2025-2026 Past Events
During the first year of Pope Leo's papacy, the Hank Center hosted events touching on 20th century Catholic movements, the need for peace-building, biblical studies, the Catholic imagination in poetry and speculative fiction—and much more!
Browse the array of 2025-2026 events below and follow the links to each event page to learn more and watch videos where available.
Events
"How Catholics Encounter the Bible" | Book Review Panel with Michael Peppard at the 2025 CBA Annual Meeting
Saturday August 2, 2025
The Hank Center was delighted to host a panel of scholars discussing award-winning biblical scholar and historian Michael Peppard's recent book, "How Catholics Encounter the Bible," as the first plenary session of the 2025 Annual Meeting of the Catholic Biblical Association at Loyola University Chicago. As a way to experience and glimpses into the varied Catholic encounters with Scripture through history, the panel was supplemented with two opportunities to visit a display of medieval and early modern manuscripts curated and presented by Loyola's Archives and Special Collections.
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EVENTS
Book Lecture: The Last Supper by Paul Elie
SEPTEMBER 17, 2025
The Hank Center welcomed National Book Critics Circle Award finalist Paul Elie to discuss his new book, The Last Supper, a vibrant study of how a diverse coterie of artists engaged in the "early skirmishes in the culture wars" that profoundly informed and described life in the U.S. in the 1980s.
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Partner Conferences
Catholic Studies Consortium National Conference 2025
September 19–21, 2025
Catholic Studies has a vital role to play in the future of Catholic higher education and seeks to cultivate growth of students in the fullness of their being and the integration of knowledge in every discipline and realm of study. The Hank Center is proud to serve on the leadership team of the CS Consortium and provide support for its exciting, needed endeavors.
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Catholicism in Dialogue
Interreligious Dialogues: On Laudato si’, Islamic and Catholic Approaches with Abdul Aziz bin Ali Al Nuaimi and Michael Murphy
October 1, 2025
An Islamic Scholar and member of the Royal Government of the UAE, Abdul Aziz bin Ali Al Nuaimi, also known as the Green Sheikh, will be giving a presentation on environmentalism in Islam. Dr. Michael Murphy will provide a Catholic response and the dialogue will be moderated by Omer Mozaffar, Muslim Chaplain at Loyola University Chicago.
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Laudato Si' at 10 Series
Event Series | Spring 2025
The Hank Center is proud to be involved in a number of events commemorating the 10th anniversary of Pope Francis’s encyclical Laudato Si’: On Care for Our Common Home.
Teilhard de Chardin S.J. Lecture
Teilhard de Chardin Lecture featuring Sr. Ilia Delio, OSF
October 30, 2025
The Hank Center welcomed Sr. Ilia Delio, OSF as our 2025 Teilhard de Chardin, S.J. visiting Fellow in Catholic Studies. Professor Delio, who specializes in the area of science, technology, and religion, offered this year's Teilhard lecture: "Incarnation and Evolution: The Catholic Vision of Teilhard de Chardin."
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EVENTS
Book Discussion: My Son, the Priest: A Mother’s Crisis of Faith by Kristin Grady Gilger
November 12, 2025
My Son, the Priest: A Mother’s Crisis of Faith by Kristin Grady Gilger tells the true story of a young man’s journey to become a Jesuit priest—written by his mother, a fallen-away Catholic who must come to terms with her son’s decision or risk losing him. The Hank Center was delighted to welcome both Kristin Grady Gilger and dear friend Paddy Gilger, SJ for this very special conversation.
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Publication Luncheons
Nexus Release Lunch | Dei Verbum at 60: Rediscovering the Word of God Ever Anew
November 18, 2025
The Dogmatic Constitution on Divine Revelation, Dei Verbum, is often recognized as one of the foundational documents for the initiation of the ‘scientific’ discipline of biblical scholarship among Catholics. Yet beyond biblical interpretation, the Constitution is primarily concerned with the broader concept of divine revelation itself—how exactly humanity communicates with God. On the occasion of Dei Verbum’s 60th anniversary, this edition of Nexus explores the legacy of this remarkable document across the breadth of Catholic life.
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Lecture & Retreat
“Something More: Denise Levertov and the Poetry of Transformation” with Fr. Kevin Burke, SJ
November 20–22, 2025
The Hank Center is delighted to welcome Fr. Kevin Burke, SJ to Loyola’s Lakeshore Campus for our annual Catholic Imaginations lecture about his new book, Opening the Doors of the World, which explores the theological dimensions of the great 20th Century poet, Denise Levertov (1923-1997). Fr. Burke will also lead an Ignatian style retreat as a second event co-hosted by our friends St. Gregory's Hall and taking place there.
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Student Colloquia
Sobrino Student Colloquium on Worship, Theology, and Justice
November 21, 2025
As part of Ignatian Heritage Month, the Hank Center for the Intellectual Heritage and Campus Ministry invite undergraduate students to participate in a research colloquium dedicated to the great Salvadoran priest and theologian, Jon Sobrino.
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Jesuit Lecture
Mark Massa, SJ, “Catholic Fundamentalisms”
January 28, 2026
The Hank Center is pleased to welcome Fr. Mark Massa, SJ of Boston College’s Boisi Center for Religion and American Public Life, for its 2025-2026 Jesuit Lecture. He will speak about his new book, Catholic Fundamentalism in America.
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Sponsored conference
"Sacred Ground, Contested Space: The Sanctuary Movement Past and Present"
February 6, 2026
This panel traces the roots of the U.S. sanctuary movement from the 1980s, when faith communities opened their doors to refugees fleeing violence in Central America, to present-day efforts in Chicago where congregations, advocates, and legal partners continue to offer welcome, protection, and accompaniment to migrants. The Hank Center is pleased to co-sponsor this event.
