FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

MANHATTAN COLLEGE TO HOST LECTURE PACEM IN TERRIS: A 40th ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION

RIVERDALE, N.Y.  -- Manhattan College will host the lecture Pacem In Terris: A 40th Anniversary Celebration as part of the Aquinas Lecture Series on Monday, March 31 at 3:30pm in Smith Auditorium, located on the College campus.  Admission is free and open to the public.

Pacem in Terris (or Peace on Earth) was issued on Holy Thursday, April 11, 1963, in an Encyclical Letter by Pope John XXIII calling for an establishment of universal peace in truth, justice, charity and liberty.

Father Drew Christiansen, an associate editor of America, the national Jesuit weekly magazine and counselor on international affairs to the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, will speak. He recently completed a commentary on Pacem in Terris for a two-volume study of Catholic Social Teaching to be published by Georgetown University.  He is also co-editor of Peacemaking: Moral and Policy Changes for the 90s.

Before his appointment to America, Father Christiansen was a senior fellow and director of the International Visiting Fellows Program, Woodstock Theological Center at Georgetown University. He is former director of the Office of International Justice and Peace, United States Catholic Conference. In addition, he has been associate professor of theology and staff  fellow  of  the  Institute  for International Peace Studies, University of Notre Dame; assistant professor of social ethics, Jesuit School of Theology at Berkeley and Graduate Theological Union, and director, Center for Ethics and Social Policy.

Sponsored by Manhattan College's religious studies and philosophy departments, the Aquinas Lecture Series is a celebration of the thought and influence of St. Thomas Aquinas, the 13th century theologian and philosopher. 

Pacem in Terris: A 40th Anniversary Celebration kicks off Manhattan College’s annual commemoration of Peace Week, to be held March 31-April 6. Each year, various campus lectures and events are presented to bring peace and social justice issues to the attention of Manhattan College students, faculty and the local community.  For further information or for a complete list of activities for Peace Week, please call (718)862-7943.

Manhattan College is located at West 242nd Street, near Broadway, in the Riverdale section of the Bronx.

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