About this Event
As we prepare to enter the polling booths this November, we are called to remember that faithful citizenship is about more than casting a vote. It is about forming our consciences, listening deeply, discerning wisely, and considering how our rights and responsibilities can help build a society that truly serves the common good.
What does our faith call us to do?
Join the Seeds of Justice Network for an evening of reflection and conversation with Bishop John Stowe, OFM Conv., Bishop of Lexington, Kentucky and Bishop-President of Pax Christi USA.
Bishop Stowe will invite us to reflect on “the CALL”—the call to faithful citizenship, the call to seek justice, and the call to recognize the dignity of every person as we discern our responsibilities as members of our communities and our nation.
Drawing on the wisdom of Catholic Social Teaching, Bishop Stowe will offer a thoughtful framework for approaching the challenges of our time and entering the voting booth with well-formed consciences, compassion, courage, and a commitment to the common good.
Meet Bishop John Stowe, OFM Conv.
Bishop Stowe has served as Bishop of Lexington, Kentucky, since 2015. A Conventual Franciscan friar, he has dedicated his ministry to advancing peace, justice, human dignity, and care for our common home.
He is widely recognized as a Catholic leader and advocate for social justice, with a ministry that engages many of the central principles of Catholic Social Teaching, including:
- Immigrant Rights: Bishop Stowe has spoken forcefully for the dignity and protection of immigrants, refugees, and asylum-seekers, emphasizing the Church's call to stand with vulnerable people.
- Environmental Justice: Inspired by Laudato Si', he advocates for care of creation and highlights the disproportionate impact of environmental degradation and climate change on vulnerable communities.
- Human Dignity & Inclusion: Bishop Stowe has been a prominent voice for greater inclusion and dignity for LGBTQ+ people within the Church and society.
- Anti-Poverty & Anti-Racism: He serves on the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops' committee for the Catholic Campaign for Human Development, the bishops' anti-poverty initiative, and has challenged poverty, racism, and Christian nationalism as threats to human dignity.
- Peace & Nonviolence: As Bishop-President of Pax Christi USA, Bishop Stowe advocates for peace, nonviolence, reconciliation, and the Gospel call to transform systems that perpetuate violence and injustice.
Meet Denise Lieberman
Denise Lieberman is a nationally recognized voting rights expert and movement lawyer whose work focuses on voting rights, civic engagement, racial justice, and equal access to democracy.
She serves as Director & General Counsel of the Missouri Voter Protection Coalition (MOVPC) and as Faculty Director of the Voter Access and Engagement Initiative at Washington University in St. Louis. She also teaches and works at the intersection of law, policy, and community advocacy.
Her work connects directly with the Catholic Social Teaching theme of Rights & Responsibilities, including:
- Voting Rights & Access: Denise works to protect the right to vote and address barriers that can prevent people from fully participating in our democracy.
- Civic Engagement: Her work emphasizes the importance of informed, active participation in civic life and the responsibility we share for the communities in which we live.
- Racial Justice: Denise has worked extensively on issues of racial equity and voting access, examining how laws and systems can affect communities differently.
- Law & Advocacy: As a movement lawyer, she brings legal expertise together with community organizing and advocacy to address systemic challenges.
- Local Impact: Through her work in Missouri and St. Louis, Denise brings a local perspective to the national conversation about voting, representation, and civic participation.
At How Common Is the Common Good? Rights & Responsibilities of Faithful Citizens, Denise will help us explore THE NEED — what is happening in our communities and what challenges we need to understand as we consider our responsibilities to one another.
Her perspective will help ground our conversation in the reality of our local community and invite us to consider how rights, responsibilities, faith, and the Common Good intersect.
Agenda
🕑: 05:45 PM - 08:45 PM
Doors Open and Engagement Begins
Info: Engage with our Community Partners before the event begins to learn how you can RESPOND to the CALL and get involved in our community. Engagement tables will close during the speaking portion of the evening and reopen after Q&A for more opportunities to get involved.
🕑: 06:15 PM
Our Calling
Info: A Call to Faithful Citizenship
This evening is an invitation to pause before we head to the polls—to step beyond political divisions and ask a deeper question:
What does our faith call us to do?
Together, we will explore what it means to form our consciences, understand our responsibilities, and faithfully pursue the common good in our communities and our nation.
Come listen. Come reflect. Come discern. Come prepared to answer the CALL.
Presented by the Seeds of Justice Network
Bringing Catholic Social Teaching to life through education, conversation, and action.
Event venue & nearby stays
St. Louis University High School, 4970 Oakland Avenue, St. Louis, United States
Concerts, fests, parties, meetups — all the happenings, one place.