IRVING, TX (Oct. 6, 2022) – The University of Dallas will host the 7th annual Catholic Bar Association (CBA) Conference, “Catholic Lawyers: Upholding the Rule of Law,” Oct. 13-15, 2022. 

“The Catholic Bar Association is delighted to bring its flagship event – the 2022 annual conference and general assembly – to the University of Dallas. Our members are looking forward to being on the campus of one of our nation’s premier Catholic institutions of higher learning,” said Peter H. Wickersham, CBA president. “The CBA has assembled perhaps the most significant gathering of Catholic legal thinkers in the U.S. in 2022. Our speakers and honorees are among the most eminent individuals in their respective fields.”

UD President Johnathan J. Sanford, Ph.D., will lecture on “What Does the Law Have to Do with Virtue?,” after providing welcoming remarks to attendees on Thurs. Oct. 14. “The conference features some of the best legal minds in the country, as well as leading intellectuals and professionals who are associated with the University of Dallas, including Dr. Gerard Wegemer, professor of English and director of the Center for Thomas More Studies, as well as Louis Brown and Charles LiMandri, members of UD's Board of Trustees," continued Sanford.

UD Trustee and attorney Charles LiMandri will deliver a talk titled “Defending Attacks on Religious Liberty,” while Louis Brown, UD Trustee and Executive Director of Christ Medicus Foundation, a Catholic healthcare-sharing organization, will give a talk on “The Case for Civil Rights in Healthcare: Legal Principles Pertaining to Life, Religious Freedom, and Medical Conscience.” 

WHAT: 2022 Catholic Bar Association Conference: “Catholic Lawyers: Upholding the Rule of Law.” View full schedule here. Advance registration is required.

WHO: Featured keynote speakers include Third Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals Judge Thomas M. Hardiman; the Most Rev. Joseph F. Naumann, Archbishop of the Archdiocese of Kansas City, Kansas; Archbishop Borys Gudziak, Ph.D., who heads the Archeparchy of Philadelphia of the Ukrainian Catholic Church; and U.S. District Court Judge Sarah E. Pitlyk.

HIGHLIGHTS: The gathering of Catholic lawyers describes itself as “a community of legal professionals that educates, organizes and inspires its members to faithfully uphold and bear witness to the Catholic faith in the study and practice of the law.” The conference will feature a Red Mass celebrated by UD Chancellor and Bishop of the Diocese of Dallas the Most Rev. Edward J. Burns and is co-sponsored by the St. Thomas More Society of the Diocese of Dallas. 

WHERE: The conference includes several scheduled events and presentations on the University of Dallas’ Irving campus (1845 E Northgate Drive, Irving, 75062) with speaker sessions in SB Hall. Advance registration is required. (View the campus map.) Other nearby conference venues include: 

• Marriott Las Colinas, 223 W. Las Colinas Blvd., Irving, 75039 – for an evening welcome reception on Thurs., Oct. 13.

• Cathedral Shrine of the Virgin of Guadalupe, 2215 Ross Avenue, Dallas, 75201 – for Saturday’s concluding Red Mass celebrated by Bishop Burns, with the homily delivered by St. John Fisher honoree, Archbishop Naumann.

• Dallas Marriott Downtown, 650 N Pearl Street in Dallas, 75201 – for Saturday’s concluding reception and banquet, and Judge Hardiman’s keynote St. Thomas More Lecture.

WHEN: Thurs., Oct. 13 – Sat., Oct. 15, 2022

About the University of Dallas

The University of Dallas, is a leading Catholic institution with campuses in Irving, Texas, and Rome, Italy. Known for the academic rigor of its undergraduate liberal arts curriculum, rooted in Western and Catholic tradition, UD’s exceptional faculty are committed to the pursuit of wisdom, truth and virtue. For more information, visit udallas.edu.

About the Catholic Bar Association 

Formally incorporated on July 6, 2015, the 480th Anniversary of the Martyrdom of St. Thomas More, the Patron Saint of Lawyers, the mission of the Catholic Bar Association is to educate, organize, and inspire its members to faithfully uphold and bear witness to the Catholic Faith in the study and the practice of the law.  For more information, visit catholicbar.org.