“Thank God for the laity,” began Sr. Elizabeth Johnson, CSJ, as she led the invocation for the Commonweal Centennial Benefit Dinner, which was held on October 28 at Chelsea Piers in Manhattan. (Read Sr. Elizabeth's remarks here).
This year, Commonweal marks its 100th year of continuous publication with the November 2024 centennial issue. As an independent and lay-led publication, Commonweal fosters rigorous and reflective discussions about faith, public affairs, and the arts, centered on belief in the common good. In honor of this milestone, the magazine gathered over five hundred staff, contributors, supporters, and friends to celebrate the publication’s history and chart the course for its next century.
In recognition of their shared values and history, Commonweal was also pleased to present Tania Tetlow, president of Fordham University, with its inaugural Commonweal Centennial Award. Tetlow is the first woman and first layperson to hold the office at Fordham University, She is also the chair of the Board of Directors of the Association of Jesuit Colleges and Universities. A large contingent of Fordham affiliates and representatives from Catholic universities across the country attended the dinner to celebrate her leadership and example.
President Tetlow and other speakers used their remarks to reflect on what they saw as Commonweal’s legacy of service to the common good and to thoughtful discourse in Catholic spaces. “Commonweal embodies the best of the Catholic intellectual tradition,” Tetlow said in her remarks (which can be read in full here). “It continues to lovingly push our church to read the signs of the times and to keep striving towards the truth of the Gospel.”
The dinner also provided an opportunity for Commonweal to articulate its goals for the immediate and long-term future. Most notably, Ellen B. Koneck, executive director of Commonweal, announced that a generous one million dollar gift from Karen Sue Smith & Rose DiMartino will enable the magazine to develop and launch new fellowships and internships to support emerging voices and young writers. Koneck emphasized that in its second century, Commonweal would continue to provide thoughtful and incisive lay leadership in the church and in society. (Read Koneck's remarks here).
Photos from the evening can be found here. Commonweal’s November 2024 issue, a one hundred page special issue in honor of the centennial, is available now in print and online.
