Initiative on Catholic Social Thought and Public Life

Prior to the Dahlgren Dialogue event, I had only stepped foot into Dahlgren Chapel once before on Easter Sunday. For me, the sacred space was the physical manifestation of Georgetown’s Catholic identity standing at the heart of the university in both the literal and metaphorical sense. With this expectation in mind, I found myself initially shocked and then incredibly engaged as I witnessed the Dahlgren Dialogue on "Confronting Racism in our Hearts and in our Nation." The chapel was transformed into a truly inspiring space.

On Thursday November 2, a panel will gather in Dahlgren Chapel to have a dialogue on the "Moral and Policy Questions on Nuclear Arms and North Korea." This dialogue happens at a critical time when the threat of North Korea’s nuclear capabilities is rising to the forefront, and Pope Francis’ support of nuclear disarmament is becoming increasingly vocalized. While North Korea has been dominating headlines recently, global nuclear armament has been a prevalent issue for some time. The Federation of American Scientists estimates that there are approximately 14,930 nuclear warheads in the world today—down from 70,300 in 1986—of which North Korea has no more than 20. The rising problems associated with nuclear armament are neither new nor limited to North Korea.