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On January 16, 2020, the Lumen Christi Institute held “Becoming Human in Light of the Gospel of John”, with Fr. John Behr at the Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago. On his way to Rome, Ignatius of Antioch urges the Christians there not to interfere with his impending martyrdom: ‘hinder me not from living, do not wish me to die, allow me to receive the light, when I will have arrived here, I will be a human being’! In this lecture, Fr John Behr explores how the Gospel of John alludes back to Genesis to show that Christ is the true human being, inviting us also to become human. This event was cosponsored by the Theology and Ethics Workshop, the Orthodox Christian Fellowship at the University of Chicago, and St. Makarios the Great Orthodox Mission
We are at the very outset of the Age of Biotechnology. This presses anew questions regarding the limits of the human person. What is the human species from the point of view of evolutionary biology? How malleable is this definition? Is there such a thing as a species? How does this compare to philosophical perspectives on the person? The questions above are not new, but they have acquired new urgency with recent advances in biotechnology. In ths symposium, six distinguished scholars discuss these and other pressing questions in two panels–the first addressing these issues in the practice of science and application of biotechnology in the world, and the second addressing these issues from the point of theory. Part II: Theoria Paul Scherz (Catholic University of America): “Being Human as Being at Risk: The Shift from Genetic Determinism to Precision Medicine” (0:40) Willemien Otten (University of Chicago): “The Dynamics Between Nature and Human Nature on Perpetration and Victimhood” (23:02) Jeff Bishop (Saint Louis University)— “On the Being of Humans and the Being of Technology” (47:50)
We are at the very outset of the Age of Biotechnology. This presses anew questions regarding the limits of the human person. What is the human species from the point of view of evolutionary biology? How malleable is this definition? Is there such a thing as a species? How does this compare to philosophical perspectives on the person? The questions above are not new, but they have acquired new urgency with recent advances in biotechnology. In ths symposium, six distinguished scholars discuss these and other pressing questions in two panels–the first addressing these issues in the practice of science and application of biotechnology in the world, and the second addressing these issues from the point of theory. Part I: Praxis Gaymon Bennett (Arizona State University): “The Algorithm and the Spirit: Big Tech and the Enchantments of Biotechnology” (1:44) John Novembre (University of Chicago): “The expanding scope for genetic discrimination: New genetic predictors and their challenges” (42:16) Stephen Meredith (University of Chicago): “Brave New World: Revisited – Revisited.” (1:10:05)
A luncheon colloquium with Carols Eire, T. Lawrason Riggs Professor of History & Religious Studies at Yale University. October 24th, 2019 The University Club of Chicago — Saint Teresa of Avila’s Life is among the most remarkable accounts ever written of the human encounter with the divine. The Life is not really an autobiography at all, but rather a confession written for inquisitors by a nun whose raptures and mystical claims had aroused suspicion. Despite its troubled origins, the book has had a profound impact on Christian spirituality for five centuries, attracting admiration from readers as diverse as mystics, philosophers, artists, psychoanalysts, and neurologists. How did a manuscript once kept under lock and key by the Spanish Inquisition become one of the most inspiring religious books of all time? In “The Life of Saint Teresa of Avila: A Biography” (Princeton University Press, 2019) National Book Award winner Carlos Eire tells the story of this incomparable spiritual masterpiece, examining its composition and reception in the sixteenth century, the various ways its mystical teachings have been interpreted and reinterpreted across time, and its enduring influence in our own secular age.
