The Real Presence

Not Just Scotland

CWR: Once deeply Catholic, modern Scotland needs a theological revival
From Saints Mungo and Margaret to writer George Mackay Brown, the Catholic roots of Scotland run deep, despite post-Reformation neglect.
By Tracey Rowland

On a recent trip to Scotland Bishop Gilbert of Aberdeen asked me whether I was familiar with the Scottish writer George Mackay Brown. I had to confess that I had never heard of him. A few days later I was rummaging through second-hand book stores searching for everything and anything by Mackay Brown.

Chastisement

With all our wealth and leisure, shouldn't we expect Latin clergy to be more knowledgeable in the "sacred languages" (and the Church Fathers) than their medieval predecessors. And yet most seminaries have no requirement for Latin or Greek (much less, Hebrew and Aramaic). What good is all of the economic advantages that the Western world has?

PhD programs still expect doctoral students to be trained to read texts in their original languages. Why shouldn't a more sizable number of Latin clergy be able to do so with respect to sacred scripture and the documents of the Church and the writings of the Church Fathers? Should we take the lack of standards as evidence of God's judgment?