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Archbishop Borys Gudziak returns to Notre Dame to discuss cultivating hope in Ukraine

2025-02-26T13:00:00-05:00

Archbishop Borys Gudziak, president of Ukrainian Catholic University and Metropolitan-Archbishop of the Ukrainian Catholic Archeparchy of Philadelphia, spoke at Notre Dame’s 2022 Commencement and will return to campus to present the conference's keynote address on March 6. (Photo, inset, by Peter Ringenberg/University of Notre Dame)

The Nanovic Institute for European 91��Ƶ, part of the Keough 91��Ƶ of Global Affairs at the University of Notre Dame, will host a Ukrainian 91��Ƶ Conference March 6 (Thursday) through March 8 (Saturday). This international and interdisciplinary conference, titled “Revolutions of Hope: Resilience and Recovery in Ukraine,” is presented in collaboration with the Ukrainian Catholic University (UCU) and is dedicated to the ethics and politics of hope in contemporary Ukraine.

The keynote event for the conference will welcome Archbishop Borys Gudziak, president of Ukrainian Catholic University and Metropolitan-Archbishop of the Ukrainian Catholic Archeparchy of Philadelphia, who spoke at Notre Dame’s 2022 Commencement. He will return to the University to present “A Conversation on Cultivating Hope in Ukraine” along with Rory Finnin, professor of Ukrainian 91��Ƶ at the University of Cambridge and recipient of the 2024 Laura Shannon Prize in Contemporary European 91��Ƶ. This event, which will take place on March 6 at 5 p.m. in McKenna Hall 215, is part of the 2024-25 Notre Dame Forum focused on the theme “What do we owe each other?”

University President Rev. Robert A. Dowd, C.S.C., will offer opening remarks followed by an opening program featuring distinguished guests: Ambassador Oksana Markarova, Ukraine Mission to the U.S.; Bishop Kevin Rhoades, bishop of the Fort Wayne-South Bend Diocese; Taras Dobko, rector of Ukrainian Catholic University; and Mary Gallagher, the Marilyn Keough Dean of the Keough 91��Ƶ of Global Affairs.

Rooted in the Catholic intellectual tradition of integral human development — a core commitment of the Keough 91��Ƶ — the event will examine how hope serves as a powerful counterforce to what has been described as “integral human destruction,” including war, misinformation and the erosion of trust.

Clemens Sedmak, director of the Nanovic Institute and professor of social ethics at the Keough 91��Ƶ, said this conference captures a pivotal moment for Ukraine and the study of Ukraine globally. He noted that both the conference and keynote will take place just weeks after the three-year anniversary of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. “In that context, Ukraine needs our best scholarship, thought and solidarity,” he said.

Ukraine is relevant for a global audience, Sedmak added. “We also need to learn from Ukraine, a unique country that can teach us a lot about humanity as a whole.”

This public event welcomes all members of the Notre Dame community and the general public to discuss the institute's ongoing work with Ukraine through its Ukrainian 91��Ƶ Hub. This interdisciplinary initiative coordinates Ukraine-related scholarship and research across all Notre Dame colleges and schools.

“The Nanovic Institute is committed to participating in this vital work,” Sedmak concluded. “We look forward to hosting this conference and growing the life of the Ukrainian 91��Ƶ Hub at Notre Dame, its research, scholarship and our partnerships in Ukraine, particularly with UCU.”

In addition to this keynote event, the conference will host several cultural events (an art exhibition, a poetry and music event, and a screening of the award-winning documentary film “Porcelain War”), as well as public keynote sessions. Registration to attend panel discussions is free and open to all and closes on Friday, Feb. 28, at 3 p.m.

The conference is supported and co-sponsored by the Department of German, Slavic and Eurasian 91��Ƶ, the Kellogg Institute for International 91��Ƶ, the Kroc Institute for International Peace 91��Ƶ, the Notre Dame Democracy Initiative, Notre Dame Global, the Office of the President at Notre Dame, the Raclin Murphy Museum of Art and Ukrainian Catholic University.

