In the wake of the murder of George Floyd, Pope Francis decried the sin of racism, saying, "We cannot tolerate or turn a blind eye to racism and exclusion in any form and yet claim to defend the sacredness of every human life." He addressed racism again in his recent encyclical, Fratelli Tutti, describing it as "a virus that quickly mutates and, instead of disappearing, goes into hiding, and lurks in waiting" (§20).
The Notre Dame Office of Life and Human Dignity will host a free, three-part webinar series through spring 2021 addressing the integral relationship between racial justice and the culture of life, from conception to natural death.
This webinar series, titled "Conversations That Matter: The Intersection of Racial Justice and Life Issues" is intended for a general audience and designed to assist anyone in more effectively advocating for a just society which supports human flourishing for every man, woman, and child. Each session will begin with a 45 minute talk, followed by time for Q&A. This series will be recorded and available for viewing later.
Our first featured speaker is:
Gloria Purvis
February 3, 2021- 1:00 p.m. EST/ 10:00 a.m. PDT
"Racism: The Perduring Assault Against Human Life and Dignity”
What is racism? Why is it evil? What are its origins in the US? Why did the end of slavery and the establishment of civil rights not end racism? How do any of these impact and intersect with the pro-life movement?
About the speaker: Gloria Purvis is a graduate of Cornell University and she worked for nearly two decades in the mortgage industry before becoming a risk management director at a major financial services company. She served on the National Black Catholic Congress' Leadership Commission on Social Justice, and as an Advisory Board Member on the Maryland Catholic Conference's Respect for Life Department as well as the Archdiocese of Washington's Pastoral Council. She also taught Natural Family Planning and helped prepare engaged couples for marriage as a member of a Pre-Cana team in the Archdiocese of Washington. She has appeared in various media outlets including The New York Times, The Washington Post, PBS Newshour, Catholic Answers Live, and EWTN News Nightly, and hosted Morning Glory, an international radio show. She is Our Sunday Visitor’s Catholic of the Year for 2020.
Currently, she is a full-time stay-at-home mother and a consultant for U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops' Committee on Religious Liberty. Gloria is the creator and host of the EWTN TV series, Authentically Free at Last, that deals with the modern challenges to the expression and understanding of authentic human freedom. She is dedicated to promoting the sanctity of human life, marriage, and the dignity of the human person.
Originally published at al.nd.edu.