Press Releases
Pulitzer Prize Winning Photojournalist Lends Insight to Personal Moments in Life of Joseph Cardinal Bernardin
John H. White to speak at Saint Xavier University on April 28
CHICAGO (March 31, 2004) - Giving insight to the private moments of the late Joseph Cardinal Bernardin, Pulitzer Prize-winning photojournalist John White will be the inaugural speaker of "Still Small Voice," a newly formed lecture series sponsored by The Center for Religion and Public Discourse. The presentation, during which White will exhibit and narrate a slide show of selected images of Cardinal Bernardin, is titled "Moments and Memories of Joseph Cardinal Bernardin."
The program will be held at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, April 28 in McGuire Hall in the Warde Academic Center on Saint Xavier's Chicago campus, 3700 W. 103rd Street. White, a staff photographer for the Chicago Sun-Times since 1979, has traveled throughout the world, often photographing people esteemed for their involvement in peace and justice issues and leadership within the religious world.
In addition to his work with Cardinal Bernardin, White has photographed Pope John Paul II, Nelson Mandela, Jimmy Carter, and Jesse Jackson, who is the subject of an upcoming book. White's work with the late Cardinal Bernardin was featured in two books: The Final Journey of Joseph Cardinal Bernardin and This Man Bernardin. Sister Sue Sanders, RSM, PhD, and director of the Center for Religion and Public Discourse, said that she hopes White's talk will leave audience members with a sense of the challenges and joys Bernardin had to face in his role as a man of nonviolence and peace. "I hope they see that, even when one is a 'great' or 'public' person like Cardinal Bernardin, there are still struggles to be faithful to Jesus and the Gospel message of faith, nonviolence, and peace.
These struggles are especially daunting when one is confronted by imminent death," she said. "We are having a prayer service afterward to pray together for peace and nonviolence. I hope the people who come to hear John, and to join in the conversation with Sister M. Brian Costello, RSM, Cardinal Bernardin's Chief of Staff, who will help to moderate the program, will join us in prayer at the McDonough Chapel immediately following the talk.
It won't be a long service, but it will an important beginning in recognizing the role of prayer in creating a world of peace, such as Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. promoted and whom the 'Still Small Voice' series honors." White's photographs will be on exhibit April 11 to 28 in the Saint Xavier University Mercy Ministry Center, 3700 West 103rd Street. He will also sign copies of his books after the prayer service.