Respect Life is theme of the Tobin Lecture
Portland Archdiocese,
Respect for life will be the theme for this year’s Tobin Lecture on Saturday, November 14 at All Saints Church (3847 NE Glisan) in Portland. The program will run from 9:30 am until noon. Keynote speaker will be Clarence Pugh, and a panel discussion will follow. The panel will include Father Tim Mockaitis, Associated Director of Respect Life activities in the Archdiocesan Office of Justice and Peace/Respect Life, Chris Killmer, Program Coordinator for Catholic Charities Outreach and Support to Special Immigrant Populations Human Trafficking program and Geoff Scrowcroft, Program Manager and Managing Attorney for Catholic Charities of Oregon Immigration Assistance, Refugee Resettlement and Human Trafficking.
The Office of Justice and Peace/Respect Life offers the annual Tobin Lecture in honor of the memory of Monsignor Thomas Tobin, who dedicated his life’s work to struggles for social justice and liturgical renewal.
Clarence Pugh’s work with the death penalty began with Amnesty International. The current Chair of Oregonians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty (OADP), Mr. Pugh has been a member of the boards of directors of OADP and its predecessor the Oregon Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty since 1993. He was a member of the steering committee of the Life for a Life campaign from 1998 through 2001, and has served as Amnesty International’s State Death Penalty Abolition Coordinator for Oregon.
Mr. Pugh is a graduate of Willamette University in Salem, Oregon. While at Willamette he earned a Bachelor and Master degrees in Music Education. He taught junior and senior high school choir in Oregon for 20 years. Following that, he taught English in Japan for two years and then returned to Salem where he worked in administration with the Salem-Keizer Area Mass Transportation District.
Chris Killmer is the Program Coordinator for Catholic Charities Outreach and Support to Special Immigrant Populations (OSSIP) Human Trafficking Program.
Funded by the US Department of Justice, OSSIP provides comprehensive social services and immigration legal services to foreign born pre-certified victims of human trafficking.
Chris Killmer received his Bachelor of Arts degree from Lewis & Clark College in International Affairs and East Asian Studies. From November 2007 through August 2008, Mr. Killmer coordinated the US Department of Health and Human Services Rescue and Restore Victims of Human Trafficking Campaign for the State of Oregon. He was a founding member of Oregonians Against Trafficking Humans (OATH), a coalition of parties interested in or affected by issues of human trafficking. He continues to serve on the OATH board of directors.
Mr. Killmer also actively serves on the Oregon Human Trafficking Task Force as the chairperson of their subcommittee on outreach, training, and public awareness as well as the chairperson of the subcommittee on foreign born survivors of human trafficking.
Geoff Scowcroft is the Program Manager and Managing Attorney for Catholic Charities of Oregon Immigration Assistance, Refugee Resettlement and Human Trafficking. Previously Mr. Scowcroft held the same position for Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Newark, New Jersey.
Geoff Scowcroft received his Bachelor of Arts degree from City University of New York in Economics, Master of Social Work degree from Ohio State University, and his law degree from Seton Hall.
Father Tim Mockaitis, pastor of Queen of Peace Parish in Salem, is Associate Director for Respect Life Activities. Originally from Chicago, Father Mockaitis has been a priest since 1978. This is his first year as the Associate Director for Respect Life.
The lecture is hosted by All Saints Parish, its pastor, Father Richard Thompson, and the Archdiocese of Portland’s Office of Justice and Peace/Respect Life. It is free and open to the public. Contact the Office of Justice and Peace for more information.
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Bud Bunce
Director of Communications
Archdiocese of Portland
2838 E. Burnside Street
Portland, OR 97214
503-233-8373
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