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Annual St. John Henry Newman Lecture
The 2026 Annual St. John Henry Newman Lecture featuring David Gibson
February 12, 2026
David Gibson went to Rome a Protestant, got hired by the Vatican, traveled the world with the pope, and became Catholic. Nice story. But what could such a tale possibly teach most of us about becoming Catholic, and staying Catholic? In the 2026 Newman Lecture, Gibson – a veteran journalist and currently director of the Center on Religion and Culture at Fordham University – talks about what took him from his upbringing as a “Billy Graham Evangelical” to his conversion to Roman Catholicism, and how his unusual experience relates to our church’s challenges today.
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Conference
Fifth Annual Way Forward Conference: Communication & Evangelization
February 25-27, 2026
“The Way Forward” (TWF) is an ecclesial gathering of Catholic leaders from the episcopate, the academy, and the laity who come together in a spirit of communion to promote the teachings and spirit of the Second Vatican Council and papal ministries. The goal of the regular convenings is to discuss papal and ecclesial priorities, to pray with and learn from each other, to foster a community of friendship, to build up the Catholic Church in the United States, and to promote a common witness in the shared mission of evangelization. The first of these TWF gatherings took place at Loyola University Chicago is 2022; this meeting, the fifth in this grant funded series, take place in the Twin Cities.
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Building Bridges Initiative
International Encounter for Peace and Reconciliation
March 7, 2026
This event, part of the Building Bridges Initiative, invites students, faculty, and practitioners to gather for a day of peacebuilding in the synodal spirit. The main objective is to explore, discuss, and propose interdisciplinary avenues on how to promote peace among peoples of the human family. We will share information for reflection in advance, host a pre-meeting on Zoom, and then gather for structured dialogues similar to Conversations in the Spirit on these themes.
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Conference
A Faith That Builds Worlds: the Catholic Imagination and Speculative Storytelling Conference
March 14, 2026
Fairy tales and fantasy—all the genres of speculative storytelling—have long battled the trope that such nonsensical storytelling is just for children, that wasting time on fictional worlds is a form of foolish escapism. What if we reclaimed the need for worldbuilding once more—and did so as a way to better grapple with God and God’s world?
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Catholicism and the Arts
Flannery 101: Capping the Centenary Year of an American Master
March 25, 2026
March 25th, 2026 marks 101 years since the birth of acclaimed author, Flannery O’Connor. This gatheriing will have as its focus the ways that "art responds to art" and will take up the terrain of childhood and the art of teaching O'Connor as robust subthemes. Join us for a celebration of an artist who put her storytelling first, who embraced discomfort in the pursuit of truth, and who knew that "anybody who has survived his childhood has enough information about life to last him the rest of his days."
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Catholic Minds, Catholic Matters
Book Discussion: Crabgrass Catholicism by Stephen M. Koeth
April 8, 2026
In Crabgrass Catholicism, Stephen M. Koeth argues that postwar suburbanization revolutionized the Catholic parish, the relationship between clergy and laity, conceptions of parochial education, and Catholic participation in US politics, and thereby was a significant factor in the religious disaffiliation that only accelerated in subsequent decades.
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Conference
Reassessing the Emergence of the Gospels: Genre, Media, Reception
April 10–11, 2026
More than at any time in perhaps the past 125 years, New Testament scholarship has been returning to serious questions about the nature of the canonical gospels and the processes behind gospel writing. This conference brings together the most prominent figures in this current discussion with a view to putting these disparate voices into direct dialogue with each other.
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Cardinal Bernardin Dialogues
Habemus Papam: Three Journalists Weigh In on Pope Leo’s First Year
April 15, 2026
To mark the one-year anniversary of Pope Leo’s election, The Hank Center will host a conversation focused on the first year of the Pope Leo’s reign: What has he accomplished? Where do we go from here? What remains to be done? Journalists Colleen Dulle (America), Michael Sean Winters (National Catholic Reporter), and Gretchen Crowe (Our Sunday Visitor) will offer their take on Pope Leo’s first year. Dominic Preziosi (Commonweal) will moderate.
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Book Discussion
Book Discussion with Chris Hoklotubbe (Cornell College): Reading the Bible on Turtle Island
April 13, 2026 | 3:30–5:00pm
This groundbreaking book reimagines biblical interpretation in light of the lived experiences of Indigenous peoples in North America and Canada. All are welcome for a panel discussion with one of the authors, Chris Hoklotubbe (Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma, ThD, Harvard), joined by Josefrayn Sánchez-Perry (Assistant Professor, Theology Department) and Julian Sieber (PhD Candidate, New Testament/Early Christianity). This event is hosted by the New Testament/Early Christianity Research Colloquium and the Hank Center for the Catholic Intellectual Heritage.
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Living Tradition Award
Living Tradition Award Luncheon Honoring Dr. Lorraine Ozar
April 21, 2026
Each spring the Hank Center presents the Living Tradition Award to a retired Loyola University Chicago faculty member who has exemplified the integration of Catholic thought into their work. This award commemorates extraordinary lives of scholarship, research, service, and teaching in specific fields of expertise. This year, we are pleased to honor Dr. Lorraine Ozar with this award.
During the first year of Pope Leo's papacy, the Hank Center hosted events touching on 20th century Catholic movements, the need for peace-building, biblical studies, the Catholic imagination in poetry and speculative fiction—and much more!
Browse the array of 2025-2026 events below and follow the links to each event page to learn more and watch videos where available.