Fr. Jim Hug,  Jane Deren, and Sr. Katherine Feely honored for their contributions

The Roundtable Association of Catholic Diocesan Social Action Directors recently announced three staff members at the Center of Concern as the 2011 Harry A. Fagan Roundtable Award recipients.  Fr. Jim Hug, Jane Deren, and Sr. Katherine Feely will be receiving the award for their exemplary contributions to the achievement of the Catholic social justice vision through the Education for Justice Web Project. The Roundtable Association of Catholic Diocesan Social Action Directors presents the award each year to a person or persons whose work, in the tradition of Catholic social teaching, has led to significant progress towards greater social justice and dignity for all members of society at the national or international level.

The Education for Justice Web Project was created to help social action directors, catechists, lay ecclesial ministers, campus ministers, parish members and others in leadership roles to meet the challenge of sharing Catholic social teaching and to bring greater awareness to social justice issues. The site contains a multitude of timely and engaging resources designed to promote greater knowledge of Catholic social teaching and highlight the connection between current world events and the Catholic faith. It was launched in 2001 by Fr. Jim Hug, President of the Center of Concern, and Jane Deren, who now serves as Senior Advisor to the project. It was launched with a desire to quickly respond to the public events of the time with resources such as prayer services, analytic pieces, and background papers steeped in Catholic social teaching. Sr. Katherine Feely currently directs the Education for Justice Project.

The Roundtable Award is named for the late Harry A. Fagan, who served as the director of Catholic Community Action in the diocese of Cleveland and later worked for the National Pastoral Life Center as staff for the Roundtable Association. Fagan also chaired the Social Concerns Department of the Ohio Catholic Conference and served on the board of the Catholic Committee on Urban Ministry. The award has been given annually since 1987.

Fr. Jim Hug, Jane Deren, and Sr. Katherine Feely will receive the Harry A. Fagan Award during the Roundtable’s Annual Symposium on February 12, 2011 at the beginning of the Catholic Social Ministry Gathering in Washington D.C.

Download the 2011 Roundtable Fagan Award Press Release.

Learn more about the 2011 Fagan Award winners:

Sr. Katherine Feely, SND, Director, Education For Justice Project
Sr. Katherine Feely, SND is a Sister of Notre Dame from Cleveland, Ohio. She joined the Center of Concern staff in the fall of 2006 as a Senior Program Associate. She is directing the Education for Justice Project as well as working with the Engendering Economic and Social Justice Project at the Center. In the early 1990’s she served as an intern with the Global Women’s Project at the Center of Concern, helping to prepare and take a group of grassroots women from across the U.S. to the Fourth UN World Conference on Women in Beijing. She recently completed a Masters Degree in Theology combining joint studies of Catholic Social Teaching and Economics from Boston College. Her background includes work in the field of social justice, advocacy, community organizing, programming, and teaching theology. She is currently consulting for the National Catholic Education Association (NCEA) and Catholic Relief Services (CRS) on a global solidarity project.

James E. Hug, SJ, President of the Center of Concern
Jim Hug came to the Center from the Woodstock Theological Center in 1985 and became Director/President in 1989. He focuses on research and education on issues of faith and economic justice and has lectured and directed workshops throughout the U.S. and in Europe, Asia, Africa and Australia. He is the editor of the Center’s best-selling Catholic Social Teaching: Our Best Kept Secret, principal author of Social Revelation: Profound Challenge for Christian Spirituality, published by the Center of Concern, and the editor of Tracing the Spirit: Communities, Social Action, and Theological Reflection, published by Paulist Press. In addition, Jim has written chapters for Globalization and Catholic Social Thought: Present Crisis, Future Hope and The Pastoral Circle Revisited: A Critical Quest for Truth and Transformation.  He has served as member of the boards of the Religious Task Force on Central America and Mexico, the United States Catholic Mission Association, the Center for Mission Research and Study at Maryknoll, Maryknoll Lay Missioners, the International Jesuit Network for Development, and on the Mission and Ethics Advisory Committee of Christus Health System.  Currently he serves on the board of CIDSE and the National Council of Pax Christi-USA.  He has an M.A. in Philosophy from Springhill College, an M.A. in Christian Spirituality from St. Louis University and a Ph.D. in Christian Ethics from the University of Chicago.

Jane Deren, Senior Advisor, Education for Justice
Jane Deren is currently part-time with the Center, part-time teaching social justice “in the field” at Georgetown Visitation High School. Jane is the author of best-selling Center of Concern workbooks Catholic Social Teaching and Human Rights and Celebrate Jubilee and Justice!, both of which have been cited as important catechetical resources by educators. Jane taught in Catholic schools in Philadelphia before she received her doctorate in 1977 from Temple University, where she also served as a faculty member. While working in Washington DC-based national non-profit organizations, she developed a variety of national popular educational programs for adults during the 1980’s. Before joining Center of Concern, Jane was with the University of Maryland, where she taught and directed a state-wide graduate-level program for educators.

Tags: background papers, Catholic Social Ministry Gathering, Center of Concern, Education for Justice, Fr. Jim Hug, Harry A. Fagan Award, Jane Deren, prayer service, press release, resources, Roundtable Symposium, Sr. Katherine Feely

This entry was posted on Wednesday, June 30th, 2010 at 10:50 pm and is filed under Roundtable Report, Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.