Free parking is available across the street at Oakland Catholic High School (144 North Craig Street Pittsburgh, PA 15213). There are also several restaurants in the immediate vicinity of the Cathedral: Lucca Ristorante ($$$), Legume ($$$$), Ali Baba ($$), Tamarind ($$), Lulu’s Noodles ($), and Union Grill ($$).
An Exploration of Faith as a Method of Knowledge
All Events and Exhibits will take place in Synod Hall Auditorium (125 N. Craig Street, Pittsburgh, PA 15213)
Exhibits:
1. The Certainty of Blessed John Cardinal Newman: Conscience and Reality
- In his visit to the U.K. in 2010, Pope Benedict XVI indicated Cardinal Newman as a figure to look at, above all, for his position in front of modernity. The exhibit intends to take up the Holy Father’s invitation by presenting Newman’s life through a thematic journey. As Newman himself wrote in his epitaph, “Ex umbris et imaginibus in veritatem” (“From shadows and appearances into the truth”): conscience and love of beauty were the moving forces on his long journey toward certainty.
2. Earth, a Human Habitat: the Exceptional Features of our Small Planet
- Wonder is the most human response to the beauty of reality and has always led human beings to raise questions: Why is the sky so impressive this evening? And why these colors? The very fact that we exist is itself a great source of wonder, for it is by no means obvious that there should be human beings within the universe. The exhibit, which consists of a 26 panels, presents the marvelous coming together of the astrophysical, geological, chemical, and biological factors necessary to make life on our planet possible.
Schedule:
Friday, Nov. 16:
- 7:00pm: Welcome and introduction
- “Can a cultured man, a European of our days, believe, really believe in the divinity of the Son of God, Jesus Christ? Reason, Certainty, and Faith in Light of Dostoevsky’s Question” Massimo Robberto, Full Scientist, The Space Telescope Science Institute, Baltimore, MD
Saturday, Nov. 17:
- 9:00am: Guided tours of exhibits available: Earth: A Human Habitat, and The Certainty of Cardinal Newman: Conscience and Reality
- 9:30am: “Introduction to the Exhibit, Earth: A Human Habitat,” Timothy Dolch, Postdoctoral Researcher, Department of Physics & Astronomy, Oberlin College
- 11:00am: Panel Discussion: “Faith, Culture, and Certainty in the Life and Thought of Blessed Cardinal Newman.” Panelists: John Crosby, Franciscan University; Fr. Michael Darcy, C.O., The Pittsburgh Oratory
- 4:00pm: Panel Discussion of Msgr. Luigi Giussani’s book At the Origin of the Christian Claim. Panelists: Very Rev. Kris D. Stubna, STD; William Wright, Duquesne University
- 6:00pm: Mass in the Cathedral
Sunday, Nov. 18
- 9:00am-12:30pm: Guided tours of the exhibits available
- 2:00pm: ”Poetry Points to the Infinite: Readings and Discussion of Faith and Poetry,” featuring poets Ewa Chrusciel, Elisabeth Beasley Kramp, and Stephen Kramp
