Berkley Center

Writing for Commonweal, Berkley Center Director Thomas Banchoff discusses how the Israel-Hamas war creates new challenges for Vatican diplomacy.

Senior Fellow Jocelyne Cesari moderated a January 25 book talk on Contextualizing Sectarianism in the Middle East and South Asia: Identity, Competition, and Conflict (2023), discussing the complexities, challenging narratives, and impact of sectarianism. This event was part of the International Studies Association's religion and international relations book talk series.

Writing for America, Joan Rosenhauer quoted Senior Fellow Rev. David Hollenbach, S.J.'s Berkley Forum essay on U.S. Catholic attitudes towards refugees, written as part of the Berkley Center's Religion and the Crisis of Displaced Persons project. Both Hollenbach and Rosenhauer are members of the Culture of Encounter Project Working Group on Displaced Persons and Hospitality to the Stranger.

Senior Fellow Paul Elie was the featured speaker at the 24th Annual Kennedy Lecture at St. Peter Catholic Church in Charlotte, North Carolina, on January 27. He discussed issues including Pope Francis’ vision for Catholicism, the role of women in the church, Dorothy Day's path to canonization as a saint, and the continued relevance of Thomas Merton.