
Friendship provides the wellspring for nurturing community as we turn toward one another for common understanding, inspiration, and company. Friendship is one of the great gifts of life. Even so, we know that it requires effort and intentionality. This is no less so in the Church. Making meaningful friendships is essential to being a synodal Church that walks together in Christ, listening for the Spirit’s call.
Our walking together will not advance far if we settle for making friends with those with whom we already agree. Rather, we are called by the Spirit to the creative endeavor of making friends across our various differences, sitting shoulder-to-shoulder at the table in solidarity to break bread and share stories. In doing so, we trust that such friendships will, over time, reveal our shared friendship in Christ.
We are reminded that Pope Leo XIV, in his first public address, affirmed our call when he said: “We want to be a synodal Church… a Church that always seeks peace, that always seeks charity, that always seeks to be close especially to those who suffer.” In a world so given to division, polarization, and rancor, we will come together in friendship and as church to offer a hopeful and prophetic witness. Please join us.
Event Description:
Celebrating its second year, the 2026 Together at the Table gathering examines the creative task of making friends as integral to the synodal path of the Church. We invite all to share in the journey as we gather to explore the challenge of friendship by:
- Breaking bread at table through meals and at Eucharistic liturgy.
- Mutual sharing and listening to one another’s stories of faith during roundtable conversation.
- Pondering the witness and wisdom of ecclesial leaders, including Cardinal Timothy Radcliffe, OP.
- Celebrating artistic expressions of friendship and synodality as shared through the artwork of JST-SCU students, faculty, staff and alumni.
Together at the Table (TATT) is an international gathering that inspires synodal action in mission and explores the transformative power of synodal pathways in reimagining the Church of the 21st Century – a Church that invites better listening, better spiritual conversation, and better discernment of God in community. Organized by the Jesuit School of Theology of 58ºÚÁÏÍø and hosted at the 58ºÚÁÏÍø Mission Campus, TATT welcomes participants to listen and engage with invited speakers and esteemed ecclesial leaders, to lend their voice in meaningful dialogues and thoughtful roundtable discussions, and cultivate a community of prayerful reflection and fellowship to ensure that every voice is heard. Join us! Your seat at the table awaits you.
- Additional Resources
About Cardinal Radcliffe
"Cardinal Timothy Peter Joseph Radcliffe, O.P., theologian, was born in London, in the Archdiocese of Westminster, on 22 August 1945, and joined the Dominican Order in 1965. After completing his studies in Oxford and Paris, he began teaching Sacred Scripture at the University of Oxford. Ordained a priest on 2 October 1971, and actively engaged in the peace movement, he also carried out his pastoral ministry among AIDS sufferers. From 1982 to 1988 he was prior of the Oxford Convent, then provincial of England from 1988 to 1992, and finally master general of the Dominican Order from 1992 to 2001. An internationally renowned speaker, lecturer, preacher and writer, he is a member of CAFOD (Agency of the Catholic Church of England and Wales, engaged in charitable support and development work in overseas countries) and the Theological Commission of Caritas International. He has received honorary degrees from Oxford University and other academic institutions in France, Italy and the United States. In 2007 he was awarded the Michael Ramsey Prize for theological writing.
He was created and proclaimed Cardinal by Pope Francis in the Consistory of 7 December 2024, and was assigned the deaconry of SS. Nomi di Gesù e Maria in via Lata."
Program Agenda Full Text
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8:00 |
Registration Continental Breakfast |
Locatelli Center |
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9:00 |
Formal Welcome |
President Julie Sullivan |
Locatelli Center |
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9:20 |
Opening Prayer |
Locatelli Center |
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9:30 |
Conversation in the Spirit at Round Tables |
Locatelli Center |
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10:00 |
Morning Plenary “I Call You Friends: Synodality and Friendship” |
Cardinal Timothy Radcliff |
Locatelli Center |
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11:00 |
Conversation in the Spirit at Round Tables |
Locatelli Center |
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11:45 |
Movement to Liturgy |
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12:05 |
Eucharistic Liturgy |
Mission Church |
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13:00 |
Lunch/Break |
Mission Room Benson Center |
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14:00 |
Resume Conference Gathering Together for Conversation in the Spirit in Triads |
Locatelli Center |
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15:00 |
Synodal Panel & Dialogue |
Elyse Raby, Moderator Cardinal Timothy Radcliffe Sr. Sujatha d’Souza Lydia Tinajero-Deck Sabina Ruiz |
Locatelli Center |
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16:00 |
Closing Prayer |
Locatelli Center |
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16:30 |
Reception |
Locatelli Center |
