Today began a three-day symposium discussing Maryknoll's vision and role for the 21st century. The symposium was sponsored by the Maryknoll priests and brothers, the sisters, the lay missioners, and the affiliates as a joint effort as part of the celebrations of the 100th anniversaries for the priests and brothers and sisters.

The first day of the symposium was hosted at the seminary building by the Maryknoll Society, the priests and brothers. A registration desk was set up in the lobby for the 250 people who signed up to attend.

Once participants had arrived, many gathered in the seminary's Spellman Room where coffee and tea and pastries were available.

The opening ceremony began with a procession led by four ribbon banners representing the four continents where Maryknoll works.

Then one member each from the Society, the Congregation, the Maryknoll Lay Missioners, and the Maryknoll Affiliates participated in a panel discussion and spoke of the present situation of their respective groups.

At lunch time, all the participants were invited to eat together in the old seminary dining room downstairs.

There were four major speakers for the symposium, and the first was Dr. Patricia Licuanan from the Philippines, a graduate of the Maryknoll Sisters' school in Manila. Here she is introduced by Sr. Suzanne Moore before she spoke on the context and challenge of the church in Asia.

A small-group discussion and reporting followed Dr. Lucanan's talk, and then in the evening, dinner was served at the seminary for those of us staying at Bethany, the Maryknoll Lay Missioners headquarters building. There Charlie Dittmeier reconnected with Fr. Tony Brennan who was pastor at the Lok Fu parish in Hong Kong where Charlie was first assigned as a Maryknoll associate priest.