Deeply Gladdening

Can a university be both Catholic and American?  While too many Catholic universities in the United States have failed the test of late, the answer is surprisingly simple:

Is not a big part of our gladness and pride this happy morning of graduation a grateful recognition that this university does indeed exude such “ecclesial communion and solidarity?” That this university is both CatholIic and American, flowing from the most noble ideals of truth and respect for human dignity that are at the heart of our Church and our country? That a university’s genuine greatness comes not from pursuing what is most chic, recent, or faddish, but what is most timeless, true, good, and beautiful in creation and creatures? That the true goal of a university is to prepare a student not only for a career but for fullness of life here and in eternity?

123rd Annual Commencement Address

  Cardinal Timothy Dolan, Archbishop of New York

  East Portico, Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception

  May 12, 2012

In his moving commencement address, Cardinal Timothy Dolan also speaks of marriage in the context of "the law of the gift."

Read the full commencement address here.

Lessons from the Garden

(Source:  NASA photo; Visible Earth)

On Earth Day, April 22, 2012, we might, for a moment, stand back and look at the earth from a distant perspective and consider the relationship between man and creation. To the extent that we exercise dominion as honest stewards of our environment, we recognize, at last, a renewed longing for unity between man and the Garden itself. In a profound sense, this natural longing for unity is a reflection of our hope for peace on earth. And we recognize, too, that the source of this longing for unity is our ultimate desire to be one with the Creator, the “I AM,” being outside of man and creation, who is Lord over all.

"If you want to cultivate peace, protect creation. The quest for peace by people of good will surely would become easier if all acknowledge the indivisible relationship between God, human beings and the whole of creation. In the light of divine Revelation and in fidelity to the Church's Tradition, Christians have their own contribution to make. They contemplate the cosmos and its marvels in light of the creative work of the Father and the redemptive work of Christ, who by his death and resurrection has reconciled with God "all things, whether on earth or in heaven" (Col 1:20). Christ, crucified and risen, has bestowed his Spirit of holiness upon mankind, to guide the course of history in anticipation of that day when, with the glorious return of the Savior, there will be "new heavens and a new earth" (2 Pet 3:13), in which justice and peace will dwell forever.”

 (source: Message, World Day of Peace, January 1, 2010, Pope Benedict XVI)

"The Church has a responsibility towards creation and she must assert this responsibility in the public sphere. In so doing, she must defend not only earth, water and air as gifts of creation that belong to everyone. She must above all protect mankind from self-destruction. There is need for what might be called a human ecology, correctly understood. The deterioration of nature is in fact closely connected to the culture that shapes human coexistence: when “human ecology” is respected within society, environmental ecology also benefits. Just as human virtues are interrelated, such that the weakening of one places others at risk, so the ecological system is based on respect for a plan that affects both the health of society and its good relationship with nature." 

          (source: Encyclical, Caritas in Veritate, June 29, 2009, Pope Benedict XVI)

Citizen and Believer

Benedict XVI in Cuba (from Denver Post photo gallery)

"The right to freedom of religion, both in its private and in its public dimension, manifests the unity of the human person, who is at once a citizen and a believer. It also legitimizes the fact that believers have a contribution to make to the building up of society.”

Excerpt from March 28, 2012 homily of Holy Father Benedict XVI at Havana's Plaza de la Revolución José Martí  (Source: Vatican Information Service)  Full text here.

Gutting Church Authority?

In a recent New York Times opinion piece, University of Notre Dame philosophy professor Gary Gutting, who holds the University’s endowed Philosophy Chair, discounts the teaching authority of the U.S. Bishops.  Professor Gutting posits an opinion, purportedly based on philosophical principles, that the tenets of a U.S. Catholic “majority”—and not the teachings of the Church through its Bishops—forms the faith-and-morals authority of the Church on the issue of birth control—and presumably whatever else a “majority” of U.S. Catholics tend to believe. The U.S. Bishops, the professor argues, have no claim on God’s teaching.   Vox populi, vox Dei (the voice of the people is the voice of God).  Note to the University of Notre Dame: 

Really!

As we move into Holy Week, on to Holy Thursday, Good Friday, and Easter Sunday, and all through the 40 days of Eastertide, listen closely to the Scriptural readings to hear what Jesus tells the Apostles about their teaching authority.   Then read the Acts of the Apostles to see how it all works out on Pentecost Sunday and in the days, weeks, months, and years that follow.

In the meantime, you can read this counterpoint response on why there can be no gutting of Church authority on issues of faith and morals, reported by EWTN, from Professor William E. May of the Pontifical John Paul II Institute for Studies on Marriage and Family. Read more.

Labels

In a recent op-ed piece about religion and politics in America, Michael Gerson, of the Washington Post Writers Group, eventually comes to his point that neither the politics of sectarianism nor the politics of secularism fits the American model of "religious pluralism, humanized by tolerance."  Point taken.  Yet the opinion begins by describing Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum as "(t)he pre-Vatican II Catholic candidate."  The pre-Vatican II Catholic.  An odd phrase.  With this code-laden description, Gerson neatly categorizes Santorum's religious beliefs, labels them--and marginalizes them.  Pre-Vatican II Catholic and other such labels--name calling, in essence--cut against the fostering of a society built upon pluralism and tolerance.  Lacking thought, honesty, or civility, labels serve the lowest form of persuasion, the ad hominum argument.  Why debate ideas when you can attack, label, and marginalize the person?  As such, labels are a first step to intolerance.  As Catholics and Christians, we have a right, as do all Americans, to participate fully in the markeplace of ideas, including religious ideas.  As aptly described by Archbishop Chaput, it is our duty.