Authority in the Education of a Human Being by Anthony Esolen (MoJ and Mere Comments)

Professor Esolen is correct to criticize radical egalitarianism. But do teachers have an authority, and does authority have the same meaning as auctoritas? They are superior to students in virtue of the knowledge that they have (or should have). But the do not have the authority of a law-giver, the author of the laws. They may have the authority proper to someone who is reckoned wise or knowledgeable or proficient, someone who has the trust of the students or others. But is not authority then being used in a different sense?

More on the nomination of Charles Morerod

Le dominicain Charles Morerod sera le nouvel évêque de Lausanne, Genève et Fribourg
Rome Reports


Fr. Z

Thomas Merton

DSPT: Visual Meditations from Thomas Merton's Abbey of Gethsemani

Screening of Merton - A Film Biography (1984) : Sunday, November 6, 2 - 4 pm
trailer

Trailer provided by Video Detective

DVD

Sandro Magister, Vatican Diary / The "spirit of Assisi" that the pope doesn't trust

Charles Morerod, O.P. to become bishop

Rorate Caeli: A Thomist Bishop in Suisse Romande

Related:
Non-protagonism helps ecumenism
"The Ecumenical Meaning of the Petrine Ministry"

All Saints Day

Do we lay the blame on Dignitatis Humanae?

Insight Scoop: "Religious liberty is also prior to the state itself. ..."

Testimony of Most Reverend William E. Lori, Bishop of Bridgeport, On behalf of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops Before the Judiciary Committee of the United States House of Representatives (pdf - alt)

Another bishop affirming the "absolute" religious liberty. Are certain traditionalists right to point to a rupture in Vatican II? Or is this just a statement approved by a group of bishops that nonetheless does not have support within Sacred Tradition? At least DH concedes that religious liberty may be curbed for the sake of public order; have Catholic bishops going further in their adoption of rights language?

Bishops’ Religious Liberty Chair Urges Congress to Defend Religious Liberty at House Judiciary Committee Hearing

A Friar Comments on the New Document From the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace

Fr. Christian explained that there is a “a hierarchy of documents,” and also a hierarchy of bodies within the Roman Curia. Inside of the Curia, “congregations” are more significant than “pontifical councils,” which means that “in terms of pastoral authority the Secretariat of State is top and in terms of doctrinal authority the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith is top.”

Another factor, he said, to take into consideration when assessing the significance of a “Vatican document” is whether it has been “reviewed by the Holy Father himself,” and also the number of Vatican departments involved in its creation.

He lamented that “unfortunately, the Church herself hasn’t actually explained that hierarchy very well.” Thus, he believes, it can be confusing for Catholics to understand what significance to give to different publications emanating from bodies within the Vatican.

As for this week’s document from the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, Fr. Christian has only read some of it but his initial analysis is that while it is appropriate for Vatican departments to speak out as part of the Church’s “social mission” they also have to be wary of straying beyond the limits of their competence.

“Is it the Church’s place to decry systems that seem to infringe on the dignity of peoples or to applaud those areas which seem to promote human dignity? Yes,” he said firmly.

“But is it the Church’s role to hypothesis concrete solutions to these things? Normally we would say ‘no.’ That’s what makes me a little nervous about a document which it seems may be promoting something rather more concrete than usual.”

Jay Bradner: Open-source cancer research

Insight Scoop: The U.S Bishops' Committee responds again to Elizabeth Johnson...

Insight Scoop: Who was Rev. Louis Bouyer?

No repeat?

But will it yield any fruit? That those who are invited attend does that mean the Holy Spirit is at work? (Especially if they know that Pope Benedict intends to leave no ambiguity to the event this time?)

The Commandment of Assisi: "Purify your own faith" (via Insight Scoop)

Zenit: Pope's Homily at Vigil in Preparation for Assisi

Also from Sandro Magister: The Truth about Assisi. Never-Before-Seen Words from Benedict XVI

Assisi Gives an Encore. But Revised and Corrected

Tomás Luis de Victoria - Laetatus sum

O quam gloriosum est regnum - Tomas Luis de Victoria

Orthodoxy and the Roman Papacy

Orthodoxy and the Roman Papacy
Ut Unum Sint and the Prospects of East-West Unity
Adam A. J. DeVille

America review

Dominicana: Pulling an All-Nighter: The Example of St. Dominic

Public Discourse: Human Development and Human Flourishing: Creating Capabilities Isn’t Enough
Ryan T. Anderson, October 26, 2011
Private Property and Human Flourishing
Adam J. MacLeod, October 25, 2011

MoJ: Koritansky's "Thomas Aquinas and the Philosophy of Punishment"

Insight Scoop: New: "The Church of God: Body of Christ and Temple of the Holy Spirit" by Fr. Louis Bouyer

DSPT:  "Work as Sacramental: The Mysterious Dynamics of Personal Vocation" (more info)

Brian Davies

Over at Thomistica.net, a post on a new book by Brian Davies: Is God a Moral Agent?
One argument given by Davies that God is not a moral agent is that moral agents are under obligation to a moral law; he attributes this understanding to Aquinas. Is this a proper representation of Aquinas's definition of a moral agent? Could Davies's argument be restated, with Kantian terms thus: is God not a moral agent because he is autonomous while angels and humans are heteronomous, and only heteronomous beings are moral agents? Is this a case of equivocation causing misunderstandings? (It wouldn't be the first time with analytic philosophers.)

How does St. Thomas (or a traditional Thomist) define moral agency? We would look at the different sorts of agency present in creatures, starting with the distinction between voluntary and involuntary/natural. The question is whether by moral agency Aquinas adds anything to his notion of "perfect voluntary" agency. What texts does Davies cite to develop a definition of moral agency?

It is clear that human beings and angels are not God. Is good used analogically of God and creatures? Or equivocally? But if God is not a moral agent, can we say that He is morally good at all? It would seem from the short blurb given at Thomistica.net that Davies does take his reasoning in this direction in order to establish a different Christian theodicy. It seems erroneous to me. If God cannot be said to be good, or is not essentially good, then what reason would He have to save us, rather than desiring our destruction or misery? Why should we not imitate His example, rather than submitting to a moral law?

I get the impression that Davies has missed the order of learning and is relying too much on premises taken from his reading of the text (foundationalism?), and then formulating arguments without being confirmed that his understanding of reality is correct.