Faith Matters: Catholic Response to Domestic Violence
Topic: December PDCC “Faith Matters: Catholic Response to Domestic Violence”
Presenter: Sharon O’Brien, Ph.D.
Date: December 17, 2020
Topic: Using faith-specific teaching, this interactive experience will highlight the many ways Catholic Leaders address domestic abuse in Catholic families. It explores how to use a faith-sensitive lens to support those who experience abuse, the children who are hurt by it and indeed the person who initiates the abuse. Callers will learn how faith can be a resource or a barrier to hope, help, and healing. Best practices and ways to be a faith leadership ally to local secular domestic violence agencies will be identified.
Presenter Bio: Sharon O’Brien, Ph.D. is Co-Founder and Director of Catholics For Family Peace Education and Research, an Initiative of the National Institute for the Family. An international presenter on the topic of faith response to domestic abuse, her doctoral work was recognized by the International Family Violence Research Conference. She earned her M.A. in Adult Education from The George Washington University. Dr. O’Brien was a founding member and President of the Interfaith Community Against Domestic Violence; a founding member of the Peaceful Families Project; and served on Maryland’s Interfaith Domestic Violence Coalition of Maryland and on the Advisory Board of the Jewish Coalition Against Domestic Abuse (JCADA). Sharon is an active member of NACFLM as well as the National Council of Catholic Women for which she co-authored Healing the Wounds: A Resource Manual to Prevent Domestic Abuse.