ZENIT
The World Seen From Rome
Daily dispatch - June 02, 2008
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VATICAN DOSSIER Benedict XVI Calls for Globalized Solidarity Turin Shroud to be on Display in 2010 Pope to Follow "Tight" Schedule in Australia Pope Urges Guatemala to Fight Child Hunger WORLD FEATURES Vatican Tapping Its Media as a Key Tool IN FOCUS Canada's Catholic Revival INTERVIEW Can Business Be Catholic? DOCUMENTS AT ZENIT WEB PAGE Father Lombardi's Address to Business Leaders DOCUMENTS Pope's Itinerary for Trip to Australia
VATICAN DOSSIER
Benedict XVI Calls for Globalized Solidarity
Urges Keeping the Person at Center of Development
VATICAN CITY, JUNE 2, 2008 (
Zenit.org).- Noting that the world is increasingly affected by intertwined economic and commercial interests, Benedict XVI has made an appeal to "globalize" the call for solidarity.
The Pope said this Saturday upon receiving in audience participants from the annual international congress of the Centesimus Annus Pro Pontifice Foundation on "Social Capital and Human Development."
Pope John Paul II established the lay foundation in 1993 to promote the social doctrine of the Church in professional and business sectors.
Benedict XVI noted how the foundation had been reflecting on the need "to promote a global development that allows for the integral development of man, while highlighting the contribution that can be made by voluntary associations, nonprofit foundations and other community groups that have come into being with the aim of making the social fabric ever more cohesive."
"Harmonious development is possible," he added, "if the economic and political decisions take into account the fundamental principles that make it accessible to all," in particular, "the principles of subsidiarity and solidarity."
Active participants
The Holy Father also highlighted the importance of keeping "the person, created in the image of God and loved by him, [...] at the center of every economic plan to protect and administer the immense resources of creation."
"Only a shared culture of responsible and active participation will enable human beings to consider themselves not just as users or passive witnesses, but as active participants in world development," the Pontiff added.
"It is necessary to prevent profit becoming purely individual, and to guard against forms of collectivism that oppress personal freedom," said Benedict XVI. "Economic and commercial interests must never become exclusive, because this would be an effective affront to human dignity."
"The great challenge of today is to 'globalize,' not just economic and commercial interests, but also the call for solidarity, while respecting and taking advantage of the contribution of all components of society," he added.
The Pope thanked the members of the foundation for "the generous support you tirelessly give to the Church's charitable activities and works of human promotion," and he invited them also to reflect "on the creation of a just world economic order."
"On the last day," he said, "on the Judgment Day, we will be asked whether we used what God placed at out disposal to meet legitimate requirements, to help our fellow man, especially the smallest and those most in need."
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Turin Shroud to be on Display in 2010
Pope Hopes to Visit Relic
VATICAN CITY, JUNE 2, 2008 (
Zenit.org).- The Shroud of Turin, a cloth widely believed to be the burial linen of Jesus, will be put on exposition in the spring of 2010, announced Benedict XVI.
The Pope divulged the news today upon receiving in audience some 7,000 faithful from the Archdiocese of Turin. Prior to the audience, Cardinal Severino Poletto, archbishop of Turin, had celebrated Mass for the pilgrims in St. Peter's Basilica.
In his address to the pilgrims, the Holy Father noted that in the Archdiocese of Turin, the next pastoral year will be dedicated to the Word of God, while 2010 "will see you oriented toward a more attentive contemplation of the Passion of Christ."
In this context, he announced that he had accepted the wishes of the archbishop of Turin and that "in the spring of 2010 there will be another 'solemn exposition of the Shroud.'"
The last time the shroud was put on display was in 2000. In the 20th century, the linen was displayed only four times.
"If the Lord gives me life and health, I too hope to come," he added off-the-cuff, reported the Vatican Information Service.
The exposition, he continued, "will provide an appropriate moment to contemplate that mysterious face which silently speaks to the hearts of men, inviting them to recognize therein the face of God."
The shroud, measuring 4.39 meters in length and 1.15 meters in width (14.5 feet by 3.5 feet), is kept in a climate-controlled urn in the chapel of the Turin cathedral.
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Pope to Follow "Tight" Schedule in Australia
Itinerary for July 12-21 Trip Published
VATICAN CITY, JUNE 2, 2008 (
Zenit.org).- Benedict XVI has "a tight agenda" for his trip to Australia next month, says the coordinator for the 2008 World Youth Day.
Auxiliary Bishop Anthony Fisher of Sydney said this in comments to the press Friday upon the Vatican's publication of the Pope's itinerary for the 23rd International World Youth Day, to be held July 15-20 in Sydney, Australia.