A symposium on “The Life of Teresa of Ávila: A Biography”, by Carlos Eire, featuring Professors Carlos Eire (Yale University), Bernard McGinn (University of Chicago), Susan Schreiner (University of Chicago), and Keith Egan (Saint Mary’s College). October 24, 2019 The University of Chicago, Social Science Lecture Hall — Saint Teresa of Avila’s Life is among the most remarkable accounts ever written of the human encounter with the divine. The Life is not really an autobiography at all, but rather a confession written for inquisitors by a nun whose raptures and mystical claims had aroused suspicion. Despite its troubled origins, the book has had a profound impact on Christian spirituality for five centuries, attracting admiration from readers as diverse as mystics, philosophers, artists, psychoanalysts, and neurologists. How did a manuscript once kept under lock and key by the Spanish Inquisition become one of the most inspiring religious books of all time? In “The Life of Saint Teresa of Avila: A Biography” (Princeton University Press, 2019) National Book Award winner Carlos Eire tells the story of this incomparable spiritual masterpiece, examining its composition and reception in the sixteenth century, the various ways its mystical teachings have been interpreted and reinterpreted across time, and its enduring influence in our own secular age. This event was cosponsored by Martin Marty Center for the Public Understanding of Religion at the Divinity School, the Department of Romance Languages and Literatures at the University of Chicago, and the Medieval Studies Workshop. This program was made possible, in part, by a grant from the Our Sunday Visitor Institute.
Colloquium with Fr John O’Malley, S.J. (Georgetown), and Dr. Russell Hittinger (Lumen Christi). Moderated by Dr. Jennifer Newsome Martin (University of Notre Dame). December 4, 2019 at the University of Chicago, Social Science Lecture Hall — Sexual and financial scandals are prompting Catholics to ask hard and painful questions about church government. Who is in charge? How is responsibility and accountability for governance distributed in the Church? By no means is this the first time that the Catholic Church has reckoned with the letter and the spirit of its own governance. Drawing from his latest book, “When Bishops Meet: An Essay Comparing Trent, Vatican I, and Vatican II” (Harvard, 2019), Fr. John O’Malley, S.J. retraces how the three modern ecumenical councils grappled with church reform and highlight resources in that tradition that may help us today. A response from Russell Hittinger follows, leading to open discussion moderated by Jennifer Newsome Martin (University of Notre Dame). Cosponsored by the Theology and Ethics Workshop at the University of Chicago Divinity School, and by the Midwest Province of the Society of Jesus.
Cosponsored by the Program on Religion and Medicine at the University of Chicago, McCormick Theological Seminary, and the Society of Catholic Scientists. This program was made possible by a grant from the John Templeton Foundation. The discovery of CRISPR/Cas9 has revolutionized our ability to edit genomes, the human genome included. How do faith-based ethicists maneuver the landscape of human genetic engineering? What challenges do biotechnological advances pose to the dignity of the human person? Should genetic editing be celebrated? Cautiously advanced? Ruled out? In this lecture, biologist and Dominican Priest Nicanor Austriaco considers the prospects and challenges of CRISPR for the promotion of human dignity.
A conversation with Fr. Ian Ker (Oxford), and Melissa Villalobos, moderated by journalist Kenneth Woodward. — On October 30th, 2019, the Lumen Christi Institute held “John Henry Newman’s Path to Sainthood” at the Holy Name Cathedral Auditorium. The event provided an overview of Newman’s significance, influence, and sanctity. Kenneth Woodward, journalist and author of Making Saints, hosted a conversation between Melissa Villalobos, the recipient of Newman’s second miracle, and Fr. Ian Ker, one of the world’s leading scholars of John Henry Newman’s thought This event was cosponsored by Mundelein Seminary, the Sheil Catholic Center at Northwestern University, the Hank Center for the Catholic Intellectual Heritage at Loyola University Chicago, the Department of Catholic Studies at DePaul University, the Calvert House Catholic Center at the University of Chicago, and the John Paul II Newman Center at UIC.
A Colloquium with Fr. Ian Ker (Oxford) October 31, 2019 Swift Hall, University of Chicago —- John Henry Newman famously insisted that “the heart is commonly reached not through the reason, but through the imagination.” As a theologian, apologist, and the 19th century’s most famous convert, Newman was keenly attentive to the foundations of religious belief. His apologetic career is, in some sense, an appeal to the imagination in contradistinction to the prevailing empiricism of Locke and Hume. In his novels, sermons, lectures, and even his philosophical magnum opus, the Grammar of Assent, Newman defends an understanding of the imagination that harmonizes religious faith and rational inquiry.
When John Henry Newman converted to the Roman Catholic Church in 1845, it was his only hope that he be able “to minister in a humble way to the Catholic Church.” His days of public influence and national fame were at an end, he thought. What a surprise it would have been to the Newman of 1845 to learn that in 2019 he would be declared a Saint of the Roman Catholic Church, seminars and conferences would be held on his thought, and he would be widely recognized as the most influential Catholic theologian of the 19th century.