Contact: Tracy DeStazio, associate director of media relations, 574-631-9958 or tdestazi@nd.edu

Undersecretary of the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development to deliver Keeley Vatican Lecture

2025-02-03T09:00:00-05:00

Rev. Msgr. Anthony Onyemuche Ekpo, undersecretary of the Vatican's Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development, will deliver the Keeley Vatican Lecture on Monday (Feb. 10) at 5 p.m. at the University of Notre Dame. Msgr. Ekpo will speak in 1050 Jenkins Nanovic Halls and University President Rev. Robert A. Dowd, C.S.C., will introduce him. All students, faculty, staff and the general public are invited to attend.

The Nanovic Institute for European 91��Ƶ, part of Notre Dame’s Keough 91��Ƶ of Global Affairs, will host this lecture and facilitate his visit with students, faculty and administrators. Msgr. Ekpo’s message is titled “The Reform of the Roman Curia and the Promotion of Integral Human Development.”

The Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development, founded by Pope Francis in 2016, frames its mission as “serving the Church in the world, for the development of each person and the whole person.” These concepts of “each person” and “the whole person” lie at the heart of the Keough 91��Ƶ’s commitment to integral human development. Because of this synergy, the address is expected to produce a fruitful dialogue about how the Keough 91��Ƶ and the University as a whole may engage with this critical component of Catholic Social Teaching.

“Msgr. Ekpo not only has a unique perspective to connect the Notre Dame community with the Vatican, but even more excitingly, he directly engages with integral human development, something we all focus on at the Keough 91��Ƶ,” said Clemens Sedmak, director of the Nanovic Institute and professor of social ethics at the Keough 91��Ƶ. “We look forward to engaging with him to learn how we can more fully integrate this core value into our work and what the Holy See is doing directly through the Dicastery.”

Msgr. Ekpo will participate in class discussions and meetings throughout his campus visit. The public lecture will be free and open to all. It will be recorded but not livestreamed. Everyone is invited to join a small reception after the presentation in the forum of Jenkins Nanovic Halls.

Msgr. Ekpo’s visit marks the 20th anniversary of the Nanovic Institute’s Keeley Vatican Lecture series, which aims to connect Church leaders with the Notre Dame community. Established in 2005 through the generous support of Notre Dame alumnus Terrence R. Keeley, class of ’81, the Keeley Vatican Lecture series brings lecturers to campus for several days, allowing them time to join classes, celebrate Mass with students and converse with faculty members.

The mission of the Keough 91��Ƶ’s Nanovic Institute for European 91��Ƶ is to strengthen Notre Dame’s presence in Europe, deepen the understanding of Europe within the Notre Dame community, and contribute to academic discourse and research on European studies. The institute seeks to enrich Notre Dame’s intellectual culture by creating an integrated, interdisciplinary home for students, faculty and visiting scholars to explore the evolving ideas, cultures, traditions, beliefs, moral challenges and institutions that shape Europe.

Contact: Tracy DeStazio, associate director of media relations, 574-631-9958 or tdestazi@nd.edu

Nanovic Institute awards 2025 Laura Shannon Prize to Megan Brown, author of ‘The Seventh Member State’

2025-01-23T10:03:07-05:00

The Nanovic Institute for European 91��Ƶ, part of the Keough 91��Ƶ of Global Affairs at the University of Notre Dame, has awarded the 2025 Laura Shannon Prize in Contemporary European 91��Ƶ to Megan Brown, associate professor of history at Swarthmore College, for her book “The Seventh Member State,” published by Harvard University Press.

One of the preeminent prizes for European studies, the Laura Shannon Prize is awarded each year to the best book that transcends a focus on any one country, state or people to stimulate new ways of thinking about contemporary Europe as a whole. This year’s award cycle considered books in history and the social sciences published in 2022 and 2023.

In its statement, the final jury recognized Brown’s book as a groundbreaking exploration of the role of Algeria in the European Economic Community.

“‘The Seventh Member State’ is an exciting and original book presenting a careful case study of the complex relationship between European integration, imperial ambitions and decolonization in the post-World War II era," they stated.

The jury also lauded Brown for her focus on Algeria’s role as a temporary member of the European Economic Community due to its status as a French colony until it reached independence in 1962. The book's narrative spans from the French insistence on including Algeria in the Treaty of Rome in 1957 — which aimed to mitigate anti-colonial sentiments during the Algerian Revolution — to the Cooperation Agreement of 1976, which formalized Algeria’s exclusion from the European Community.

