TACOMA – More than 600 Catholics from around the state will gather for the Cornerstone Catholic Conference October 18-19 at the Greater Tacoma Convention Center.

Organized by the Washington State Catholic Conference on behalf of the state’s bishops, Cornerstone seeks to connect, inspire and educate the faithful through workshops and keynote speeches by national Catholic leaders.

Tickets are still available for the event; online registration closes at 5 p.m. Thursday, October 17, but tickets will be available at the door.

Jim Thomas, senior policy analyst for the WSCC, told NORTHWEST CATHOLIC he hopes the conference will inspire Catholics “to see their lives, their everyday efforts, as part of the greater whole of the church’s mission in the world … to uphold and promote the life and dignity of every human being from conception to natural death.”

This year’s Cornerstone will include keynote talks from:

    Notre Dame’s Laetare Medal
  • Bishop Frank Caggiano of Bridgeport, Connecticut, one of a handful of U.S. bishops who participated in last year’s Synod of Bishops on young people at the Vatican and is known for his focus on youth and young adult Catholics.
    • speaking to Catholic youth

The conference will also include a panel of the bishops of the Archdiocese of Seattle and the Dioceses of Spokane and Yakima, including Seattle’s newly appointed Archbishop Paul D. Etienne.

Participants can also attend workshops on praying as a family, life issues, mental illness, the sin of racism, Pope Francis’ encyclical Laudato Si’, and the Prepares ministry that supports parents from pregnancy through a child’s fifth birthday.

Scholarships are available; email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. document.getElementById('cloak2957a058870c14badcbd782ed0f0f41b').innerHTML = ''; var prefix = 'ma' + 'il' + 'to'; var path = 'hr' + 'ef' + '='; var addy2957a058870c14badcbd782ed0f0f41b = 'WSCC' + '@'; addy2957a058870c14badcbd782ed0f0f41b = addy2957a058870c14badcbd782ed0f0f41b + 'WACatholics' + '.' + 'org?subject=Cornerstone%20Scholarships'; var addy_text2957a058870c14badcbd782ed0f0f41b = 'WSCC' + '@' + 'WACatholics' + '.' + 'org';document.getElementById('cloak2957a058870c14badcbd782ed0f0f41b').innerHTML += ''+addy_text2957a058870c14badcbd782ed0f0f41b+'';  for more information.