CAFOD at 50: The 2012 Pope Paul VI Memorial Lecture

Catherine Pepinster

CAFOD has announced details of this year’s Pope Paul VI Memorial Lecture on 9 November, a special debate entitled: 'Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for justice? The challenge of turning 50'.

As the charity looks forward to the future during its 50th anniversary year, the lecture will bring together leading panellists to offer insights from four key areas which will shape the future of CAFOD’s work over the coming decades: the Church, politics, media and development. They will debate the challenges that the world will face in bringing about the 'human society based on mutual harmony' that Pope Paul VI looked forward to in his 1967 encyclical, Populorum Progressio.

The discussion will be chaired by Catherine Pepinster, Editor of The Tablet, which sponsors the Pope Paul VI Memorial Lecture. The panel will feature Fr Joe Komakoma, former CAFOD partner from Zambia and Deputy General Secretary of the Symposium of Episcopal Conferences of Africa and Madagascar; and Rosamund Urwin, columnist and feature writer for the Evening Standard, whose background is in development studies. The panel is completed by Rt Hon John Battle, former Labour MP and Minister, veteran campaigner against poverty, who was made Knight Commander with Star of the Order of St Gregory the Great by Pope Benedict XVI in 2009.

CAFOD Director Chris Bain said: “For organisations in their anniversary years, it is all too easy to look back at what has been achieved in the past, when what matters much more is looking forward to see what still remains to be done. In the field of international development, we face huge challenges in the coming years, and we are delighted to have such an excellent and exciting group of panellists coming together to debate those challenges with our staff and our supporters.”

The lecture is being held at The Emmanuel Centre, 9-23 Marsham Street, London, SW1P 3DW on Friday 9 November 2012, with doors opening at 6.45pm for a 7.15pm start. Tickets must be purchased in advance at a price of £6 per person (including a complimentary drink following the lecture). Anyone interested in attending should contact CAFOD on 020 7095 5684 or visit cafod.org.uk/lecture for more information.