“Brown analyzes the political and socioeconomic implications, legal issues and moral challenges that the emerging European Community faced while being confronted with Europe’s colonial past," the jury wrote. "She explores the delicacies of negotiating future relations with nations that had suffered centuries of oppression and exploitation, aiming for equality and mutual respect. Brown skillfully avoids oversimplification and refrains from any black-and-white painting. Her narrative captures the competition among European nations for resources and leadership, as well as the ambiguous attitudes toward race and religion that effectively excluded Muslim Algerians from European integration.

“‘The Seventh Member State’ is an exemplary multifaceted case study of Europe’s decolonization problems because it shows how the ideas of empire and colony, of metropole and periphery, of Eurafrica were all crucial for the birth of the European Union as we know it today.”

Brown will give a public talk and accept the prize at Notre Dame during the 2025-26 academic year. The date will be announced in a future communication.

The 2025 prize jury included an accomplished group of scholars from history and the social sciences: Rüdiger Bachmann, the Stepan Family College Professor of Economics at the University of Notre Dame; Alexander Beihammer, the Heiden Family College Professor of History at the University of Notre Dame; Kristen Ghodsee, professor and chair of Russian and East European studies at the University of Pennsylvania; Mark Gilbert, the C. Grove Haines Professor of History and International 91��Ƶ at Johns Hopkins University; and Stathis Kalyvas, the Gladstone Professor of Government and a fellow of All Souls College at the University of Oxford.

Now in its 16th year, the Laura Shannon Prize is made possible through a generous endowment from Laura Shannon (1939-2021) and her husband, Michael, Notre Dame class of ’58. Laura Shannon joined the Nanovic Institute’s advisory board in 2003 and served for many years. As well as her work in social services and family court mediation, she was a regular visitor to Europe, particularly to France where she honed her language skills and explored libraries and cultural centers. Claire Shannon Kelly and Katie Shannon carry on their parents’ legacy as members of the institute’s advisory board.

The 2026 Laura Shannon Prize is now accepting nominations. Books in the humanities published in 2023 or 2024 are eligible, and nominations are due Feb. 28.

The Nanovic Institute seeks to enrich Notre Dame's intellectual culture by creating an integrated, interdisciplinary home for students, faculty and visiting scholars to explore the evolving ideas, cultures, traditions, beliefs, moral challenges and institutions that shape Europe. The Laura Shannon Prize contributes to this mission by connecting the most groundbreaking scholarship in European studies to the Notre Dame community.

For additional information about the Nanovic Institute and the Laura Shannon Prize, visit nanovic.nd.edu/prize.

Originally published by Keith Sayer at nanovic.nd.edu on Jan. 22.

European Commissioner Mairead McGuinness to deliver 2024 Barrett Family Lecture

2024-04-24T08:00:00-04:00

The Nanovic Institute for European 91��Ƶ at the University of Notre Dame will welcome European Commissioner Mairead McGuinness to deliver the fourth Barrett Family Lecture on Friday (April 26) at Iveagh House in Dublin. Her lecture, titled “Ireland, the EU and the USA: Navigating the Future Together,” will begin at noon local time.

Since 2020, McGuinness has served as the European commissioner for financial stability, financial services and the Capital Markets Union. Before her appointment to this post, she was elected to several terms in the European Parliament from 2004 to 2020, also serving as its first vice president from 2017 to 2020. She has the distinction of being Ireland’s longest-serving member of the European Parliament.

From this unique vantage point, McGuinness will explore the challenges and opportunities in the evolving relationship between the EU and the United States. She will also discuss how Ireland can position itself to further this critical partnership.

Clemens Sedmak, director of the Nanovic Institute and professor of social ethics at the Keough 91��Ƶ of Global Affairs, said, “Commissioner McGuinness, owing to her role and experience, stands at the nexus of economic policy and the EU’s global relationships, much like Ireland itself.”

He also noted that “for us, as a European studies institute, what the future holds for Europe is at the forefront of our minds” and points to how McGuinness’ insights can add to the institute’s understanding of the “economic, social and political factors that are influencing this future, as well as the possible role of the United States in it.”

This timely lecture will address several central issues and questions in Europe and globally, including the EU’s strategic autonomy; the impact of populism, militarism and Putin on the Western world; regulatory convergence on issues such as climate change, sustainability and AI; the interplay between economic advancement and green initiatives; and the role of the Republic of Ireland in bridging European and American interests.

