Cardinal Newman Exhibit Catalog

A catalog of the exhibit on Cardinal John Henry Newman is now available in PDF format, with an introduction by Ian Kerr.

The catalogue reproduces only the text of the panels, not the images, together with an additional 50% of text not included in the New York Encounter exhibit for reasons of space.

The catalog can be purchased at the blog of the Newman exhibit: http://meetingnewman.blogspot.com/2012/01/catalogue-of-exhibition.html

Interview with Mary Ann Glendon on Politics as a Vocation

"The title of your address at the New York Encounter was “Politics as a Vocation.” Do you believe that all people have some form of calling to politics?

If we think of politics as free persons deliberating about how to order their lives together — rather than just about getting and keeping power — nearly everyone who takes his or her baptismal vocation seriously has some form of calling to participate in that process, as he or she is able. If we Christians truly believe we are called to be a transformative presence in the world — to be salt, light and leaven — we have to do our best to improve the conditions under which we live, work and raise our children. Even our cloistered contemplatives are not merely meditating on the mystery of the universe — they are praying for the world."

- Read the Entire Interview at The National Catholic Register -

Julián Carrón: Christianity the 'easiest' way to verify one’s humanity

“Christianity is easy”, Father Julián Carrón pronounces clearly, defying all linguistic or cultural traps without fear. Easy is not synonymous with "light" or "relaxed" but it means that Christianity is "immediate", "direct", "reasonable", and "authentic". The audience at the New York Encounter, in any case, understood "easily".

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Arab Spring: the search for freedom and dignity

"One year after the Arab Spring, a panel at the New York Encounter discussed the future of the movement toward freedom in the Middle East.  Italian journalist Marco Bardazzi introduced speakers Frank Anderson, former CIA Chief for the Near East, and Egyptian professor and columnist Wael Farouq, a participant in the Tahrir Square demonstrations."

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Mary Ann Glendon's Keynote

"The applause roared at the crowded Manhattan Congress Center when the face of Vaclav Havel, the first president of Czechoslovakia after it was liberated from communism, and who died a few days ago, appeared on the screen. Mary Ann Glendon chose the old poet called to politics by his people as the last inspiration in her inaugural speech at the New York Encounter."

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Three eyewitness accounts of Karol Wojtyla, John Paul II

A panel at the New York Encounter offered three eyewitness accounts of the life of Karol Wojtyla, actor and playwright, priest and pope. The panelists included Msgr. Lorenzo Albacete, Archbishop Diarmuid Martin of Ireland and filmmaker Krzysztof Zanussi. Each recalled John Paul II as a conscious and free actor on the world stage and his recognition of art as an indispensable form of communicating the truth of God’s love.

Msgr. Lorenzo Albacete recalled first meeting a Polish bishop who had come to New York to petition the diocese for a national Polish parish church. On their first meeting, Wojtyla, who was eating cornflakes for breakfast, impressed Albacete with the “weight of his humanity.”

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New York Encounter 2012 photostream on flickr

Follow a visual diary of life at New York Encounter this weekend. Photos will be uploaded here as available:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/newyorkencounter/