Canisius University will welcome Rev. Bryan N. Massingale, STD, to campus on Saturday, May 13, 2023, at 7 pm in the Montante Cultural Center. Renowned as the world’s leading Catholic social ethicist, Father Massingale is the James and Nancy Buckman Chair in Applied Christian Ethics at Fordham University and Senior Fellow at the institution’s Center for Ethics Education. His talk is held under the auspices of the college’s William H. Fitzpatrick Chair of Political Science Lecture Series and is free and open to the public.
The event is presented as part of the city’s “5/14 Remembrance Weekend: Reflection, Healing & Hope,” formed by Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown to honor and memorialize the lives lost, and support and pray for all those impacted by the racially-motivated shooting at the Tops Friendly Markets store on the East Side of Buffalo. The title of Father Massingale’s talk is "Lament, Dreams, and the Work of Justice."
Earlier on Saturday, May 13, “Turning Trauma into Triumph,” coordinated by Canisius alumna Zeneta Everhart ’11, director of Diversity & Inclusion for New York State Senator Tim Kennedy and a member of the 5/14 Remembrance Committee, will be held on the Canisius campus. The day-long event includes conference sessions, a reading by Poet Jillian Hanesworth, a musical performance by Drea D'Nur, African drummers and more.
Father Massingale, a priest of the Archdiocese of Milwaukee, teaches courses at Fordham University on Catholic social thought, African American religious ethics, sexual ethics and racial justice. His professional passion is advancing a Black approach to Catholic theological ethics. His approach to social ethics focuses upon the impact of religious faith as both an instrument of social justice and a catalyst for social transformation.
Father Massingale is the author of two books and more than 170 articles, book chapters and book reviews. He is also an award-winning contributor to major Catholic thought vehicles such as U.S. Catholic, Commonweal, American Magazine and The National Catholic Reporter. As a public intellectual, he frequently addresses issues of racial and sexual justice with such venues as National Public Radio (NPR), ABC News, the PBS Newshour and the Associated Press.
A leading voice among Catholic thought leaders, Father Massingale is a past consultant to the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, for which he provided theological assistance on issues of criminal justice, capital punishment, environmental justice and affirmative action. He has also provided theological consulting for the National Black Catholic Congress, Catholic Charities USA, the Catholic Health Association, the National Catholic AIDS Network, and advocates for the full inclusion of LGBTQ persons in society and the faith community.
Father Massingale received his doctorate degree in moral theology (STD) from the Academia Alphonsiana (Rome).
The Fitzpatrick Lecture Series at Canisius University is part of the larger Fitzpatrick Institute of Public Affairs and Leadership at the college, which provides an array of opportunities for Canisius students to develop leadership potential through close contact with and exposure to those who contribute to American public affairs and societal issues.
The Institute and the Fitzpatrick Lecture Series are named for William H. Fitzpatrick, a South Buffalo builder and longtime chair of the Erie County Democratic Party. His sons, Paul E. and Walter D. Fitzpatrick, endowed the Fitzpatrick programming at Canisius in 1958, in memory of their father. A few years later, in 1962, the Hon. Harry S. Truman, 33rd president of the United States, inaugurated the Fitzpatrick Lecture Series at Canisius. Each year since, the college has hosted national figures in politics, government, academia and media, including Jane Goodall, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Bernice King, all under the auspices of the Fitzpatrick family.
For more information about “Turning Trauma into Triumph,” please contact Zeneta Everhart at @email. For further details regarding Father Massingale’s talk, please contact Richard A. Bailey, PhD, Fitzpatrick professor of history, at (716) 888-2684 or @email.
One of 27 Jesuit universities in the nation, Canisius is the premier private university in Western New York. Canisius prepares leaders – intelligent, caring, faithful individuals – able to pursue and promote excellence in their professions, their communities and their service to humanity.
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