Faculty Learn and Discuss Social Catholic Teaching in Poland

Catholic studies scholars Dan Rober and Michael Sean Winters have immersive experience in Warsaw

Two members of Sacred Heart University’s Catholic studies program recently returned from a seminar on Catholic social teaching in Warsaw, Poland.

The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Subcommittee on Aid to the Church in Central and Eastern Europe hosted the event at a Jesuit retreat center, the European Center for Communication and Culture. SHU Fellow Michael Sean Winters helped organize the conference that focused on the 60th anniversary of the close of Vatican II. Dan Rober, SHU Catholic Studies associate professor presented at the event.

Rober presented his research on a document of Vatican II, Gaudium et Spes, the Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World. He examined the genesis and drafting of the document, particularly its relationship to the Cold War context and peace initiatives of Popes John XXIII and Paul VI, as well its overall themes: marriage and the family, economics and culture.

Other participants at the seminar included a Polish bishop, provincials of religious orders, mother superiors, bishops’ secretaries, a veteran of the Ukrainian Army who is studying at the Catholic University of Lviv and leaders from higher education institutions such as Seton Hall University in New Jersey, Trinity College in Dublin, Ireland, and University of St. Mary of the Lake in Mundelein, IL.

“The conference was a beautiful experience of encounter in which our presenters were able to engage intellectually and culturally with the attendees from Poland, Ukraine, Slovakia and Bulgaria,” Rober said. “Hearing first-hand about the sufferings and resilience of Ukrainians amid the invasion by Russia and ensuing war was especially moving. The brief but real immersion in Polish culture, food and hospitality at the European Center for Communication and Culture where the conference took place was also a rewarding experience.”