.

APRIL: APP’s Holy Week Statement on Ukraine, accompanied by a contribution from APP Board and Members to Catholic Relief Services for humanitarian relief in Ukraine.

JUNE: APP Statement on Abortion, after the Dobbs decision, calling for a pastoral, spiritual approach regarding abortion and the culture of life.

SEPTEMBER: An APP letter to Bishop Zubik and pastors diocesan-wide applauding the Diocesan Synod Report and encouraging continued use of the Synodal Process as a way of promoting community, participation and mission in the new parishes.

FALL SPEAKERS: Tricia Bruce & Emily Reimer-Berry (Abortion: Where Do We Go from Here?), Paul Taylor (Finding Hope in the Darkness of Racism), Kat Doyle (Laudato Sí Action), Heidi Schlumpf (Update on Synodality). Presentations on Zoom have an audience beyond the Pittsburgh area and are posted on You Tube for a wider audience. Many sessions have follow-up sessions for further reflection and action. 

NOVEMBER: Friend Art McDonald explores APP’s connection to Vatican II – in person at Seton Hill University, St. Vincent University, Duquesne, and St. Mary Magdalene Parish.

DECEMBER: APP Education Committee sponsors Maureen Crossen presentation on liturgy.

ONGOING: APP hosts numerous Synodal sessions for persons whose parishes did not provide such opportunities. Many of the comments recorded at those sessions were echoed in the national report and the Vatican’s Continental Working Document, the next step in the Churchwide process.  

Sharing Our Treasure

APP 2022 charitable gifts for Church renewal and a more just, peaceful world

• Partners in Progress (Haiti) 
• Casa San José (Pittsburgh’s Latino community)
• Future Church
• Association of U.S. Catholic Priests

• Voice of the Faithful
• NETWORK Lobby for Catholic Social Justice 
• Pax Christi, Pittsburgh 
• Just Harvest
• Jewish Community Center for Loving Kindness 

• Sierra Club
• PIIN (PA Interfaith Impact Network) 
• New Ways Ministry
• Catholic Relief Services for Ukraine
• Post Gazette Strike Relief Fund

2022 and into 2023 with a Plus

Expanding our Ministry with your help

Your 2022 membership and support generated the impact. Now is the time to renew your APP Membership! By adding to your Membership Fee, you can empower APP to extend our impact in the coming year.

Where we would like to grow in 2023

• To underwrite the 2023 Speaker Series stipends and include speakers with larger stipends & perhaps travel 
• To cover our tech/marketing costs (website, marketing, etc.) 
• NEW! For outreach, especially to youth through Campus Ministry Programs, by offering Partial Scholarships to attend Conferences of Future Church & other organizations working for Church renewal 
• NEW! For venue fees for in-person or hybrid events, e.g. annual membership meeting, mountain top retreat 
• For contributions to organizations which work for APP values

Thank You for your past help.  And Thank You for considering to add a Plus to your Membership this year.  Donate Now

Synodality

APP is committed to doing all that we can to promote Synodality in Western PA. Synodality is a way of journeying forward, led by the Spirit, in our polarized world for our newly merged parishes, for lay groups associated with religious orders, and other groups wanting to live the Gospel more faithfully. Synodality is an on-going process – of listening to each other and for the Spirit, sharing hopes, experiencing supportive community, and being open and responsive to the pain of the world. Synodality is the way to grow as Church.

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