The Wolfington Center
Promoting a More Just and Compassionate Society
October 2014
Vol. No. 3, Issue No. 2 
Faith in Action
Cabrini College students attended the 2014 President's Interfaith and Community Service Challenge in Washington, DC, where they received they received the President's Interfaith Honor Roll with Distinction.
Upcoming Events
Oct. - Fair Trade Month

Oct. 8 - Domestic Violence Symposium
Oct. 13 & 14 - Public Priorities for the 21st Century, featuring candidates from the 13th Congressional District of Pennsylvania 

Oct. 22 - Navigating Uncharted Waters: Envisioning the Nonprofit of the Future
Nov. 11 - Cabrini Day, celebrating the heritage and legacy of Mother Cabrini

Feb. 17 - Founder's Day"Caring for God's Creation: Facing the Challenge of Climate Change" 

Feb. 21 - Convergence of Childhood Obesity and Hunger: A Forum for Response

Feb. 25 - Apr. 1 - Lenten Lecture Series, "The Relevance of Gaudium et Spes (The Pastoral Constitution of the Modern Church" for the 21st Century," Details forthcoming


Apr. 17 - "A Faith-Based Engagement of the Challenge of Climate Change and Consequent Heath Issues", Details forthcoming
Recent Reflections
Changing Social Structures to Protect Human Dignity, Dr. Nicholas Rademacher of Cabrini College


The Myth of Catholic Social Teaching, John Zmirak, The Catholic Thing

Weakness of Witness, Tom Hoopes, response to John Zmirak

Please note these postings are meant to be informative; they are not meant to reflect the values of Cabrini College or the Wolfington Center.

Support Our Work 

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.

 

We hope you'll consider making a gift to the Wolfington Center of Cabrini College, to support our work in the coming year.

 

Make a gift to the Wolfington Center. 

Please designate the Wolfington Center in your gift. 

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.

 

We hope you'll consider making a gift to the Wolfington Center of Cabrini College, to support our work in the coming year.

 

Make a gift to the Wolfington Center. 

Please designate the Wolfington Center in your gift. 

Reflection from the Executive Director:

The Discovery of America

In the middle of October is the federal holiday, Columbus Day. Many an elementary school child has learned the ditty, "Columbus sailed the ocean blue in fourteen hundred and ninety-two." In cities with large Italian-American populations like Philadelphia, the holiday is a time for enormous ethnic pride, given Christopher Columbus' Italian heritage. But for many in the Latino community, the day, known as Dia de la Raza, is a time for protest marches. Columbus, seen from this angle, was the first of the European conquerors who subjugated the indigenous peoples of the Americas. Once at a conference, I heard a presenter, refer to October 11th as the last day of freedom, an exaggeration given the politics between the native tribes prior to Columbus, but the statement captures the protest ethos.


On a more satirical note, in advance of the 500th anniversary of the Columbus voyage in 1992, a Mexican theatre staged a play in which as Columbus' three ships approached shore, the natives ran onto the beach and said, "hooray, hooray, we're about to be discovered." But in fact, this discovery is two-way: both Columbus and ensuing colonizers as well as the indigenous tribes encountered another people that they did not know existed before. And both sides in the encounter perceive "the other" in terms of their own cultural lenses. Especially in the conquest of Mexico almost three decades later, the misperception by the Aztec leadership that the Spaniards were gods and Captain Cortes manipulation of this misperception leads to the decimation of the Aztec civilization. 


But besides capturing the differing perceptions of Columbus' legacy today, the larger point remains being sensitive to how our conceptual lenses skew our perceptions of both ideas and events, sometimes leading to tragic consequences. Therefore, to engage in genuine dialogue, we need to be open to seeing things from different lenses and develop careful listening skills before rushing too quickly to judgment regarding the framework from which another person is presently their views. 


This month there are a number of events either directly or indirectly connected with the Wolfington Center that challenge us to review the way we examine things. On October 8th, the annual forum on domestic violence will ensue - certainly a timely topic given the recent revelations of player conduct and cover-ups in the NFL. On October 13th and 14th, the two candidates for the 13th U.S. Congressional District of Pennsylvania - State Rep. Brendan Boyle - Democrat and Mr. Dee Adcock - Republican - will respectively share their views on "Public Policy Priorities for the 21st Century."  Each talk will be held at 3:30pm on 13th and 14th at the Cabrini Mansion. On October 21st Kevin Ryan, an expert on homelessness and human trafficking will be featured in a number of events on campus. Ryan is this year's Executive in Residence Program, spearheaded by the Nerney Institute for Leadership. Then on October 22nd, there will be a forum from 8:30am-2pm on "Navigating Uncharted Waters: Envisioning the Nonprofit of the Future." And last, but not least, there will be activities on campus connected to Fair Trade Month. Yes, it's another full month of issues.
 

