Commonweal was well-represented at a recent panel discussion of Pope Francis’s call for a culture of encounter at Georgetown University. 

“Many scholars and commentators have emphasized the importance of civil dialogue and mutual respect if we are to move beyond our deep ideological and political divisions,” organizers noted. “Pope Francis, drawing on his theological training and experience as archbishop of Buenos Aires, developed the idea of encounter as a way to fully recognize the depth of our differences while seeking to bridge them for the common good.”

The event was sponsored by the Culture of Encounter Project at the Berkley Center for Religion, Peace, and World Affairs and the Institute for Advanced Catholic Studies at USC. It was organized in collaboration with the Initiative on Catholic Social Thought and Public Life, the Georgetown Democracy Initiative, and Commonweal, with support from the Henry R. Luce Foundation.

Commonweal contributors Thomas Banchoff and Paul Elie—the director of the Berkley Center and a senior fellow at the center, respectively—joined Robert Talisse, author and professor of philosophy at Vanderbilt University, and Nadia Urbinati, author and the Kyriakos Tsakopoulos Professor of Political Theory at Columbia University. 

“We’re meeting at a time of growing concern about the fate of democracy, here in the United States, in this city, and around the world,” said Banchoff. “Many of us are afraid—afraid not just for our institutions and their resiliency, but also for our society, or if we think globally, our societies, which are so divided and on edge.” 

Commonweal editor Dominic Preziosi and mission and partnerships director Claudia Avila Cosnahan attended the discussion, which took place on February 20 in the Healey Family Student Center Social Room on the Georgetown campus. 

To watch the panel, click here.