St. Francis College, with Catholic Charities of Brooklyn and Queens proudly launched the new St. Francis College Institute for Peace & Justice with the panel discussion, “Moving Beyond the ‘Culture Wars’: How Catholic Social Teaching also Can Enlighten Current Partisan Debate on Basic Questions of Poverty, War, and Social Justice” on May 1 at the College.

The event was moderated by co-founder of the Institute Emily Horowitz, a Sociology and Criminal Justice professor at St. Francis and featured the other co-founder of the institute St. Francis History Professor Arnold Sparr who spoke about workers’ rights and their ability and need to organize.

Other member of the panel included; Carmen Trotta (Catholic Worker) who spoke about the importance of taking action, Tom Cornell (Professor, St. Joseph Seminary) who explained Fundamentals of Catholic Social Teaching, and Rev. Msgr. Alfred LoPinto (Catholic Charities) who described efforts to fight poverty.

(Attached photo: Carmen Trotta, Tom Cornell, Arnold Sparr, Msgr. Alfred LoPinto, Emily Horowitz)