Flannery O’Connor and the Vision of Grace
Flannery O’Connor is one of the most celebrated American fiction writers. Yet she has often been misunderstood by the very critics who praise her. O’Connor was sometimes called a hillbilly nihilist, but she responded that she was simply “a hillbilly Thomist.” In this talk, Dr. Frey explores the action of divine grace in the short stories of O’Connor, and how her vision of grace is inspired by the theology of St. Thomas Aquinas. Prof. Frey also gave a talk on What Good is Happiness? at the University of Chicago on February 12, 2020, and led a lunch discussion for students and faculty…
Pope, Councils, Bishops, and Synods: Insights from St. Dominic and the Order of Preachers for Governance in the Church
The malfeasance of bishops and priests has led to a call for reform of the institution of the Church. There is a peril in this: the Church is animated and governed by the Holy Spirit and an overemphasis upon the institutional structure of the Church runs the risk of stifling the Spirit. As a path for reform, Pope Francis is building on Paul VI and John Paul II and has emphasized synodality—a mode of consultative governance which emphasizes the communion of all of the members of the Church. In their polities, religious orders have institutionalized and structured themselves around particular gifts of…
Master Class on Yves Congar’s “True and False Reform in the Church”
This program was open to students, faculty, and staff. Is a reform of the church really possible? Yves Congar’s True and False Reform (1950), although initially restricted by the Holy See, became an instrumental text in setting the stage for the Second Vatican Council, and remained one of the most important theological works of the 20th century. Pope John XXIII initially described the goals of the council in terms that reflected Congar’s description of authentic reform: reform that penetrates to the heart of doctrine as a message of salvation for the whole of humanity, that retrieves the meaning of prophecy in…
American Catholic Contours and Detours in a Fifty-Percent Hispanic/Latino Church
Free and Open to the Public The familiar expression “American Catholicism” often evokes mainly the presence and heritage of Euro-American Catholics and how this group defines religion, culture and politics in our nation. Though narrow and de facto blind to the contributions of many other groups that have been central to defining the American Catholic experience, this perception finds its ultimate challenge in the fact that nearly 50 percent of Catholics in the U.S. today are Hispanic/Latino. In this lecture Ospino explores key implications for church and society of being American Catholic in a largely Hispanic/Latino church. The lecture proposes a…
Synodality in the Era of Pope Francis: Principles and Possibilities for Ministry in an Increasingly Hispanic Church
Pope Francis’ pontificate continues to signal a particular way of being church for our day, building upon the vision of the Second Vatican Council as well as the energy of Latin American Catholicism. Hispanic ministry in the United States for decades, in close dialogue with the Council and the richness of Latin American theological reflection, has embodied major elements of what today we would call a synodal outlook. This workshop explores key dynamics that identify Catholic Hispanic ministry while proposing models of ministerial action for the rest of the church in the U.S. rooted in the particularity of the Hispanic…
CANCELED: The Economy of Pope Francis
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Due to restrictions put in place in response to the spread of COVID-19, this event has been postponed. We look forward to scheduling similar programming in the future. Does this “economy kill?” Pope Francis denounces “throw-away cultures” and “economies of exclusion and inequality.” Does Pope Francis’s thought on the economy reduce to a Jeremiad? How does his economic vision align with or diverge from the teachings of recent other popes on the economy? How might his critiques be compatible with or improve upon a free-market economy and work towards greater human flourishing? Join for a discussion between international economists and a…
CANCELED: A Report from the German Synod
Due to restrictions put in place in response to the spread of COVID-19, this event has been postponed. We look forward to scheduling similar programming in the future.
CANCELED: A Master Class on the Social and Political Thought of Pope Benedict XVI
Due to travel restrictions in light of the spread of COVID-19, Msgr. Schallenberg will not be traveling to the US and thus will not be available to lead a master class. This event has been canceled, and we look forward to rescheduling this event for a later date. — Open to current students, faculty, and staff. Copies of the reading will be provided to registrants. Schedule: 9:30am Coffee & Pastries 10:00am Session I 11:25am Break 11:35am Session II 1:00pm End, lunch
Chicago Catholics and the Quest for Interracial Justice
Free and open to the public. This event will be held online through Zoom. Registrants will be sent a link to the Zoom event or to a secondary livestream. Co-sponsored by the Catholic Lawyers Guild of Chicago the Department of Catholic Studies at DePaul University, Calvert House Catholic Center, the Sheil Catholic Center at Northwestern University and the Seminary Co-op Bookstore, With parish boundaries often mapping onto segregation lines, it might appear that the possibilities of Catholic efforts towards racial justice were eliminated from the start. This picture, however, is incomplete. Karen Johnson’s book, One in Christ: Chicago Catholics and the Quest for Interracial Justice (Oxford…
COVID and the Color Line: Race, Religion, and Public Health
A conversation with Yolonda Wilson (Howard University), Shawnee Daniels-Sykes (Mount Mary University), and Utibe Essein (University of Pittsburgh, School of Medicine), moderated by Vincent Lloyd (Villanova University). Co-organized with the International Academy for Bioethical Inquiry. Cosponsored by America Media and the Gnaegi Center for Health Care Ethics Free and open to the public. The event will be held online over Zoom and will be livestreamed on YouTube. COVID-19 has been described as a great equalizer, affecting all Americans alike. Yet, data collected throughout the pandemic has revealed startling disparities, particularly with communities of color being disproportionately impacted by the virus, suffering from both higher infection…