James Chastek, One response to “the present king of France”

James Chastek, Experimental physics and first physics

Eirenikon: Are the Ratzinger Proposal and Zoghby Initiative Dead?

Zenit: Pope's Address to Assembly of Catholic Universities

Pope's Address to Assembly of Catholic Universities

"Be an Instrument of the Evangelical Proclamation"



VATICAN CITY, NOV. 19, 2009 (Zenit.org).- Here is a translation of the address Benedict XVI delivered today to the participants in the 23rd general assembly of the International Federation of Catholic Universities. The audience took place in the Paul VI Hall.

* * *

Cardinals,
Venerated Brothers in the Episcopate and in the Priesthood,
Illustrious Rectors, Academic Authorities and Professors,
Dear Students, Brothers and Sisters,

I receive you with joy and thank you for having come "ad Petri Sedem," to be confirmed in your important and committed duty of teaching, study and research at the service of the Church and of the whole of society. I cordially thank Cardinal Zenon Grocholewski for the words he addressed to me on presenting this meeting, in which we recall two particular anniversaries, the 30th of the apostolic constitution "Sapientia Christiana," promulgated on April 15, 1979, by the Servant of God John Paul II, and the 60th anniversary of the recognition by the Holy See of the Statute of the Federation Internationale des Universites Catholiques (FIUC).

I am happy to recall with you these significant anniversaries, which offer me the possibility to manifest once again the indispensable role of ecclesiastical faculties and Catholic universities in the Church and in society. The Second Vatican Council underlined it clearly in the declaration "Gravissimum Educationis" when it exhorted ecclesiastical faculties to deepen their knowledge in the various sectors of the sacred sciences, to have an ever more profound knowledge of revelation, to explore the treasure of Christian wisdom, foster ecumenical and interreligious dialogue, and respond to the problems that are arising in the cultural realm (cfr No. 11).

The same conciliar document recommend the promotion of Catholic universities, distributing them in the various regions of the world and, above all, taking care of their qualitative level to form persons versed in learning, prepared to give witness to their faith in the world and to carry out tasks of responsibility in society (cfr No. 10).

The council's invitation found a vast echo in the Church. Today there are, in fact, more than 1,300 Catholic universities and almost 400 ecclesiastical faculties, spread over the five continents, many of which have arisen in the last decades, in testimony of a growing attention of local Churches to the formation of ecclesiastics and laity in culture and research.

The apostolic constitution "Sapientia Christiana," from its first expressions, shows the urgency, still present, to overcome the existing breach between faith and culture, inviting to a greater commitment of evangelization, in the firm conviction that Christian revelation is a transforming force, destined to permeate ways of thinking, criteria of judgment, and norms of behavior. It is able to illumine, purify and renew the customs of men and their cultures (cfr Proemio, I), and must constitute the central point of teaching and research, in addition to the horizon that illumines nature and the objects of every ecclesiastical faculty.

From this perspective, while underlining the duty of the cultivators of the sacred disciplines to attain, with theological research, a more profound knowledge of the truth revealed, encouraged at the same time are contacts with the other fields of learning for a fruitful dialogue, above all for the purpose of offering a precious contribution to the mission that the Church is called to carry out in the world.

After 30 years, the basic lines of the apostolic constitution "Sapientia Christiana" still keep all their current importance. What is more, in today's society, where knowledge is increasingly specialized and sectorial, but which is increasingly marked by relativism, it is even more necessary to be open to the wisdom that comes from the Gospel. Man, in fact, is incapable of understanding himself fully and the world without Jesus Christ: Only he illumines his true dignity, his vocation, his ultimate destiny and opens the heart to a solid and lasting hope.

Dear friends, your commitment to serve the truth that God has revealed shares in the evangelizing mission of the Church: It is an ecclesial service. "Sapientia Christiana" quotes, in this regard, the conclusion of the Gospel according to Matthew: "Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you" (Matthew 28:19-20).

It is important for everyone, professors and students, never to lose sight of the end pursued -- to be an instrument of the evangelical proclamation. The years of the higher ecclesiastical studies can be compared with the experience that the apostles lived with Jesus: Being with him, they learned the truth, to become later heralds everywhere.

At the same time it is important to remember that the study of the sacred sciences must never be separated from prayer, from union with God, from contemplation -- as I reminded in the recent catechesis on Medieval monastic theology -- otherwise reflections on divine mysteries run the risk of becoming a vain intellectual exercise. Every sacred science, in the end, appeals to the "science of the saints," to their intuition of the mysteries of the living God, to wisdom, which is a gift of the Holy Spirit and which is the soul of "fides quaerens intellectum" (cfr general audience, Oct. 21, 2009).

The International Federation of Catholic Universities (FIUC) was born in 1924 by the initiative of some rectors and was recognized 25 years later by the Holy See. Dear rectors of Catholic universities, the 60th anniversary of the canonical erection of your federation is a most propitious occasion to evaluate the activity carried out and to outline future commitments.

To celebrate an anniversary is to thank God who has guided our steps, but it is also to take from one's own history a further impetus to renew the will to serve the Church. In this connection, your motto is also a program for the future of the federation: "Sciat ut Serviat" -- to know in order to serve.

In a culture that manifests a "lack of wisdom, of reflection, of thought capable of operating a guiding synthesis" ("Caritas in Veritate," 31), Catholic universities, faithful to their own identity that considers Christian inspiration as valid, are called to promote a "new humanistic synthesis" (ibid., 21), a learning that is "wisdom capable of guiding man in the light of its first principles and of its ultimate ends" (ibid., 30), a learning illumined by faith.

