Friday, September 22, 2023
6 p.m.
Church of St. Paul the Apostle | Columbus Avenue & W. 60th Street | New York, NY 10023
Dead Man Walking is Sister Helen Prejean’s best-selling 1993 memoir chronicling her ministry to death row inmates and the families of their victims. In 1995, her book was adapted for the screen and became an Academy Award-winning film. And in 2000, Dead Man Walking premiered as an opera—the most widely performed new opera of the last twenty years.
This fall, the opera makes its premiere at the Metropolitan Opera. In anticipation of that opening, Sister Helen will join composer Jake Heggie and mezzo-soprano Joyce DiDonato—who portrays Sister Helen—at the Church of St. Paul the Apostle for a conversation about the opera and the role art and faith play in galvanizing social action.
The occasion of this production is especially propitious as Pope Francis has declared the death penalty “inadmissible” under Catholic teaching. At the same time, some states are ramping up efforts to schedule executions even as more death row inmates are exonerated or questions are raised about their convictions. This gives the campaign against capital punishment even greater urgency.
The Center on Religion and Culture director David Gibson will moderate the discussion with the panelists and the audience.
This event is a partnership between Fordham’s Center on Religion and Culture, Church of St. Paul the Apostle, and the Metropolitan Opera.