Rev. Msgr. Anthony Onyemuche Ekpo, undersecretary of the Vatican's Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development, will deliver the Keeley Vatican Lecture on Monday (Feb. 10) at 5 p.m. at the University of Notre Dame. Msgr. Ekpo will speak in 1050 Jenkins Nanovic Halls and University President Rev. Robert A. Dowd, C.S.C., will introduce him. All students, faculty, staff and the general public are invited to attend.

The Nanovic Institute for European Studies, part of Notre Dame’s Keough School of Global Affairs, will host this lecture and facilitate his visit with students, faculty and administrators. Msgr. Ekpo’s message is titled “The Reform of the Roman Curia and the Promotion of Integral Human Development.”

The Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development, founded by Pope Francis in 2016, frames its mission as “serving the Church in the world, for the development of each person and the whole person.” These concepts of “each person” and “the whole person” lie at the heart of the Keough School’s commitment to integral human development. Because of this synergy, the address is expected to produce a fruitful dialogue about how the Keough School and the University as a whole may engage with this critical component of Catholic Social Teaching.

“Msgr. Ekpo not only has a unique perspective to connect the Notre Dame community with the Vatican, but even more excitingly, he directly engages with integral human development, something we all focus on at the Keough School,” said Clemens Sedmak, director of the Nanovic Institute and professor of social ethics at the Keough School. “We look forward to engaging with him to learn how we can more fully integrate this core value into our work and what the Holy See is doing directly through the Dicastery.”

Msgr. Ekpo will participate in class discussions and meetings throughout his campus visit. The public lecture will be free and open to all. It will be recorded but not livestreamed. Everyone is invited to join a small reception after the presentation in the forum of Jenkins Nanovic Halls.

Msgr. Ekpo’s visit marks the 20th anniversary of the Nanovic Institute’s Keeley Vatican Lecture series, which aims to connect Church leaders with the Notre Dame community. Established in 2005 through the generous support of Notre Dame alumnus Terrence R. Keeley, class of ’81, the Keeley Vatican Lecture series brings lecturers to campus for several days, allowing them time to join classes, celebrate Mass with students and converse with faculty members.

The mission of the Keough School’s Nanovic Institute for European Studies is to strengthen Notre Dame’s presence in Europe, deepen the understanding of Europe within the Notre Dame community, and contribute to academic discourse and research on European studies. The institute seeks to enrich Notre Dame’s intellectual culture by creating an integrated, interdisciplinary home for students, faculty and visiting scholars to explore the evolving ideas, cultures, traditions, beliefs, moral challenges and institutions that shape Europe.

Contact: Tracy DeStazio, associate director of media relations, 574-631-9958 or tdestazi@nd.edu