 

John Francis Burke

Executive Director 

The Wolfington Center

Community Service in Honor of the Inauguration of Donald B. Taylor as President of Cabrini College

In honor of the inauguration of Cabrini College's eighth president, Donald Taylor, Ph.D., we invite you to join the Cabrini community in service.  Between October 10 and October 24, we are asking that every member of the Cabrini community-students, faculty, staff, and alumni-participate in some type of service and dedicate that time to the inauguration.

 

Visit service.cabrini.edu to let us know how you plan to serve!

 

What can be counted as service?  Making peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for the homeless, serving at a food kitchen, cleaning up a stream, advocating for relief programs for immigrants, volunteering at a senior center, mentoring local kids, or beautifying a college campus.  All these projects are just examples of what can be done. 

 

You can use service projects you're already involved in, find a new opportunity, or contact the Wolfington Center to discuss other ideas!  Visit us at service.cabrini.edu.

Public Priorities in the 21st Century

On Oct. 13 and 14, Congressional candidates from the 13th District of Pennsylvania will speak at Cabrini College.  The discussions will focus on public priorities for the 21st century:

  • Monday, Oct. 13, 3:30 p.m.: State Rep. Brendan Boyle
  • Tuesday, Oct. 14, 3:30 p.m.: Dee Adcock

The free events are open to the public and will take place in the Mansion on the Cabrini campus.

Located in Southeastern Pennsylvania., the 13th Congressional District of Pennsylvania covers eastern Montgomery County and Northeast Philadelphia including Norristown, Pa., where the College partners with many local organizations.

 

For more information, visit our website.

Navigating Uncharted Waters: Envisioning the Nonprofit of the Future 

Join the nonprofit community for a panel discussion and breakout skill sessions to envision the nonprofit of the future.

Topics include financial/change management, advocacy, fundraising, board governance, and staff/leadership development.

  • Navigating Uncharted Waters: Envisioning the Nonprofit of the Future 
    Cabrini College, Grace Hall 
    Wednesday, Oct. 22, 2014, 9 a.m.-2 p.m.

Learn from distinguished nonprofit leaders in education, arts and humanities, social services, and more.

 

This event is free and includes continental breakfast and lunch.

 

For more information and registration, please visit our Nonprofit Forum site.

Voter Registration at the Wolfington Center

It's election time!  On November 4th, Americans will go to the polls to vote on local, state, and federal issues and candidates.  As you know, civic literacy and engagement are an integral part Cabrini College's educational curriculum.  Especially in the Catholic social teaching tradition, political participation, in all its different varieties, is essential to fostering the common good. 

 

Outside of the Wolfington Center-in the hallway of Founder's Hall, third floor-we have placed a voter registration station, with applications for Pennsylvania, Maryland, New Jersey, Delaware ,and New York.  Students can also find deadlines for registration.  If they need other applications, they can come in to the Center and ask, and we'll find them what they need to register.

 

The deadlines for registration are: 

*             Pennsylvania: October 6

*             Maryland: October 14

*             Delaware: October 11

*             New York: October 10

*             New Jersey: October 14

 

Wolfington Center staff are happy to come into classrooms, if requested, to discuss the importance of voting and to hand out applications.  Or you can visit our Political Engagement site for more information. 

Catholic Social Teaching:  "The Catholic Church's Best Kept Secret"

John F. Burke is the Executive Director of the Wolfington Center.

 

...On the one hand, the findings of this survey regarding how much Catholics know about Catholic social teaching are grim.  On the other hand, this reality provides a wonderful opportunity for Cabrini College, through its education, community engagement, and political advocacy programs to communicate the substance of Catholic Social Teaching, so that it is no longer the Catholic Church's "best kept secret."

 

To read the rest of his blog post, please visit the Mission Matters blog --> 

Cabrini's Wolfington Center fosters community-based learning through Catholic Social Teaching and St. Frances Xavier Cabrini's accent on "the education of the heart."