Elissa Roper
I am a theologian specialising in synodality in the Catholic Church. I am interested in building a mature, responsible and loving Church. I live in Australia and my writing has a focus on developing foundations for Catholic ecclesiology in a new era of synodality. I explore how such foundations may support the praxis and good governance of synodality.
I am currently looking for employment. I have wide experience in lecturing, communicating, event and webinar presentations to local and international audiences, intercultural learning and teaching, project management, and finding novel solutions through collaboration and friendship.
From 2015-2024 I worked with the Program of Theology for women in Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands; a partnership in tertiary theological education between the Sisters of Mercy and the Divine Word University (DWU). I am an approved lecturer in systematic theology and communications in this Program, and Adjunct Senior Lecturer with DWU.
I was managing this Program for three years with responsibilities including funding applications, quality assurance, policy creation, budgeting, and managing relationships with our 13 lecturers, 168 students, leaders, bishops, and other ecclesial bodies.
I have been a sessional academic with the Australian Catholic University (ACU). In my IT career I have been a sessional lecturer with Swinburne University of Technology, Ballarat University, Box Hill Institute of Tafe and Northern Melbourne Institute of Technology.
I provided a theological reflection on "Becoming a more synodal Church" for the Assembly of the Federation of Catholic Bishops Conferences in Oceania, February 2023. I assisted the Drafting Committee of the Fifth Plenary Council of the Catholic Church in Australia in 2022.
In mid-2024 I was invited to be a member of the Australian Lutheran- Roman Catholic Dialogue.
I am a member of the Australian Catholic Theological Association (ACTA) and the Institute of Sisters of Mercy of Australia and Papua New Guinea (ISMAPNG) Theological Association.
I was a member of the Catholic Archdiocese of Melbourne’s Ecumenical & Interfaith Commission for four years before its decommissioning in March 2021. This role included hosting the Pontifical Commission for Interreligious Dialogue (PCID) in September 2018. I was a member of the Victorian Council of Church’s Faith and Order Commission for six years, and the VCC Liaison Officer on the Board of the Jewish Christian Muslim Association of Australia.
Since 2015 I have presented papers at conferences including ANZATS, ACTA, the Australian Lonergan Workshop, the Fourth International Receptive Ecumenism Conference, Women as Church Conference, ISMAPNG Theological Association, Postgraduate Student Experience Symposium, ACU Postgraduate Conference, and the UD Research Days.
My husband and I have four children.
Keynote address to the Diocese of Sandhurst Assembly 2023: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gM_WUmusWzs&t=1853s
Keynote speaker Mission 2023 Conference: One Voice Many Hearts https://2023.mohmv.com.au/presenters/
Blog: https://onwiththesynod.wordpress.com
Series "Exploring synodality in Lent" 2022: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCGlYft88ioko98wyLnq_86A
Webinar "Our Voices": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KAbi2BdhU54&t=1692s
John Wallis Lecture Oct 2022: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JeUZg2wVjPk
Response to the 2021 Cardijn Lecture by Rafael Luciani: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ihx1zsbBvjU&t=3233s
Twitter: @elissa_roper
Supervisors: Dr Sr Kathleen Williams rsm
I am currently looking for employment. I have wide experience in lecturing, communicating, event and webinar presentations to local and international audiences, intercultural learning and teaching, project management, and finding novel solutions through collaboration and friendship.
From 2015-2024 I worked with the Program of Theology for women in Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands; a partnership in tertiary theological education between the Sisters of Mercy and the Divine Word University (DWU). I am an approved lecturer in systematic theology and communications in this Program, and Adjunct Senior Lecturer with DWU.
I was managing this Program for three years with responsibilities including funding applications, quality assurance, policy creation, budgeting, and managing relationships with our 13 lecturers, 168 students, leaders, bishops, and other ecclesial bodies.
I have been a sessional academic with the Australian Catholic University (ACU). In my IT career I have been a sessional lecturer with Swinburne University of Technology, Ballarat University, Box Hill Institute of Tafe and Northern Melbourne Institute of Technology.
I provided a theological reflection on "Becoming a more synodal Church" for the Assembly of the Federation of Catholic Bishops Conferences in Oceania, February 2023. I assisted the Drafting Committee of the Fifth Plenary Council of the Catholic Church in Australia in 2022.
In mid-2024 I was invited to be a member of the Australian Lutheran- Roman Catholic Dialogue.
I am a member of the Australian Catholic Theological Association (ACTA) and the Institute of Sisters of Mercy of Australia and Papua New Guinea (ISMAPNG) Theological Association.
I was a member of the Catholic Archdiocese of Melbourne’s Ecumenical & Interfaith Commission for four years before its decommissioning in March 2021. This role included hosting the Pontifical Commission for Interreligious Dialogue (PCID) in September 2018. I was a member of the Victorian Council of Church’s Faith and Order Commission for six years, and the VCC Liaison Officer on the Board of the Jewish Christian Muslim Association of Australia.
