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2024 Annual Cardinal Bernardin Lecture featuring Papal Nuncio, Cardinal Christophe Pierre

April 11, 2024 at 7pm

McCormick Lounge, Coffey Hall, LSC

This lecture, named  after Joseph Bernardin, Cardinal Archbishop of Chicago from 1982 to 1996, for his influential work toward Church reform after the Second Vatican Council through his Catholic Common Ground Initiative. Bernardin further sought to address social issues, especially in developing his “Seamless Garment Ethic of Life" He also worked toward ecumenism and interfaith dialogue throughout his life. This year’s Bernardin Lecturer was Cardinal Christophe Pierre, Apostolic Nuncio to the United States. His lecture was entitled, "Pope Francis: Discernment and the Dialectic of Mercy."

The Aparecida paradigm of see-judge-act has proven to be a highly effective method for analyzing both society and the Church, as it applies a distinctive Christian perspective throughout all three stages of the process. In the current change of epoch facing society, Pope Francis is furnishing the Church with the appropriate hermeneutical key to see, judge, and act. This key involves embracing a dialectic that adheres to the Ignatian maxim “non coerceri a maximo, sed contineri a minimo divinum est.” From the perspective of the small, of the restricted spaces, one gains a sharper perception of the larger context. Discerning what the Church should do today, particularly in dialogue with a post-secularized society, can be achieved by paying attention to the marginalized and the peripheries. In these encounters, Christians experience the transformative power of grace and continually learn the language of mercy through dialectical experiences. Here, the Church reappropriates her proper incarnational dimension and an eucharistic perspective that guides her discernment.

This event is free and open to the public. Event Video Coming Soon.

Watch the 2024 Bernardin Lecture with Cardinal Christophe Pierre!