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Initiative on Catholic Social Thought and Public Life

November 18, 2025

Faith, Democracy, and the Common Good

Lessons from John Courtney Murray for Our Times (Postponed)

Image of a 16-foot cross planted in front of the U.S. Capitol in Washington, DC

Dear friends of the Initiative,

As you may have heard, on November 5 we received the difficult news that Cardinal Robert McElroy has been diagnosed with well-differentiated liposarcoma, a non-aggressive form of cancer, and has surgery scheduled for November 13. According to the Archdiocese, his prognosis is very good, and we’re grateful for that.

Given this news, we’ve decided to postpone our previously-scheduled November 18th Dahlgren Dialogue on Faith, Democracy, and the Common Good: Lessons from John Courtney Murray For Our Times until the spring semester. We look forward to having Cardinal McElroy and our other dialogue participants join us on campus at Georgetown on a new date. Until then, please join us in praying for Cardinal McElroy's swift healing and recovery.

The Initiative on Catholic Social Thought and Public Life

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At this timely dialogue in Dahlgren Chapel of the Sacred Heart, in a context of prayer, reflection, and conversation, four leading Catholic thinkers and scholars will examine the foundations, challenges, and opportunities for a principled relationship between faith and democracy in our current moment.

The United States is struggling to address the erosion of core constitutional freedoms; the uses and abuses of executive, legislative, and judicial power; intense polarization; and even horrific political violence. In this context, some are uncertain or wary of the role of our Catholic faith in our challenged pluralist democracy, while others see an urgent need and opportunity to renew our commitment to the principles at the heart of Catholic social teaching.

Fr. John Courtney Murray, S.J., whose thought changed the course of the Catholic Church’s engagement with modern democracy, proposed a way forward: human dignity, the foundational principle of Catholic social teaching, is best served when people pursue truth and the common good in a free and deliberative way, and when states defend the freedoms necessary for people to do so.

This Dahlgren Dialogue on faith, democracy, and the common good will look back at the contributions of Murray to our understanding of the role of faith in a democracy; look around at current threats and challenges facing democratic institutions; and look ahead to the roles and responsibilities of leaders and people of faith to protect, revitalize, and renew our democracy in pursuit of the common good.

Kim Daniels, director of the Initiative on Catholic Social Thought and Public Life, will moderate the dialogue. Joseph Ferrara, senior vice president and chief of staff at Georgetown University, will open this Dahlgren Dialogue. Fr. Mark Bosco, S.J., vice president for Mission & Ministry, will offer the welcome and opening prayer.

Georgetown University’s Dahlgren Dialogues, co-sponsored by the Office of Mission & Ministry and the Initiative on Catholic Social Thought and Public Life, are a series of substantive conversations with experienced leaders in the context of prayerful reflection on current topics at the intersection of faith and public life.​

Recording

The dialogue starting at 6:00 p.m. EST will be recorded and posted online for later viewing.

Photo credit: Win McNamee/Getty Images

Participants

Cardinal Robert McElroy

Cardinal Robert McElroy

Cardinal Robert McElroy is the archbishop of Washington and was a participant in the papal conclave that elected Pope Leo XIV. He has degrees from Harvard University, Stanford University, and the Pontifical Gregorian University, and he is the author of The Search for an American Public Theology: The Contribution of John Courtney Murray (1989).

Cathleen Kaveny

Cathleen Kaveny

Cathleen Kaveny is the Darald and Juliet Libby Millennium Professor at Boston College with a joint appointment to the Law School and the Department of Theology. Her scholarship focuses on the relationship between law, religion, and morality. She has authored several books, including Law’s Virtues (2012), A Culture of Engagement (2016), and Prophecy Without Contempt (2016).

Vincent Rougeau

Vincent Rougeau

Vincent Rougeau is the first lay and first Black president of the College of the Holy Cross, and he previously served as dean of the Boston College Law School and as a member of the faculty at Notre Dame Law School. He is the author of Christians in the American Empire: Faith and Citizenship in the New World Order (2008).

Rob Vischer

Rob Vischer

Rob Vischer is the president of the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, Minnesota, and the former dean of the University of St. Thomas School of Law. He is the author of Conscience and the Common Good (2006) and has written on faith, pluralism, and polarization.