Social Justice Doubt FIRE

Passion Belief

Faith Power

FIRST-YEAR SEMINAR INTRODUCES... Sister Helen Prejean, CSJ

In partnership with the CSJ Institute and the Center for Academic Innovation and Creativity (CAIC) When Faith Catches Fire: My Spiritual Journey to Social Justice Wednesday, September 30, 4:30 - 5:30PM Sister Helen Prejean’s activism against the death penalty is known to millions worldwide. After witnessing the execution of a condemned man, she wrote the bestselling book, , which sparked a national dialogue on and inspired a major motion picture. In her books and while on the road, she strives to bring citizens closer to the hard realities of government killings through her masterful storytelling. Her latest book, River of Fire, is a memoir aimed at anyone interested in journeys of faith and spirituality, doubt and belief, and “catching on fire” to purpose and passion. About Sr. Helen Prejean

Sister Helen Prejean, CSJ, is known Her book, Dead Man Walking: An around the world for her tireless Eyewitness Account of the Death work against the death penalty. Penalty in the United States, did Her mission has taken her to every just that when it was published, U.S. state and to the Vatican, opening a national debate on where her entreaties to two popes capital punishment and inspiring helped shape Catholic opposition an Academy Award-winning to government executions. Her movie, a play, and an opera. commitment to social justice was Prejean’s second book, The Death ignited in 1982 after she began of Innocents: An Eyewitness corresponding with Patrick Account of Wrongful Executions, Sonnier, a prisoner on death row. followed in 2004. In her latest Two years later, she witnessed his book, River of Fire: My Spiritual execution and that of another Journey, Prejean shares the death row inmate, Robert Lee revelatory, intimate story of her Willie. Afterward, she realized that growth as a spiritual leader, the this inhumane ritual, usually challenges of the , performed away from the eyes of and her belief that joy and religion the public, would remain are not mutually exclusive. unchallenged until its secrecy was stripped away.

For more information on Sister Helen Prejean, please visit www.prhspeakers.com, www.sisterhelen.org, or the NY Times article, "Sister Helen Prejean Explains It All for You".