Preparing my keynote address for the third “Lived Catholicism” conference hosted by Durham University’s Centre for Catholic Studies, I found myself pondering the connections, overlaps, or distinctions between what we might call and observe empirically “lived Catholicism” and what writers like Oliver Burkeman, Christian Dillo, and others attribute to “aliveness.” I used this plus my experience as a consultor to the synod as inspiration for the talk, comparing a “lived Catholicism” approach to “alive Catholicism.”

I’m grateful to conference organizers and participants for the opportunity to dialogue about Catholicism both ordinary and extraordinary, alive and lived.