Virtual New York Encounter Set for Feb. 12-14

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The 2021 New York Encounter, an annual three-day public cultural event featuring panel discussions, artistic performances and special exhibits, will be held virtually Friday to Sunday, Feb. 12-14. The conference will be broadcast live online in collaboration with the Sheen Center for Thought and Culture in lower Manhattan and made available on the New York Encounter website, www.newyorkencounter.org

The theme, “When Reality Hits,” examines the unprecedented past year by offering conversations on rethinking work and the economy, the media, mental health concerns, education and more.

Cardinal Dolan will offer a reflection on the Encounter theme Sunday, Feb. 14, at 11:30 a.m.

One question to be explored at the Encounter, in its 13th year, is: Can the dramas and changes we were a part of in 2020 and into 2021 become positive milestones on our journey of life?

 The Encounter opens Friday, Feb. 12, at 7 p.m. with introductory remarks by Archbishop Pierbattista Pizzaballa, Latin patriarch of Jerusalem, and music of Beethoven played by Molly Morkoski, pianist. The evening is billed, “2020: A Milestone in the Journey of Life?”

Encounter participants include Archbishop Christophe Pierre, apostolic nuncio to the United States, as well as economists such as Stefano Zamagni, Italian professor of economics and president of the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences and Raghuram Rajan, former chief economist at the International Monetary Fund; corporation and media experts Matt Stoller and Matthew Taibbi; mental ethics and health protagonists, University of California-Irvine’s Aaron Kheriaty and St. John’s University’s Mary Townsend; racial justice commentators Anika Prather and Jacqueline Rivers; and moral philosophy scholars, the University of Notre Dame’s Paolo Carozza and McGill University’s Charles Taylor.

Events are livestreamed at no charge and will be simultaneously translated into Spanish.