Former Swiss Guard to Speak on Leadership

10/18/2011 - 6:18 AM PST

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
MEDIA ADVISORY
Catholic PRWire

STEUBENVILLE, OH (October 18, 2011) - When Pope John Paul II exited his residence on Christmas Eve in 1986, a homesick 20-year-old Swiss Guard with a tear-stained face was stationed outside his door. The Holy Father embraced him, sensing that it was the new guard's first Christmas away from his family. The young man was Andreas Widmer, and the encounter was the first of the many between the two men that now form the basis for Widmer�s book, The Pope and the CEO: John Paul II�s Leadership Lessons to a Young Swiss Guard.

Widmer will speak at Franciscan University of Steubenville on Thursday, November 10, at 7:00 p.m. in the Tony and Nina Gentile Gallery of the J.C. Williams Center. In his talk, he will share how one-on-one discussions with John Paul helped him become an effective leader and eventually led him to a successful career as an entrepreneur and businessman. The talk is free and open to the public.

Says Widmer, �John Paul's influence made me understand that business and faith go together. The free market and Christianity are not opposed to each other. Business can be a wonderful school of virtue and faith, [and those two things] make a business and the economy truly prosperous."

Widmer is a co-founder of the SEVEN Fund (Social Equity VENture Fund), a philanthropic organization run by entrepreneurs who invest in original research, books, films, and Web sites to devise solutions to poverty. He holds multiple business degrees in addition to a master's degree in ministry from St. John's Seminary in Boston. Widmer regularly blogs about faith-based initiatives and business solutions for poverty at www.faithandprosperity.com.

Widmer�s lecture is the latest presentation in Franciscan University's Distinguished Speakers Series, which features leaders recognized for exemplary service to the Church and society. This lecture is co-sponsored by Emmaus Road Publishing and Franciscan University's Center for Leadership.

Contact

Franciscan University of Steubenville
http://www.franciscan.edu/DistinguishedSpeakersSeries OH, 43952 US
Tom Sofio - Associate Director of Public Relations,

Keywords

Franciscan University of Steubenville, Andreas Widmer, Swiss Guard, The Pope and the CEO

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