In November, nine students attended the SOA Watch Vigil at Fort Benning, GA.  Over four days, they discussed human rights, federal and international policies, and how they could get involved.

An account of their trip can be found in Cabrini College's student newspaper, The Loquitur.  

Each  year, the Wolfington Center works with students, faculty, and staff in their continuing quest to reflect upon Catholic Social Teaching and then put it into action in a dynamic, animated fashion.  Through our Community Workers program, we pay dozens of Cabrini students to work in nonprofits across the Delaware Valley.  We connect hundreds of students with volunteer service opportunities.  And through it all, we imbue the work of Cabrini with our Catholic Social Teaching mission.

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The Advent/Christmas season is one that anticipates new beginnings, especially the birth of Jesus Christ: "For unto us a child is born" (Isaiah 9:6). Pope Francis' recent apostolic exhortation, Evangelii Gaudium, especially exudes an attitude of joy and hope in its articulation of a missionary Catholicism.  The document covers a wide range of topics that defy comment in this limited space.  But in particular, Francis emphasizes that the God of love cares for and seeks to transform the political, social, and economic structural injustices that marginalize the poor in our society.  He calls upon political leaders to enact policies not determined by market or welfare mentalities, but by a common good informed by the transcendent:  "Politics, though often denigrated, remains a lofty vocation and one of the highest forms of charity, inasmuch as it seeks the common good...Why not turn to God and ask him to inspire their plans?  I am firmly convinced that openness to the transcendent can bring about a new political and economic mindset which would break down the wall of separation between the economy and the common good of society"(#205).

In many respects, the late Nelson Mandela, whose moral conduct, both in his many years as a political prisoner and his later leadership of South Africa, represented the deep political vision Francis articulates.  Beyond just having the capacity to forgive his jailors, Mandela understood as president of South Africa that the country could only move forward by adapting a new mindset of integral relationships between blacks and whites.  In particular, he lived the African concept of ubuntu that one's personhood emerges through interaction with others.  He sought to realize a set of relationships in which every person could realize their potential through being able to make their full contribution to the surrounding community.  In these days when the days are darkest, both Francis and Mandela inspire us to engage with hope and confidence the task of breaking down the walls that divide us so as to cultivate persistently human relationships reflective of the peaceable "kin-dom" of God.

John Francis Burke

Executive Director, The Wolfington Center

The theme of this year's Spring Lecture Series is "Seeking Unity-In-Diversity: A Faith-Based Engagement of Building Bridges Not Walls Between Cultural Communities."  Given the ongoing discussions regarding immigration reform and the growing diversity of the United States, these spring presentations will be very timely.  

Details on the series can be found on the Lecture Series site -->

Cabrini College is one of only 17 colleges and universities nationwide to be recognized as a Fair Trade College, as determined by Fair Trade Colleges and Universities in partnership with Fair Trade USA. Cabrini earned its status in November 2013.

Fair trade is a global trade model that advocates for the purchase and sale of goods that were produced in an ethical, fair, and just manner.

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