Fr. Doug Dousson to speak at Christus lecture Feb. 22

Feb 01, 2007

MOBILE — Spring Hill College’s Christus Lecture Series will continue from 7 to 9 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 22 in Byrne Memorial Hall on the college campus. The Rev. Doug Dousson, pastor of St. Gabriel the Archangel Catholic Church in New Orleans, will present “Life Can Change in a Single Instant: Katrina, Destruction and Transformation.” The lecture is free for Christus members and $2 for guests.

The PowerPoint presentation will chronicle the story of St. Gabriel the Archangel Catholic Church: the vibrancy of the parish prior to Hurricane Katrina, the devastation wrought by the broken levees and storm surges, efforts that were made to locate dispersed parishioners and to assist them in rebuilding their homes and their lives, and restore the parish Church and other buildings. The presentation will also describe the new vibrancy of this transformed parish and identify some of the issues of injustice revealed by the tragedy.

Doussan received his M.A. in Liturgy from the University of Notre Dame and has pursued studies in conflict resolution at Conrad Grebel College in Waterloo, Ontario. He is a certified covey facilitator for The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People Seminar, both for the National Federation of Priests’ Councils and the Archdiocese of New Orleans. He is former chairperson of the National Council for Pax Christi U.S.A., and in August 1997, he received the Ambassador of Peace Award from Pax Christi in recognition of his peacemaking work in conflict resolution. In November 2005, St. Gabriel Parish received the Communion and Mission Award from the National Pastoral Life Center in recognition of the parish’s emphasis on building community and promoting social justice. In 2006 the National Organization for the Continuing Education of Roman Catholic Clergy presented Dousson with its Pope John XXIII Award and the NFPC presented him with its Touchstone Award, both awards given “in recognition of outstanding service to priests.”

Use the Old Shell Road college entrance and follow the signs. For more information or to become a Christus member, call the Spring Hill College Division of Philosophy and Theology at (251) 380-4660 or e-mail christus@shc.edu.