The Kennedy Lecture is an annual event that is the gift of Thomas and Richard Kennedy, in memory of their parents, Keith and Joan Kennedy. This series aims to challenge us and to stimulate thinking by engaging prominent persons in the field of religion and ethics.
View the video of Fr. Thomas Massaro's lecture here.
Opening prayer by Pastor Jim Shea, SJ and introduction to speaker by Kennedy Lecture Chair Peter Judge (Lecture starts at 9:00).
Click here for Fr. Tom Massaro's LECTURE Outline
LAUDATO SI' study groups this March! REGISTER Read Pope Francis' letter here
The 20th Annual Kennedy Lecture JANUARY 25, 2020 in the church
features Father Thomas Massaro, S.J. "Caring for Our Common Home: Pope Francis' Call for an Integral Ecology"
Thomas Massaro, S.J., is Professor of Moral Theology at Fordham University. A Jesuit priest of the Northeast Province, he served as professor of moral theology at Weston Jesuit School of Theology in Cambridge, Massachusetts, at Boston College, and at Jesuit School of Theology of Santa Clara University, where he also served as Dean.
Father Massaro holds a doctorate in Christian social ethics from Emory University. His nine books and over one hundred published articles are devoted to Catholic social teaching and its recommendations for public policies oriented to social justice, peace, worker rights and poverty alleviation. A former columnist for America magazine, he writes and lectures frequently on such topics as the ethics of globalization, peacemaking, environmental concern, the role of conscience in religious participation in public life, and developing a spirituality of justice. His most recent book analyzes the social teachings of Pope Francis.
Besides teaching courses on many aspects of Catholic social teaching and the role of religion in public life, he seeks to maintain a commitment to hands-on social activism. He served a six-year term on the Peace Commission of the City of Cambridge and is a co-founder and national steering committee member of Catholic Scholars for Worker Justice. He enjoys speaking to popular as well as professional audiences on many topics regarding faith-based social justice advocacy.
Kennedy Lecture Committee
Peter Judge, Chair
Cynthia Aziz
Christine Pearson
Cyndi Rios
Suzie Shermer
Joan Guthrie
Fr. James Shea SJ
Past Lecturers
2019 Hadia Mubarak, Ph.D. "Growing Up Muslim in America: At the Crossroads of Faith". See the video at this link: Hadia Mubarak, Ph.D. Lecture 2019
2018 Bishop George V. Murry, S.J.,Chair of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops Ad Hoc Committee Against Racism. “The Times Demand it, the Gospel Demands it: Confronting the Sins of Racism”. See the video at this link: Bishop George Murry Lecture 2018
2017 Fr. Greg Boyle, SJ “Save the World or Savor It? Being Reached by the Widow, Orphan and Stranger.” See the video at this link: Greg Boyle St Peter Kennedy Lecture 2017 Download Video as MP4
2016 Gerard Mannion, DPhil., Amaturo Professor in Catholic Studies at Georgetown University “Remembering the Future and Re-engaging the People of God: Pope Francis and Vatican II”
2015 Edwina Gateley “Discipleship: Giving Birth to God in a Contemporary World”
2014 Rev. Daniel Groody, CSC “Dying to Live: Migration,Human Trafficking and Theology”
2013 Rev. Bryan Massingale, S.T.D. “The Dark Nights of Malcolm X: Catholic Spirituality and the Challenge of Social Justice”
2012 Br. Guy Consolmagno, SJ “The Heavens Proclaim: Astronomy and the Search for God”
2011 Fr. William O’Neill, SJ “Catholic Social Teaching on Immigration and Its Theological Origins”
2010 Margaret O’Brien Steinfels “Reinventing Catholic”
2009 Edward Kessler “Challenges in Jewish-Christian Relations”
2007 Shawn Copeland “Who is My Neighbor?”
2006 Thomas J. Reese, SJ “Survival Guide for Thinking Catholics”
2005 Luke Timothy Johnson “Faith and Possessions”
2004 Susan A. Ross “Women’s Work as Unopened Gift”
2003 James F. Keenan, SJ “Living With an Adult Conscience”
2002 Stanley Hauerwas “Why the American Way of Death is not the Christian Way”
2001 Megan McKenna “Parables: Visiting the Kingdom”
2000 Sidney Callahan “Tomorrow’s Church: New Roles for Men and Women”