In the last fifty years, since the end of Vatican II (1962-65), migration has become a global phenomenon and a pressing international issue. Pope Francis has recently drawn attention to the plight of migrants and refugees in Italy and called for an international policy and program to deal with it. Migration has also radically changed the face of the Catholic Church, not least in the U.S. and demands a new pastoral ministry. The lecture examines the challenges of migration to theology by developing a method of doing theology from the experience of migration ("migration of theology") and a re-elaboration of the main Christian doctrines (Deus Migrator) with migration as the overarching perspective ("theology of migration").

Peter C. Phan, Ph.D. will deliver the keynote lecture with a response by LMU's James Fredericks, Ph.D.  A public Q&A will follow.  The forum will conclude with a light dessert reception.

To Attend
This event is free and open to the public; RSVP is requested. Campus parking fees will apply.

About the Symposium
Marking one of the great events in the history of the Catholic Church, Loyola Marymount University and Mount St. Mary’s University (formerly Mount St. Mary's College) are proud to cosponsor Vatican II at 50: A Symposium on the groundbreaking reforms of the Second Vatican Council, opened by Pope John XXIII in 1962. Beginning in October 2012, both institutions will host semiannual forums through 2016. Forums are free and open to the public.

About the Speakers
Peter C. Phan, Ph.D., a native of Vietnam, emigrated as a refugee to the U.S.A. in 1975. He obtained three doctorates, the Doctor of Sacred Theology from the Universitas Pontificia Salesiana, Rome, and the Doctor of Philosophy and the Doctor of Divinity from the University of London. He was also awarded the honorary Doctor of Theology from Chicago Theological Union and the honorary Doctor of Humane Letters from the College of Our Lady of the Elms. He began his teaching career in philosophy at the age of eighteen at Don Bosco College, Hong Kong. At Georgetown University, he is currently holding the Ignacio Ellacuría Chair of Catholic Social Thought. In 2010 he was given the John Courtney Murray Award, the highest honor of the Catholic Theological Society of America, in recognition for outstanding and distinguished achievement in theology.

Rev. James Fredericks, Ph.D. is a Roman Catholic priest of the Archdiocese of San Francisco and a faculty member in the Department of Theological Studies at Loyola Marymount University. He is a specialist in interreligious dialogue, especially the dialogue between Buddhism and Christianity, and has lectured internationally in Japan, China, India, Iran, and Europe. He is the author of Faith Among Faiths: Christian Theology and the Non-Christian Religions and Buddhists and Christians: Through Comparative Theology to a New Solidarity.