Since 2015 I have presented papers at conferences including ANZATS, ACTA, the Australian Lonergan Workshop, the Fourth International Receptive Ecumenism Conference, Women as Church Conference, ISMAPNG Theological Association, Postgraduate Student Experience Symposium, ACU Postgraduate Conference, and the UD Research Days.
My husband and I have four children.
Keynote address to the Diocese of Sandhurst Assembly 2023: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gM_WUmusWzs&t=1853s
Keynote speaker Mission 2023 Conference: One Voice Many Hearts https://2023.mohmv.com.au/presenters/
Blog: https://onwiththesynod.wordpress.com
Series "Exploring synodality in Lent" 2022: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCGlYft88ioko98wyLnq_86A
Webinar "Our Voices": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KAbi2BdhU54&t=1692s
John Wallis Lecture Oct 2022: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JeUZg2wVjPk
Response to the 2021 Cardijn Lecture by Rafael Luciani: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ihx1zsbBvjU&t=3233s
Twitter: @elissa_roper
Supervisors: Dr Sr Kathleen Williams rsm
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Papers by Elissa Roper
Several themes are emerging as foundational to the task of building a synodal Church. This paper focusses upon three in order to demonstrate synodality as commitment to transformation: journeying, bridge-building, and responsibility.
This paper employs the theology of Bernard Lonergan and the Transcendental Method of intentional consciousness as the most appropriate means of engaging with synodality and its demands upon philosophical and theological thinking. Concrete examples of the paradigm of synodality at work in the life of the contemporary Church are drawn from recent diocesan synods in the USA, and from the words and actions of Pope Francis. These are also instructive for Australia’s Plenary Council in 2021-2022.
Book Reviews by Elissa Roper
This book review was added to Amazon Reviews:
https://www.amazon.com/Theological-Notion-Human-Person-Conversation/product-reviews/303431258X?reviewerType=all_reviews
Conference Presentations by Elissa Roper
It was a short presentation given at the 2016 Postgraduate Student Experience Symposium, supported by the Australian Government Office for Learning and Teaching.
https://postgraduatestudentexperience.com/symposium-presentation-videos/
Thesis Chapters by Elissa Roper
The unique contribution of this thesis to the field of ecclesiology is through its engagement with Lonergan’s insights into transcendental consciousness and its relationship to theological method, in order to investigate and provide foundations for synodality, and to define synodality as the Catholic Church being authentic in the contemporary world.
The self-understanding of the Catholic Church in the contemporary world requires development of an ecclesiology that is dynamic and relational, and supportive of a vision of mature and co-responsible members of the Church. Foundations for such an ecclesiology will ground this vision, pointing to it as a journey that supports growth in authenticity, and therefore the healing, co-responsibility, and missionary activity of the People of God. This thesis describes what it means for the Catholic Church to exercise synodality in its praxis and governance, while demonstrating that synodality is already emerging and impacting upon all of the Church’s relationships.
Several themes are emerging as foundational to the task of building a synodal Church. This paper focusses upon three in order to demonstrate synodality as commitment to transformation: journeying, bridge-building, and responsibility.
This paper employs the theology of Bernard Lonergan and the Transcendental Method of intentional consciousness as the most appropriate means of engaging with synodality and its demands upon philosophical and theological thinking. Concrete examples of the paradigm of synodality at work in the life of the contemporary Church are drawn from recent diocesan synods in the USA, and from the words and actions of Pope Francis. These are also instructive for Australia’s Plenary Council in 2021-2022.
This book review was added to Amazon Reviews:
https://www.amazon.com/Theological-Notion-Human-Person-Conversation/product-reviews/303431258X?reviewerType=all_reviews
It was a short presentation given at the 2016 Postgraduate Student Experience Symposium, supported by the Australian Government Office for Learning and Teaching.
https://postgraduatestudentexperience.com/symposium-presentation-videos/
The unique contribution of this thesis to the field of ecclesiology is through its engagement with Lonergan’s insights into transcendental consciousness and its relationship to theological method, in order to investigate and provide foundations for synodality, and to define synodality as the Catholic Church being authentic in the contemporary world.
The self-understanding of the Catholic Church in the contemporary world requires development of an ecclesiology that is dynamic and relational, and supportive of a vision of mature and co-responsible members of the Church. Foundations for such an ecclesiology will ground this vision, pointing to it as a journey that supports growth in authenticity, and therefore the healing, co-responsibility, and missionary activity of the People of God. This thesis describes what it means for the Catholic Church to exercise synodality in its praxis and governance, while demonstrating that synodality is already emerging and impacting upon all of the Church’s relationships.