On Wednesday, October 30th, the Lumen Christi Institute held “John Henry Newman’s Path to Sainthood” at the Holy Name Cathedral Auditorium. The event provided an overview of Newman’s significance, influence, and sanctity. Kenneth Woodward, journalist and author of Making Saints, hosted a conversation between Melissa Villalobos, the recipient of Newman’s second miracle, and Fr. Ian Ker, the world’s leading scholar of Newman’s thought.
Villalobos narrated in arresting fashion her miraculous healing. While she was pregnant with her fifth child, Villalobos was diagnosed with a subchorionic hematoma that threatened both her and her child’s life. She told the audience of over 150 of her devotion to Newman and his intercession that healed her. “It was a rare opportunity to get to hear from someone who has had a direct intercessory experience,” said Madison Chastain. “It was a privilege to listen to her very vulnerable story and about her devotion to Cardinal Newman.” Villalobos was generous enough to share the story in greater depth than had been reported in public news reports, and the audience was gifted the opportunity to learn about a second intervention by Newman that re-assured Villalobos that she would not suffer any lasting consequences from the hematoma. Julie Conway, another attendee, summarized the event well: “Today we can easily be sidetracked by the darkness and hopelessness that bombard us from all sides. Melissa’s story of the miraculous cure she experienced through the intercession of St. John Henry Newman was filled with light, faith, and inspiration.”
“Today we can easily be sidetracked by the darkness and hopelessness that bombard us from all sides. Melissa’s story of the miraculous cure she experienced through the intercession of St. John Henry Newman was filled with light, faith, and inspiration.”
Fr. Ker provided a scholarly complement to Villalobos. He elaborated on Newman’s personal sanctity and the significance of Newman’s thought to the Church. “Fr. Ker’s unparalleled expertise provided a theological context for Melissa’s personal story,” said Michael Dinsmore. Fr. Ker was in a unique position because his tireless promotional efforts on behalf of Newman’s canonization were indirectly responsible for both miracles. Both Jack Sullivan (the recipient of the first miracle) and Villalobos had seen a program on EWTN featuring Fr. Ker and began their devotion to Newman afterwards. Lumen Christi has often had the opportunity to lean on Fr. Ker’s expertise and has maintained a relationship with Fr. Ker since his first lecture for the Institute, on “Newman, Vatican II, and the Hermeneutic of Continuity,” in 2012.
For the past seven years, Fr. Ker has led a Lumen Christi summer seminar at Oxford for graduate students on the thought of John Henry Newman. The seminar provides an opportunity for graduate students from a variety of disciplines and universities to study the thought of the Church’s newest saint. “I’m incredibly grateful for the opportunity to study at such a beautiful and historic campus. My colleagues brought a wealth of insight from their respective disciplines, and this helped me understand the different facets not only of Newman’s thought but of the Catholic intellectual tradition as a whole,” one participant from 2015 said. The seminar has even helped to refine or expand graduate students’ academic work. One participant who is writing a dissertation on Newman at a German university appreciated the seminar as a “great opportunity for me to learn more about the catholic intellectual tradition in the 19th century, especially since you cannot find anything like [it] in German academia.” By organizing these seminars, the Lumen Christi Institute contributes to the Catholic formation of elite graduate students and prepares them to teach classes on Catholic topics when they are hired by a (more than likely) public or secular university.
Other events were held to celebrate Newman’s legacy. On October 31st, Fr. Ker spoke at the University of Chicago on the topic, “Newman’s Apologetics of the Imagination.” And on October 18th, the Lumen Christi Institute held, “The Making of a Modern Saint: John Henry Newman on Faith and Education in a Secular Age.” This conference was the first official event of the Newman Forum, Lumen Christi’s new program to introduce high school students to the Catholic Intellectual tradition. Insofar as Newman himself considered that, “from first to last, education … has been my line,” the Lumen Christi Institute is honored to continue that tradition in its outreach to undergraduates, graduate students, and now to high school students as well.
