Heritage Week Kicks off at DeSales

This past Sunday marked the beginning of the seventh annual Heritage Week at in Center Valley. The week-long celebration is timed to coincide with the feast of St. Francis de Sales, which is held on Jan. 24 according to the Roman Catholic calendar. The university and the welcome the public free of charge to any and all of the events this week, which will end Thursday, Jan. 27. All events will take place in the campus' White Pavilion with the exception of religious services, which open with a Sunday evening Mass of St. Francis de Sales.

According to the press release, this week's events include:

• Monday, January 23, at 7:30 in the White Pavilion in the DeSales University Center, the Baranzano Society on Bioethics will present a public forum on “What Happens When Doctors & Patients Disagree?” featuring Dr. Robert Motley, Lehigh Valley Health Network; Stefan Striz, Society for Healthcare Consumer Advocacy; and attorney Stephen Lanshe, Sacred Heart Hospital,
• Tuesday, January 24, we welcome Kevin Eckstrom, editor-in-chief with Religion News Service to discuss “American Theocracy Revisited.” This will take place at 7:30 p.m. in the White Pavilion in the DeSales University Center.
• Wednesday, January 25, we celebrate St. Francis de Sales as the Cathedral Provost with Professor Veryl Victoria Miles, dean of the Columbus School of Law at the Catholic University of America. The topic of this St. Thomas More Society legal seminar will be “Saving Grace with Faith-Based Education.”
• Thursday, January 26, the week closes with the R. Wayne Kraft Memorial Lecture on “The World as it Could Be via Catholic Social Thought” featuring Fr. Thomas D. Williams, L.C, professor and dean of theology at the Regina Apostolorum University in Rome, Italy.

According to the center's website, the Salesian center was "Established in 2000, the Salesian Center for Faith and Culture’s mission is to promote the interaction of faith and culture, in a mutually beneficial engagement, through academic initiatives that focus on the authentic integration of social concerns and gospel values. The Salesian Center supports intellectual activity in research studies, dialogue events including public forums and lectures and partnership programs."