America has the world’s largest economy and, even during the current mild recession, a nearly insaÂtiable thirst for new workers. But how can America absorb about two million new immigrants a year without losing its specifically American culture? How can we do the right thing by the strangers who flock to our shores looking for … Read more
Jacques Maritain was born in 1882 just three years after Æterni patris. By the time Maritain discovered St. Thomas, the Thomistic movement spurred by Leo XIII’s encyclical was well under way. It was a movement that not only nourished his searching intellect, but one which he substantially enriched. He came to Thomas, he would say, … Read more
Invited to lecture on the philosophy of Edith Stein, I found myself preparing the manuscript within the shadow of the ancient University of Salamanca, chartered first in 1215. One of its most distinguished twentieth-century rectors was Miguel de Unamuno, known the world over as a philosopher, poet, dramatist, novelist, and essayist. Writing in Salamanca, my … Read more
To speak of Catholic education is to acknowledge, for one thing, a specific telos to education, and, for another a distinctive tradition. The recognition of that telos is, of course, shared by other believers. It consists in the awareness that the grave is not the end of man, that man is called to a life … Read more
The lay state is, of course, the normal condition under which life is led. The priesthood is defined in relief against the lay state. A priest in any culture is one set apart to mediate between God and man. He is the offeror of sacrifice on behalf of the people, the master of rite and … Read more
The proposed schema for a Pontifical Document on 1 Catholic Universities is sure to generate anew discussion governing the nature of the Catholic university and its relationÂship to the Magisterium. The schema has already provoked considerable opposition. For some its appearance is regarded as belated, at least as far as the United States is concerned. … Read more
Twenty years after its initial promulgation, the Council’s “Decree on Priestly Formation” may well be scrutinized in the light of its effects by the forthcoming Roman Synod. Even the most ardent Federalist among the Fathers assembled may concede, on reflection, that it has returned too much power to the States. It goes without saying that … Read more
I have chosen these three figures, Von Ketteler, Leo XIII, and John Paul II because they represent the Church coming to grips, in the 19th and 20th centuries, with certain moral issues created by the industrial revolution. All three addressed the so-called “social question.” That term came to designate problems following upon the exploitation of … Read more
Public dissatisfaction with press and television reporting is widely acknowledged. Polls consistently give the media a low credibility rating compared to other professionals or institutions. One has the impression that the common distrust of the media has nothing to do with the fabricated, often fanciful, human interest story; “composite reporting,” it is now called. If … Read more
What does the Church have to teach about economic systems? From one perspective its storehouse of wisdom is great. It knows much about the moral order and its roots in the natural law. From its foundation the Church has been sensitive to the requirements of the common good. Heir to intellectual traditions symbolized by the … Read more
The subjectivist turn in modern thought has had its effect on common thinking about many structures. This is noticeable in current reflections on marriage and the family. Within recent decades the biological character of both has been down-played in favor of an emphasis on subjective or personal goals. It used to be taken for granted … Read more
DIOCESAN NEWSPAPERS call attention to seminary closings. Sociologists predict a critical shortage of priests by the turn of the century. Is the remedy the ordination of lay deacons, the commissioning of additional Euchanstic ministers? Why the scarcity of vocations? Are fewer capable of the life of self-sacrifice normally associated with the priesthood? Collectively, have we done something to the notion of the … Read more