Dear friends, the service you carry out is valuable for the mission of the Church. While I express to all of you sincere wishes for the academic year initiated a short while ago and for the full success of the FIUC's Congress, I entrust each one of you and the institutions you represent to the maternal protection of Mary Most Holy, Seat of Wisdom, and am pleased to impart to all the apostolic blessing.

[Translation by ZENIT]

Zenit: Benedict XVI's Address to Artists
"You Are the Custodians of Beauty"

MB recommends I read this piece by Archimandrite Grigorios Papathomas:
OUR 'POST‐ECCLESIOLOGICAL' AGE (pdf) [alternative link]

Related links:
Our 'Post-ecclesiological' Age Koinonia
pastoral mission by F. Papathomas
Solidarity and Justice in the Baltic Countries

Canon 28 of the 4th Ecumenical Council – Relevant or Irrelevant Today? (alt)

Dr. Berquist, Introduction to Philosophy

James Chastek, Notes on physics and metaphysics

FPJ: Foreign News on Intelligent Design by Virgil P. Nemoianu

"Grace in the spirituality of St. Josemaria Escriva," by Cardinal Leo Scheffczyk

Catholic Answers Live: The Theology of the Body Controversy, Guest: Christopher West (rm and mp3)

Michaël de Verteuil, On Michael Cerularius

Practical truth

"My aim is true." Are analytics and others trying to understand Aquinas' notion of practical truth -- unfamiliar with these other uses of "true" in normal everyday English? I am thinking specifically of these meanings.

One online dictionary has the following meanings for "true":

8. Exactly conforming to a rule, standard, or pattern: trying to sing true
B.
9. Accurately shaped or fitted: a true wheel.
10. Accurately placed,
delivered, or thrown.

The Longman English Dictionary Online:

11 straight/level[not before noun] technical fitted, placed, or formed in a way that is perfectly flat, straight, correct etc:
If the door's not true, it won't close properly.
12 somebody's aim is trueif your aim is true, you hit the thing that you were throwing or shooting at

Merriam-Webster:

5 a : that is fitted or formed or that functions accurately b : conformable to a standard or pattern : accurate

Not only does my action bring about a result that is intended, but the intended result is what is appropriate or in accordance with a standard or rule. So in the case of firing an arrow at a target -- my aim is true when it, coupled with my technique of drawing the bow and releasing it, leads to the arrow hitting the target.

While we may understand truth as it is defined with respect to products of art, truth as it is defined with respect to morality may be more difficult. But is it so hard for people to understand and re-present Aquinas's account of practical truth correctly? Perhaps it is the interplay between appetite and reason that trips people up.

Edward Feser, The Greek atomists and the god of Paley

Zenit: A "Green" Thomism?
Conference Sows Seeds of Catholic Environmentalism

Many other notable philosophers and theologians including Dominican Father Charles Morerod, Janet Smith, Steven Long, Christopher Blum and Stratford Caldecott focused their papers on providing a firm intellectual foundation for a renewed Catholic response to questions of creation and stewardship. Bishop Frank Dewane of Venice, Florida, literary historian Joseph Pearce, and Dale Ahlquist of the American Chesterton Society delivered the keynote addresses.

James Chastek, An Aristotelian view of logic vs. an Analytic view

Zenit: On Theology of the Heart or the Mind
"To Make Truth Triumph in Charity"

Enrico Maria Radaelli

Sandro Magister, "Most Holy Father, in This Era of Irrational Barbarism..."

[Enrico Maria] Radaelli, a disciple of the great Catholic philosopher and philologist Romano Amerio, is a sophisticated scholar of theological aesthetics. His masterpiece is: "Ingresso alla bellezza [Entryway to beauty]," released in 2008, a magnificent introduction into the mystery of God through his "Imago," which is Christ. Beauty as the manifestation of the truth.

(via NLM)

Accademia Aurea Domus / Enrico Maria Radaelli

Sandro Magister, The Theology That Suits the Pope Theologian

It is that of the monasteries and cathedrals of the medieval golden age. Benedict XVI has unveiled its marvels to the pilgrims who flock to the general audience. But he also means to give a lesson to the theologians of today

[Does the method of doing theology for the monastic theologians really differ from that of the scholastics? Do they not both start with the same sources, and reflection upon both? What sort of authorities do the monastic theologians incorporate into their writings? Would it be accurate to say that the major contribution of scholastic theologians is the use of logic? Do any of the monastic theologians incorporate the philosophy of the ancients into their speculation? Do they do any speculation, or is their theology more expository, a fruit of their reflection upon Sacred Scripture?]

James V. Schall, S.J., Last Things: Aquinas’s Oysters

Fr. Michael Sherwin, O.P. alerts us to this video of Cardinal Journet.

A friend and I were talking tonight, and the question arose, to whom do we have a greater obligation, a Catholic or a non-Catholic? This may not necessarily be the same question as, "Whom should we love more?" but I this is the question I will address here. If we accept what Aquinas says about the order of charity, it seems that it may be difficult to know whether a Catholic is actually closer to God than a non-Catholic. (We can certainly imagine that it is possible for a non-Catholic to be holier than a Catholic.) Nonetheless, on the basis of who is closer to us, it seems we should love a Catholic more than a non-Catholic, all other things being equal.