In addition, McGuinness will examine the productive role that the EU and U.S. could play in creating a shared future for Northern Ireland’s divided communities. These foci will add insights to several of the Nanovic Institute’s research priorities, including “peripheries” and big questions about Europe and humanity.

The Nanovic Institute and Notre Dame Dublin are jointly organizing this event, which is being hosted in Iveagh House by the Department of Foreign Affairs with partnering organization European Movement Ireland (EM Ireland). Since its formation in 1954, EM Ireland has sought to “develop the connection between Ireland and Europe, and to achieve greater public understanding of and engagement with the European Union and with [its] European partners.”

Noelle O Connell, CEO of EM Ireland, said, “As both EU and U.S. citizens head to the polls this year in an increasingly uncertain world, it is important to reflect on the key challenges and opportunities for the EU-U.S. relationship into the future. As an EU member state, Ireland has a pivotal role to play in this relationship given its history and strong ties with the United States of America. We at European Movement Ireland are delighted to be involved in this timely lecture with Commissioner McGuinness.”

The Barrett Family Lecture Series was established through the generous support of R. Stephen and Ruth Barrett and aims to bring prominent leaders in the fields of business, politics and the arts to Notre Dame Dublin and Notre Dame London to share their views on significant issues related to contemporary Europe with Notre Dame students, faculty and staff, as well as the wider community.

Previous speakers in this series include Chris Patten (2022), Lord Patten of Barnes and Chancellor of the University of Oxford; Catherine Day (2018), former secretary-general of the European Commission; and Peter Sutherland, S.C. (2015), then special representative of the secretary-general of the United Nations for migration and president of the International Catholic Migration Commission.

Originally published by Keith Sayer at nanovic.nd.edu on April 23.

Master of St. Edmund’s College and former British diplomat visits Notre Dame as Nanovic Forum Diplomat in Residence

2024-04-02T08:54:00-04:00

Catherine Arnold, master of St. Edmund’s College at the University of Cambridge, joined the University of Notre Dame between March 18 and April 5 as the Nanovic Forum Diplomat in Residence at the Nanovic Institute for European 91��Ƶ. While she devoted most of her stay in residence to class visits, meetings and similar private events, she will also offer a public lunch lecture at 12:30 p.m. Wednesday (April 3) in 1050 Jenkins Nanovic Halls. Combining her unique perspective as a leader in higher education and diplomacy, Arnold will demonstrate how diplomatic thinking can help educate thinkers and leaders for the future.

Before being named head of St. Edmund’s College, Arnold served with the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) in the United Kingdom with posts in Oman, Iraq, Iran and Afghanistan. In 2015, she was appointed the British ambassador to Mongolia where she served until 2018. Following her ambassadorship, she led units within the FCO, including the Illegal Wildlife Trade Unit, and helped the U.K. secure its bid to chair the 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference.

Because of her extensive diplomatic experience, the Nanovic Institute invited her to teach and advise its Diplomacy Scholars students during her stay. Clemens Sedmak, instructor of this course, director of the Nanovic Institute and professor of social ethics at the Keough 91��Ƶ of Global Affairs, said, “Ambassador Catherine Arnold has not only the experience of a world-class diplomat but the heart of an educator, researcher and journalist, making her an excellent choice for both our Diplomacy Scholars program and as a speaker for the Nanovic Forum, which focuses on bringing leaders from Europe to Notre Dame to engage with our students, faculty and community.”

Sedmak added that Arnold knows Notre Dame well, as the partnership between St. Edmund’s College and Notre Dame is important for the entire University. “We are pleased to deepen this connection,” he said. “Ambassador Arnold’s visit will be a boon to students within the Keough 91��Ƶ and across campus who are interested in global affairs, diplomacy and foreign policy.”

The lecture, titled “Diplomatic Thinking: Lessons in forming thinkers and leaders,” is open to all Notre Dame students, faculty and staff, as well as the general public. Participants will be offered lunch before the event, beginning at noon and while supplies last. The event will be recorded and published afterward on the Nanovic Institute’s YouTube channel, as well as archived on its website.

Generously established by Robert and Elizabeth Nanovic, the Nanovic Forum’s mission is to bring Europe’s leaders from many fields to Notre Dame to explore, discuss and debate the most pressing questions about Europe today. Past Nanovic Forum visitors have included, among many others, Mikuláš Dzurinda, prime minister of Slovakia (1998-2006); Giorgi Margvelashvili, former president of Georgia; Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović, former president of Croatia; and Anne Applebaum, Pulitzer Prize-winning historian and Polish American journalist.

