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Dr. Cynthia Taylor and Eileen Purcell

History professor Dr. Cynthia Taylor and IBEW Organizer Eileen Purcell discuss their research into the history of Pվ��Ƶ Sisters’ involvement in the sanctuary movement in California. In the 1980s, Pվ��Ƶ Sisters of San Rafael made a corporate and public stance in support of providing sanctuary for Salvadoran refugees fleeing civil war and violence. Dr. Taylor and Ms. Purcell describe the San Rafael Sisters’ efforts to organize in order to offer sanctuary to these families, and our current reckoning over the demands of social justice for undocumented immigrants fleeing violence in Central America.

This talk highlights the chapter “A Corporate Stance for Social Justice: The Pվ��Ƶ Sisters of San Rafael, California, and the 1980s Sanctuary Movement", and was originally presented on March 16, 2021.

Sr. Cecilia Murray, OP, PhD

Sr. Cecilia Murray, historian of American religious history and Pվ��Ƶ Sister of Hope, discusses the Pվ��Ƶ response to the American longing for contemplative life. While some Americans found a cloistered life of prayer strange, others longed to live in communities of faith devoted to prayer, meditation, and contemplation. In the midst of a busy and chaotic modern world, these communities were a witness to the desire to withdraw and meditate on spiritual mysteries. Sr. Murray demonstrates the connections of the modern mindfulness and intentional community movements and ancient Catholic contemplative practices embodied by these living and historic communities.

This talk highlights the chapter “Pվ��Ƶ Monasteries: Ever Ancient, Ever New", and was originally presented on March 18, 2021.

Dr. Margaret McGuinness

Dr. Margaret McGuinness, historian of American Catholicism, discusses religious responses to outbreaks of disease. Focusing on the rolling outbreaks of Yellow Fever in the United States in the 19th century, Dr. McGuinness looks at the efforts to achieve both caritas and veritas in the midst of epidemiological outbreaks among Pվ��Ƶs in the Mississippi valley. We will discuss the connections between the past and the present, as we face a challenging pandemic. This talk also connects with the McGreal Center exhibition about the history of Pվ��Ƶs facing disease in the United States, which is available to view here.

This talk highlights the chapter “’In the Midst of Sorrow and Death’: The Work of the Pվ��Ƶ Sisters in Tennessee during the Yellow Fever Epidemics”, and was originally presented on April 15 2021.

Dr. Heath Carter and Dr. Christopher Allison

For Pվ��Ƶ's 2021 St. Catherine of Siena Lecture, Dr. Heath Carter, Associate Professor of American Christianity at Princeton Theological Seminary joins Dr. Christopher Allison, Director of the McGreal Center for Pվ��Ƶ Historical Studies at Pվ��Ƶ, for a conversation about Carter’s chapter, “Walking in Solidarity: Pվ��Ƶ Women and the Struggle for Economic Justice in the Modern United States.”

This lecture was originally presented on April 8, 2021.