Sister Helen Prejean, others to speak at biennial Catholic Social Tradition Conference

Guests including anti-death penalty advocate Sister Helen Prejean, of “Dead Man Walking” fame, and Bishop Alfred Agyenta of Ghana will deliver remarks during the upcoming Catholic Social Tradition Conference from March 23 to 25 at the University of Notre Dame.

Hosted by the Center for Social Concerns, “Justice Sown in Peace: 60 years since Pacem in Terris” will mark six decades since Pope John XXIII’s seminal encyclical on peace in truth, justice, liberty and charity.

It will also celebrate two 40-year-old milestones: the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ pastoral on war and peace, “The Challenge of Peace: God’s Promise and Our Response,” and the founding of the Center for Social Concerns by Rev. Don McNeill, C.S.C.

“This is the center’s seventh biennial Catholic Social Tradition Conference, and it’s become an important opportunity for scholars and practitioners from around the world to work together to understand and apply the Church’s social teaching to the challenges we face,” said Suzanne Shanahan, the Leo and Arlene Hawk Executive Director of the Center for Social Concerns.

Occurring on a biennial basis, the three-day conference will examine issues of justice with a particular focus on migration, racism, violence, political structures and internationalization, among other critical concerns of the day.

In addition to Bishop Agyenta, the third Indigenous bishop of the Navrongo-Bolgatanga Diocese, and Sister Prejean, guests will include Michelle Becka of Julius-Maximilians University, Marie Dennis of Pax Christi International, Bernard Prusak of King’s College and fellow educators and thought leaders from across the globe.

The Center for Social Concerns is an interdisciplinary institute dedicated to justice education and research for the common good.

For more information, visit socialconcerns.nd.edu.