Previous Nanovic Forum addresses may be watched on the Nanovic Institute’s website or YouTube channel.

Originally published by Keith Sayer at nanovic.nd.edu on March 28.

Contact: Tracy DeStazio, associate director of media relations, 574-631-9958 or tdestazi@nd.edu

Nanovic Institute awards 2024 Laura Shannon Prize to Rory Finnin for book on Crimean cultural history, ‘poetics of solidarity’

2024-01-31T08:00:00-05:00

The Nanovic Institute for European 91��Ƶ at the University of Notre Dame has awarded the 2024 Laura Shannon Prize in Contemporary European 91��Ƶ to Rory Finnin, professor of Ukrainian studies at the University of Cambridge, for his book “Blood of Others: Stalin’s Crimean Atrocity and the Poetics of Solidarity,” published by University of Toronto Press.

The $10,000 Laura Shannon Prize, one of the preeminent prizes for European studies, is awarded each year to the best book that transcends a focus on any one country, state or people to stimulate new ways of thinking about contemporary Europe as a whole. This year’s cycle of the award considered books in the humanities published in 2021 and 2022.

In its statement, the final jury praised Finnin’s work as a major contribution toward understanding the history and mechanisms of imperialism and resistance in the Black Sea region.

“Rory Finnin’s extraordinary study forges breakthrough integrations between Slavic and Middle Eastern studies to open up and adroitly explore a largely understudied ‘contact zone’ of imperial politics central to the ongoing reshaping of European conflict today: Stalin’s 1944 forced deportation of Crimean Tatars, a small Sunni Muslim nation, from its ancestral homeland,” they stated.

“Approaching Black Sea imperial politics in ways that draw upon and extend more familiar studies of cultural strife throughout the Mediterranean Rim, Finnin’s deeply researched and eloquently written study tracks the historical record of Black Sea contact zone experience among Russian, Ukrainian, Turkish and Crimean Tatar cultures from the eighteenth century up to the 1944 atrocity — which cost the lives of great numbers of Crimean Tatars, mostly women, children and the elderly — and its aftermath in more recent revisions of Soviet history.”

The jury lauded Finnin’s impressive range of linguistic skills that enable him to examine the subtleties of original poetry and prose writings from each of these cultures that “resist the tyrannies of imperial domination and inspire sympathy and understanding for ethnic ‘Others.’”

The jury also noted that Finnin “demonstrates the catalytic power of a ‘poetics of solidarity’ to enact social reform and justice. ‘Reading,’ as Finnin concisely puts it, ‘stops bleeding.’”

“The relevance of this book for the current war in Ukraine, as well as ethnic conflict zones throughout Slavic Europe and the Middle East, makes it essential reading for anyone engaged with the history, past and present, of resistance to imperial domination within and throughout the borders of Europe,” the jury stated.

The final jury also awarded a Laura Shannon Prize Silver Medal, which carries a monetary prize, to Katerina Clark, the B. E. Bensinger Professor of Comparative Literature and Slavic Languages and Literatures at Yale University, for her work “Eurasia without Borders: The Dream of a Leftist Literary Commons,” published by Harvard University Press.

The jury also awarded an honorable mention to Erica Moretti, assistant professor of Italian at the Fashion Institute of Technology-SUNY, for her book, “The Best Weapon for Peace: Maria Montessori, Education, and Children’s Rights,” published by University of Wisconsin Press.

The 2024 prize jury was composed of an accomplished group of scholars from the humanities at both American and European universities: Eliot Borenstein, professor of Russian and Slavic studies at New York University; Nicola Gess, professor of German literature at the University of Basel; Gregory Kucich, professor of English at the University of Notre Dame; Heather Hyde Minor, professor of art history at the University of Notre Dame; and Susan Stewart, the Avalon Foundation University Professor in the Humanities, Emerita, at Princeton University.

Now in its 15th year, the Laura Shannon Prize is made possible through a generous endowment from Laura Shannon (1939-2021) and her husband, Michael, class of ’58. Laura Shannon became a member of the Nanovic Institute’s advisory board in 2003, where she served skillfully for many years. As well as her work in social services and family court mediation, she was a regular visitor to Europe, particularly to France where she honed her language skills and explored libraries and cultural centers. Claire Shannon Kelly and Katie Shannon carry on their parents’ legacy as members of the institute’s advisory board.

