Notre Dame to host conference on Christian care for the poor | News | Notre Dame News | University of Notre Dame Skip To Content Skip To Navigation Skip To Search University of Notre Dame Notre Dame News Experts ND in the News Subscribe About Us Home Contact Search Menu Home › News › Notre Dame to host conference on Christian care for the poor Notre Dame to host conference on Christian care for the poor Published: November 07, 2013 Author: Michael O. Garvey Theologians and other scholars will gather for a conference at the University of Notre Dame on Nov. 14 (Thursday) and Nov. 15 (Friday) to explore the origins and implications of care for the poor in Christian life, thought and teaching. The conference, “Blessed Are the Merciful: Charity as Sacramental Action,” sponsored by the Institute for Church Life (ICL) and the Center for Social Concerns, was organized by John C. Cavadini, McGrath-Cavadini Director of the ICL, and Gary Anderson, Hesburgh Professor of Catholic Theology. Its theme is drawn from Anderson’s recently published book, “Charity: The Place of the Poor in the Biblical Tradition” (Yale University Press, 2013). “A certain responsibility for the poor and suffering is a fundamental obligation of any civil society,” Anderson said. “But we want to consider what motivated the church to become such a distinctive and prominent actor in meeting it. Of course the church wants to create a social order that is more just and equitable, but we want to consider the theological conviction that in assisting the poor, one encounters God, and to recover the deep sacramental sense that charity once held in the pre-modern church. “We had begun to organize the conference before the election of Pope Francis,” Anderson said, “but he has suggested that this sacramental sense seems to have diminished in modernity, and we want to propose ways that the church might reclaim it for our own time.” Carlos Eire, T. Lawrason Riggs Professor of History and Religious Studies at Yale University, will give the conference keynote lecture, “Charity and the Catholic Reformation,” at 7 p.m. Nov. 14 in the Eck Center auditorium. The conference is free and open to the public, but registration is required and available online here. Contact: Valerie McCance, 574-631-9195, vmccance@nd.edu Posted In: Faith Home Experts ND in the News Subscribe About Us Related October 03, 2022 dCEC to Award 2023 ND Evangelium Vitae Medal to Robert P. George September 22, 2022 In memoriam: Rev. Richard Warner, C.S.C., longtime leader for Notre Dame, Congregation of Holy Cross September 15, 2022 In new book on global Catholicism, Provost John McGreevy explores modern history, current challenges of the Church September 15, 2022 Death penalty abolitionist Sister Helen Prejean to speak at Notre Dame September 14, 2022 Apostolic nuncio to Great Britain to deliver the 2022 Keeley Vatican Lecture For the Media Contact Office of Public Affairs and Communications Notre Dame News 500 Grace Hall Notre Dame, IN 46556 USA Facebook Twitter Instagram YouTube Pinterest © 2022 University of Notre Dame Search Mobile App News Events Visit Accessibility Facebook Twitter Instagram YouTube LinkedIn