Boston College Spirituality for the Second Half of Life Conference to be Discussed on CatholicTV Talk Show
On Friday, August 21st, disunity amongst social justice and pro-life activists and a potential solution will be discussed on the CatholicTV talk show "This is the Day". Although Catholic doctrine clearly supports the dignity of life, divisions sometimes exist amongst Catholics on the issue. That is why Boston College has organized a panel discussion amongst its alumni with hopes of unifying alumni who attend pro-life events such as the March for Life in Washington, D.C., and a protest outside of the School of Americas in Ft. Benning, Georgia.
Dianne Duffin, Associate Director of the Office of Spirituality & Service of the Boston College (BC) Alumni Association will be on "This is the Day" on August 21st to discuss this issue. She will also discuss the community's unique usage of the internet to hear and answer prayer requests.
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BC has observed alumni – and Catholics in general – getting polarized between Social Justice supporters on one side, and Pro-Life supporters on the other. Dianne Duffin states that "while political parties may have drawn lines between these two, there is no separation in the eyes of the Church, nor should there be for Catholics." BC has put together a three-part program to pull together both groups and, hopes to build some constructive collaboration. The first part of this collaboration is to support BC alumni who go to Ft. Benning Georgia in November to prayerfully protest at the School of the Americas. The second part is to support BC alumni who go en masse to Washington, D.C. in January for the March for Life. The third part of the program is to ask the leaders of both groups to attend each other's events. The teaching will conclude with a panel discussion – "Womb to Tomb: The Unity of Catholic Teaching on Life" – at the Boston College Club for the Lenten BC Club series.
Also to be discussed on "This is the Day" will be the topic of aging, especially from a spiritual perspective. Given the unprecedented aging boom, the Office of Spirituality & Service at BC decided to take a closer look at aging in a consumer, secular society from a faith perspective. So on April 10, 2010 – together with partners BC's School of Theology & Ministry, The Church in the 21st Century Center, and BC's Institute on Aging, there will be a day-long public conference which may become an annual event called "Spirituality for the Second Half of Life". The keynote speaker at this event will be the president of AARP (who is also a BC alum). Some of the topics to be discussed will be: Discernment & Life Choices; Caring for Self as We Care for Others; Vices & Virtues of Old Age; Death & Dying.
This show will broadcast on Friday, August 21st live at 10:30AM (EST) on CatholicTV where available (rebroadcast at 8PM). The show will also be streamed simultaneously at www.CatholicTV.com and will be available on the site's archives starting Friday night. All videos at the website are viewable in full-screen. Paste this URL into your browser in order to access the "This is the Day" video archives. http://www.CatholicTV.org/shows/default.aspx?seriesID=72
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