Professor Helen Alvaré (George Mason University) will present on themes from her 2022 book, Religious Freedom after the Sexual Revolution: A Catholic Guide. In this work, Alvaré examines the pressing religious liberty challenges of the day. She counsels leaders in the Church and her institutions to provide a more compelling, intelligent, and compassionate voice on Catholic teachings on life, marriage, family and sexual identity. Without such a voice, the true mission and identity of Catholic institutions are at risk.

As noted by Alvaré in the introductory chapter, “Explaining the place of sexual expression norms in the life of the Church and her institutions is an important part of the contemporary vocation of Catholics. This is not because sexual expression is the most important facet of the Catholic life, but because the world’s need is great.”   

CLE

1.0 CLE credit approved. Please email an attorney number to murphyinstit@stthomas.edu for our records. 

The CLE event code for this program is 499454.

Speaker

Helen Alvaré is the Robert A. Levy Endowed Chair in Law and Liberty at Antonin Scalia Law School, George Mason University, where she teaches Family Law, Law and Religion, and Property Law. She publishes on matters concerning marriage, parenting, non-marital households, and the First Amendment religion clauses. She is faculty advisor to the law school’s Civil Rights Law Journal, and the Latino/a Law Student Association, a Member of the Holy See’s Dicastery for Laity, Family and Life (Vatican City), a board member of Catholic Relief Services, a member of the Executive Committee of the AALS’ Section on Law and Religion, and an ABC news consultant. She cooperates with the Permanent Observer Mission of the Holy See to the United Nations as a speaker and a delegate to various United Nations conferences concerning women and the family. 

In addition to her books, and her publications in law reviews and other academic journals, Professor Alvaré publishes regularly in news outlets including the New York Times, the Washington Post, the Huffington Post, and CNN.com. She also speaks at academic and professional conferences in the United States, Europe, Latin America and Australia. 

Prior to joining the faculty of Scalia Law, Professor Alvaré taught at the Columbus School of Law at the Catholic University of America; represented the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops before legislative bodies, academic audiences and the media; and was a litigation attorney for the Philadelphia law firm of Stradley, Ronon, Stevens & Young. 

Professor Alvaré received her law degree from Cornell University School of Law and her master’s degree in Systematic Theology from the Catholic University of America.