Carl A. Anderson, founding Dean of the John Paul II Institute and Past Supreme Knight of the Knights of Columbus, will present the 2025 McGivney Lecture Series, entitled “Conscience as a Political Problem: Faith, Culture, and Christian Statesmanship.”

The 65th anniversary of the election of the first Catholic president marks an occasion to examine the historical challenges to Catholic participation in presidential politics, how these challenges were overcome, and the contemporary role of Catholics in public life, giving special attention to how that role has shaped the national debate on abortion. The lectures suggest the primacy of conscience in guiding the responsibilities of public officials and explore the influence of John Henry Newman, John Courtney Murray, Josef Fuchs, and Reinhard Niebuhr, among others, on these questions. The lectures conclude with the witness of St. Thomas More and the anthropology of Vatican II and St. John Paul II as suggesting ways Catholics can advance future discussions of America’s public philosophy.

The lecture series will take place on September 22, 24, and 25, at 7:00 p.m., and September 26, at 4:00 p.m., in Keane Auditorium, McGivney Hall.

• Monday, September 22: “John F. Kennedy, Counterfeit Conscience and the Catholic Vote”
• Wednesday, September 24: “Conscience and the Politics of Dissent”
• Thursday, September 25: “Abortion’s Partisan Divide and a Cardinal’s Conscience”
• Friday, September 26: “Conscience and Public Philosophy: Whose Myth, Which Anthropology?”

Admission to the lectures is free, but registration is required. Please use this form to reserve your seat.