Established in 2014, the Fr. Lydio F. Tomasi, C.S. Annual Lecture on International Migration addresses a migration-related topic of pressing concern to faith communities. Fr. Tomasi, a founding member of the Center for Migration Studies of New York (CMS), directed the institute from 1968 to 2001. Past lectures have been delivered by: Dr. Hosffman Ospino, Associate Professor of Hispanic Ministry and Religious Education at Boston College; Fr. Allan Figueroa Deck, Distinguished Scholar of Theology and Latino Studies at Loyola Marymount University; Dr. Maria Clara Bingemer, Professor of Theology at the Pontifical Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro (PUC) and Brazilian Fulbright Distinguished Chair in Democracy and Human Development in the Kellogg Institute for International Studies at the University of Notre Dame; and Msgr. Arturo J. Bañuelas, S.T.D., Pastor of St. Mark’s Parish in El Paso, Texas.
Co-sponsored with the University of Notre Dame, the 2020 Fr. Lydio F. Tomasi, C.S. Annual Lecture on International Migration was delivered by His Eminence Cardinal Michael F. Czerny, SJ, Under-Secretary for the Migrants & Refugees Section of the Vatican Dicastery for Human Development. Cardinal Czerny joined the Jesuit Order in 1963 and was ordained a Catholic priest in 1973. He has worked in social justice ministry in Canada, Central America, Africa — principally on human rights, health, peace, ecology, and AIDS. Since 2010, his work has focused on migrants and refugees. A good writer and speaker in several languages, he works to make connections, especially with the Church, and help others to cooperate. On December 14, 2016, Pope Francis appointed him under-secretary of the Migrants and Refugees Section of the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development. The Holy Father consecrated Michael Czerny a bishop on October 4, 2019, making him titular archbishop of Benevento. On October 5, 2019, Pope Francis made him Cardinal Deacon of San Michele Arcangelo, Rome.
Additional speakers included: Rev. John I. Jenkins, C.S.C., President, University of Notre Dame; Donald Kerwin, Executive Director, Center for Migration Studies; Rev. Robert Dowd, Assistant Provost for Internationalization and Associate Professor of Political Science at the University of Notre Dame; Kristin Heyer, Professor and Director of Graduate Studies, Theology Department of Boston College; and Rev. Daniel Groody, C.S.C., Associate Provost and Associate Professor of Theology at the University of Notre Dame.
