Since many parishioners have enjoyed attending past events put on by Communion and Liberation as well as Crossroads, we wanted to highlight an upcoming online talk that will be held on Saturday, September 19:

“Christians in the US are facing the dramatic question of how to engage with major social issues like racism. Some feel that they have a duty to “do something,” while others fear the ideological and destructive mindset of some of the protest movements. Holding an original and creative Christian position is hard, and the temptation to align with one of the two major political sides is strong.

European Catholics faced a very similar dilemma in the wake of the historic student protests of 1968, and their experience still has something to teach us. The question of the engagement of Catholics in a society torn by civil strife was the subject of a deep reflection by Monsignor Luigi Giussani, the founder of the movement of Communion and Liberation. The very name of the movement he started reflected a conscious decision to try to bring what is most specific to Christianity (Communion) to bear on the aspirations for justice that shape our society (Liberation).

In an online conversation moderated by Prof. Paolo Carozza, renowned theologian Stanley Hauerwas, and history professor John Zucchi will revisit a classic text by Fr. Giussani from 1976, From Utopia to Presence. In this text, Fr. Giussani addressed precisely the question of how Christians should participate in social life and respond constructively to the challenges posed by social justice movements like those active today in America.”

For more information or to register for the online discussion, please visit http://www.crossroadsculturalcenter.org/events/2020/9/19/from-utopia-to-presence.html