Catholic Discordance: Dialogue or Division

Massimo Borghesi, a moral philosopher at the University of Perugia, has published Catholic Discordance: Neoconservatism vs. the Field Hospital Church of Pope Francis. The book is a history of the rise to prominence of conservatism in the U.S. Catholic Church. How will the U.S. church respond to Francis’ call for “synodality”—dialog of renewal and discernment among the whole of the people of God? Can the spirit of Vatican II be rekindled here? Can the social justice mission of the church be protected and renewed? Is the U.S. church, like the polity, headed for soft schism?

We invite you for a conversation with the author and theologian professor Massimo Faggioli (Villanova University), professor Michael Baur (Fordham University), and moral theologian Thomas Massaro, S.J., (Fordham University). The panel will be moderated by George Conk, senior fellow at Fordham’s Stein Center for Law and Ethics.