The Laura Shannon Prize is now accepting nominations for its 2025 prize in history and social sciences. Books published in 2022 or 2023 are eligible, and nominations are due March 1.

The Nanovic Institute, as part of the Keough 91��Ƶ of Global Affairs, seeks to enrich the intellectual culture of Notre Dame by creating an integrated, interdisciplinary home for students, faculty and visiting scholars to explore the evolving ideas, cultures, traditions, beliefs, moral challenges and institutions that shape Europe. The Laura Shannon Prize serves an integral role in this mission by connecting the most groundbreaking scholarship in European studies to the Notre Dame community.

For additional information about the Nanovic Institute and the Laura Shannon Prize, visit nanovic.nd.edu/prize.

Originally published by Keith Sayer at nanovic.nd.edu on Jan. 30.

Former prime minister of Slovakia and hockey legends to present at Nanovic Forum

2023-11-21T09:00:00-05:00

The Nanovic Institute for European 91��Ƶ at the University of Notre Dame’s Keough 91��Ƶ of Global Affairs will welcome Mikuláš Dzurinda, who served as prime minister of Slovakia from 1998 until 2006, to deliver the Nanovic Forum lecture “The Challenges Facing Both Shores of the Atlantic” at 11 a.m. Nov. 30 (Thursday) in the Hesburgh Center Auditorium.

His address will consider the context of the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, terrorist activities in Africa and other factors causing global destabilization before offering a perspective on how democratic nations can respond in a united way.

Clemens Sedmak, director of the Nanovic Institute and professor of social ethics at the Keough 91��Ƶ, said, “This Nanovic Forum topic, offered by Mikuláš Dzurinda, a leader who continues to play a key role in European political life, could not be more timely. We are clearly in a period of destabilization and, in some cases, violence, and that reality requires a response from us. We know that Mr. Dzurinda will help us continue thinking about the content of that response and how we can counter the ‘integral human destruction’ we see in Ukraine, Israel and many other places with ‘integral human development.’”

Today, Dzurinda serves as president of the Wilfried Martens Centre for European 91��Ƶ, a think tank based in Brussels. Its mission is to “offer decision makers and opinion leaders assistance in formulating new and effective policy options. These will help the European Union become a strong global player, a reliable transatlantic ally and a better democracy promoter.”

In addition to Dzurinda’s lecture, the Nanovic Forum and the Nanovic Institute’s advisory board will host a panel discussion on “Resistance to Russian/Soviet Imperialism in the Words of the Elite Athletes of the Day” on the same day at 5 p.m. in Room 215, McKenna Hall.

Jane Heiden, chair of the advisory board, and her husband, Tom Heiden, chief architect and moderator of this program, will welcome former hockey players who resisted and, in some cases, defected from Soviet bloc countries during the late Cold War era. Invited panelists include Dmitri Khristich, Václav Nedomanský, Anton Šťastný and Peter Šťastný, who is also a member of the Nanovic Institute’s advisory board.

Jane Heiden said, “Today, we (all of us) face the most acute threat to the post-WWII values-based, rules-based order — Putin’s war on Ukraine and the reassertion of Russian imperialism. Today, people at Notre Dame, in the U.S., throughout Europe and around the world ought to learn of and reflect on what it was like to live under the heel of the boot of the Russian totalitarian bear — and to recall the courage of those who resisted then.”

By bringing together a group of elite athletes of that era to share what it was like to resist, the organizers aim to provide insights and urgency to the need to resist imperialism in our current geopolitical climate. This opportunity will also allow those who know these players from their time in the National Hockey League the opportunity to hear from them directly, embodying what Heiden referred to as “the intersection — here at Notre Dame — of academics and athletics.”

Both events are free and open to the public. All Notre Dame faculty, students and staff are invited to attend. Dzurinda will also be visiting several classes and meeting with key stakeholders during his visit to Notre Dame.

