Young man prayers in a Christian church

How Can We Live Faithfully in Our Personal, Professional, and Political Lives?

As the U.S. election season heats up, hostility and division are everywhere, paralyzing political life and too often preventing real movement addressing serious challenges such as poverty, protection of the most vulnerable, and climate change. Yet Pope Francis has called for “a better kind of politics,” reminding us that “our differences should not…pit us against each other: the heart of those who truly believe urges that we open up ways of communion, always and everywhere.” The Catholic Church is deeply challenged as well, with its own divisions, failures, and questions.

How can Catholics under 40 live with faith, hope, purpose, and meaning? How can we live faithfully and follow the Gospel call to serve those most in need through engagement in public life? How can we build community and apply principles of human dignity, solidarity, concern for the poor and vulnerable, and care for creation in our personal, professional, and political lives?

This Salt and Light Gathering will ask four remarkable young leaders—a young author exploring family, faith, ambition, and purpose; a reporter at Politico; a Hill staffer leading faith outreach; and an active duty Army major—how they are trying to live faithfully, act on their values, find community, and participate in the public square.

This gathering will have three parts:

  • 6:00 – 7:00 p.m. | Welcoming Happy Hour: Meet and network with other young leaders over food and drink
  • 7:00 – 8:00 p.m. | Salt and Light Gathering: A dialogue and conversation on “How Can We Live Faithfully in Our Personal, Professional, and Political Lives?” with four leaders
  • 8:00 – 9:00 p.m. | Reception: Continue the conversation with other young leaders over food and drink

Participants

  • Eric Bazail-Eimil (SFS’23) is a Cuban-American writer, commentator, and journalist. He is a 2023-2024 Fellow at Politico and has previously interned at the Wall Street Journal, NBC News, and Reason magazine.
  • Tamika Mason is the director of faith outreach for Assistant Democratic Leader James Clyburn (D-SC) of the U.S. House of Representatives. She has worked on Capitol Hill for Rep. Clyburn since 2007.
  • Luke Russert is the author of the best-selling book Look for Me There: Grieving My Father, Finding Myself (2023) and was an award-winning congressional correspondent for NBC News.
  • Elizabeth Verardo is an active duty U.S. Army major and an active term member at the Council on Foreign Relations. In 2009, she qualified as an Apache helicopter pilot and served two combat deployments in eastern Afghanistan.
  • Anna Gordon, program director of the Initiative, will moderate the conversation.

This Salt and Light Gathering is for Catholics under 40 years old in Washington to help them explore links between faith, Catholic social thought, and their lives and work. Learn more about the Initiative’s Salt and Light Gatherings online.

Recording and Accessibility​

For those who cannot join us in person, the dialogue starting at 7:00 pm ET will be livestreamed and posted online for later viewing.

All in-person accommodation requests should be sent to cathsocialthought@georgetown.edu by September 15. A good-faith effort will be made to fulfill requests.