Priest's Series at Drew to Honor Late Professor

The Rev. Roy Bourgeois, a Catholic priest and global advocate for women, will lead a two-day series of events at on Sept. 11 and 12, the university announced.

The topics of Borgeois’ talks include women in the Catholic priesthood, which he has advocated for, and human rights in Latin America.

The topics serve to honor the teachings and scholarship of the late Drew Theological School Professor Ada-Maria Isasi Diaz, who was a leading international women’s rights activist, the university said.

The schedule of events includes (subject to change):

• The Contemporary Struggle for Women’s Ordination in the Roman Catholic Church
  Sept. 11, 2012, from 11:20 a.m. to 1:10 p.m. in the Wendel Room, Mead Hall
• Marielitos: Cuban Exiles in U.S. Prisons
  Sept. 11, 2012, from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. in Craig Chapel, Seminary Hall
• The School of the Americas: A U.S. Training Camp for Latin American Dictators and Torturers
  Sept. 12, 2012, from 11:20 a.m. to 1:10 p.m. in the Wendel Room, Mead Hall

According to the news release,

Bourgeois entered the Catholic priesthood in 1972 after a four-year career as an officer in the U.S. Navy. He then moved to Bolivia, where he served as an aide to and advocate for the poor. The Bolivian government’s reaction to this advocacy and political activism would lead to his getting sent back to the United States, where he moved to a Catholic Worker house in Chicago and continued his ministry for the poor. In 1980, four women he knew from his Bolivian ministry were killed by U.S.-trained Salvadoran National Guard members, sparking his outspoken criticism of U.S. foreign policy in Latin America. Since then, he has taken up the cause of women’s rights and safety worldwide, which led him to advocate for the controversial ordination of women priests in the Catholic Church. He is the winner of the 1994 Gandhi Peace Award; the 1997 Pax Christi USA Pope Paul VI Teacher of Peace Award; and was a 2009 nominee for the Nobel Peace Prize.

For more information about Bourgeois' appearance at Drew call the university’s Theological School at 973-408-3258.