The mission of the Nanovic Forum, generously established by Robert and Elizabeth Nanovic, is to bring Europe’s leaders from many fields to Notre Dame to explore, discuss and debate the most pressing questions about Europe today. Past speakers have included, among many others: Giorgi Margvelashvili, former president of Georgia; Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović, former president of Croatia; Anne Applebaum, Pulitzer Prize-winning historian and Polish American journalist; and David Alton, Professor Lord Alton of Liverpool, former British parliamentarian.

Previous Nanovic Forum addresses may be watched on the Nanovic Institute’s website or YouTube channel.

Originally published by Keith Sayer at nanovic.nd.edu on Nov. 20.

Sister Raffaella Petrini, F.S.E., to deliver Keeley Vatican Lecture

2023-10-26T13:00:00-04:00

Sister Raffaella Petrini, F.S.E., will deliver the Keeley Vatican Lecture titled “Integral Human Development Through a Leadership of Care” at 5:30 p.m. EDT on Wednesday (Nov. 1) at the University of Notre Dame’s McKenna Hall Auditorium.

Sister Petrini is the secretary general of the Vatican City State, appointed by Pope Francis in November 2021 as the first woman to hold this office. The Nanovic Institute for European 91��Ƶ, part of the Keough 91��Ƶ of Global Affairs at Notre Dame, will host this lecture and facilitate her visit to campus, which will include class visits and daily Mass.

Inspired by the cultural, social, political and economic transformations of the “social question” over the years in Catholic teaching and history, Sister Petrini will present a set of principles for exercising a style of leadership driven primarily by concern for the well-being of people. At the heart of this model is the commitment to preserving both the socio-relational and spiritual dimensions of human existence. This address will be of interest to leaders within the Church, as well as those who seek to build a leadership of care in their own lives and work.

“We are truly honored to welcome Sister Petrini to Notre Dame. As the second most powerful person in the Vatican and the first woman to hold the office of secretary general, we look forward to her reflections on the future of the Church,” said University President Rev. John I. Jenkins, C.S.C. “As a leader rooted in her faith and with a deep commitment to human flourishing, Sister Petrini has much to teach us.”

“When Sister Petrini accepted our invitation to speak, we were thrilled to welcome her to Notre Dame to share her experiences leading in the Vatican City State,” said Clemens Sedmak, director of the Nanovic Institute and professor of social ethics in the Keough 91��Ƶ. “We were even more delighted to learn that her lecture will focus on integral human development, one of the core principles of Catholic social teaching and the central focus of the Keough 91��Ƶ. We believe that Sister Petrini’s visit will spark long-lasting, impactful discussions about the ways in which faith, leadership on a global scale and our efforts to be a force for good in the world intersect.”

This public lecture is open to anyone in the Notre Dame community. Members of parishes in surrounding dioceses are also invited to attend. In addition to the in-person event, Sister Petrini’s address will be livestreamed.

October 2, 2018: Archbishop Paul Gallagher gives the 2018 Keeley Vatican Lecture. (Photo by Matt Cashore/University of Notre Dame)

Established in 2005, the Keeley Vatican Lecture series is made possible by a gracious gift from Notre Dame alumnus Terrence R. Keeley, class of ’81, and intends to deepen the connection between the University of Notre Dame and the Holy See. Previous distinguished guests included:

His Excellency, The Most Rev. Claudio Gugerotti, the apostolic nuncio to Great Britain and the titular archbishop of Rebellum.
Rev. Dr. Hans Zollner, S.J., founding president of the Institute of Anthropology: Interdisciplinary 91��Ƶ on Human Dignity and Care.
Dr. Barbara Jatta, director of the Vatican Museums.
Archbishop Paul Richard Gallagher, secretary for relations with states of the Holy See.

The Nanovic Institute maintains a database of past lectures, including event briefs and recordings, on its website.

As part of the Keough 91��Ƶ of Global Affairs, the Nanovic Institute for European 91��Ƶ seeks to enrich the intellectual culture of Notre Dame by creating an integrated, interdisciplinary home for students, faculty and visiting scholars to explore the evolving ideas, cultures, traditions, beliefs, moral challenges and institutions that shape Europe. It also facilitates an association of Catholic centers of higher education throughout Central and Eastern Europe known as the Catholic Universities Partnership, which will celebrate its 20th anniversary next year.

Contact: Tracy DeStazio, associate director of media relations, 574-631-9958 or tdestazi@nd.edu

Originally published by Keith Sayer at nanovic.nd.edu on Oct. 25.