Cardinal Robert McElroy of the Diocese of San Diego, will share a 5 p.m. lecture titled "America’s Synodal Journey: God’s People Point the Path Forward" with the Fairfield University community on Thursday, Feb. 23.

Presented by Fairfield University’s Office for Mission & Ministry, this event is free and open to the public. Cardinal McElroy's lecture will take place in the Dolan School of Business Event Hall. Space is limited; to reserve your seat at this lecture, please Register Today.

A panel discussion moderated by Fairfield University Associate Professor of Religious Studies Nancy Dallavalle, PhD, will include Professor of Psychology Margaret McClure, PhD, St. Anthony of Padua Parish Life Coordinator Eleanor Sauers, PhD, and Associate Professor of Chemistry Aaron Van Dyke, PhD.

Cardinal McElroy has a passion for the plight of the marginalized and is an outspoken advocate for the ‘radical inclusion’ of LGBT people, women, and other marginalized populations in the Catholic Church.  He is also a staunch promoter of the pope’s synodal process, writing last month in America magazine, “Reforming our own structures of exclusion will require a long pilgrimage of sustained prayer, reflection, dialogue and action—all of which should begin now.”

Born in San Francisco, Cardinal McElroy received his undergraduate degree at Harvard and earned a master’s degree in American history from Stanford in 1976. He was ordained a priest in l980 and received a doctorate in moral theology from the Gregorian University in Rome and a doctorate in political science from Stanford in l989.

In 2010 Pope Benedict appointed him auxiliary bishop of San Francisco, and in 2015 Pope Francis appointed him bishop of San Diego. He was elevated to the College of Cardinals in 2022, making him the newest – and youngest – American cardinal. Cardinal McElroy is a member of the Vatican’s Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development and the Dicastery for Laity, Family and Life.

In addition to a series of articles on theology and public policy for a variety of journals, Cardinal McElroy has written two books, The Search for an American Public Theology and Morality and American Foreign Policy.

Earlier on the day of his Feb. 23 visit to campus, Cardinal McElroy will preside at the daily 12:30 p.m. Mass in the Egan Chapel of St. Ignatius Loyola at Fairfield University. Prior to his 5 p.m. lecture in the Dolan School of Business Event Hall, there will be a reception with light refreshments, beginning at 4:15 p.m. All are welcome.

Presented by Fairfield University’s Office of Mission & Ministry, "America’s Synodal Journey: God’s People Point the Path Forward" with Cardinal Robert McElroy is free and open to the public. The event will take place at 5 p.m. on Thursday, Feb. 23, in the Charles F. Dolan School of Business Event Hall, 1073 North Benson Road, Fairfield, CT 06824.

Space is limited; to reserve your seat at this lecture, please Register Today.