The bishop acknowledged that the Pope "has a very tight agenda on his first visit to Australia," and added that many of the meetings were requests from the Holy Father himself.
"He very much wanted some of the specific meetings that have been planned, to connect with the whole spectrum of Australian youth and of the rest of the world," said Bishop Fisher.
Benedict XVI will begin his journey to Australia on Sunday, July 13, at the Richmond Royal Australian Air Force Base, located northwest of Sydney.
He will then spend a few days resting until Thursday.
The first papal public event will be a welcome ceremony July at Sydney's Government House, after which the Holy Father will visit the Blessed Mary MacKillop Memorial Chapel.
Sister Mary MacKillop (1842 - 1909), together with Father J.T. Woods, founded the Sisters of St. Joseph of the Sacred Heart. She is the only Australian to be beatified.
Benedict XVI will then visit Sydney's Admiralty House, where he will meet Australia's governor general, Major General Michael Jeffery, and meet with the country's prime minister, Kevin Rudd.
Welcome
In the afternoon, the Pope will travel by car to Sydney's Rose Bay, where he will be welcomed with traditional songs and dances by a group of Aborigines.
He will then board the ship "Sydney 2000" and travel by sea to Barangaroo East Darling Harbor, where the Pontiff will deliver his first address to the youth pilgrims.
On Friday, July 18, the Holy Father will grant three private audiences: to Governor Marie Bashir of New South Wales, Premier Morris Iemma, and Mayor Clover Moore of Sydney.
Benedict XVI will then participate in an ecumenical meeting in the crypt of St. Mary's Cathedral before going on to meet with some 40 representatives of other religions -- including Judaism, Islam, Buddhism and Hinduism.
At midday the Holy Father will have lunch with 12 young people in the reception hall of St. Mary's Cathedral.
In the afternoon, the Pope will participate in the Stations of the Cross, which will begin in the square in front of the cathedral. He will read the prayer after the first station, and will then follow the remaining stations on television from the crypt of Sydney's St. Mary's Cathedral.
In the evening the Pontiff will meet with a group of disadvantaged youth of the rehabilitation community of the University of Notre Dame. The meeting will be held at the university's Sacred Heart Church in Sydney.
Vigil
On Saturday, July 19, Benedict XVI will celebrate Mass at St. Mary's Cathedral with Australian bishops, seminarians and men and women religious novices, and consecrate the new altar. The Mass will be followed by a luncheon attended by the prelates and the papal entourage.
The Pope will leave St. Mary's at 6:30 p.m. for the World Youth Day vigil at Randwick Racecourse. He will deliver his second address to the youth day pilgrims, and will reflect on the theme of the event, "You Will Receive Power When the Holy Spirit Has Come Upon You; and You Will Be My Witnesses."
Before the closing Mass on Sunday morning, the Pontiff will do a fly-over in a helicopter above the Southern Cross Precinct -- Centennial Park and Randwick Racecourse. Then by popemobile, he will tour the same area.
The final Mass will begin at 10 a.m., during which the Holy Father will give a homily. After the Mass he will recite the midday Angelus.
In the evening, Benedict XVI will meet with the benefactors and organizers of the youth event at St. Mary's Cathedral.
On Monday, July 21, the Pope will thank World Youth Day volunteers gathered at the Domain in Sydney, and then head to Sydney's international airport for a farewell ceremony.
The Pontiff's flight will depart at 10 am, and after a technical stop in Darwin, will head for the Ciampino airport in Rome.
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Pope's complete itinerary: http://www.zenit.org/article-22783?l=english
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Pope Urges Guatemala to Fight Child Hunger
Connects Right to Food to Right to Life
VATICAN CITY, JUNE 2, 2008 (
Zenit.org).- There is an ethical duty to fight against hunger, especially when children are the hungry ones, Benedict XVI said to Guatemala's new ambassador to the Holy See.
The Pope said this Saturday upon receiving in audience Acisclo Valladares Molina, a renowned lawyer and two-time presidential candidate, who previously served as the Guatemalan ambassador to the Holy See from 2000 to 2004.
In his address to the new ambassador, the Pontiff focused on the problem of child hunger: “There is an ethical motive behind the right to food: ‘I was hungry and you gave me to eat,’ which exhorts us to share material goods as a demonstration of the love that we all need."
“The objective of eliminating hunger and, at the same time, of counting on healthy and sufficient food, also requires specific actions and methods that permit a harvesting of resources that is respectful of the patrimony of creation," added the Holy Father.
He said the work “is a priority that carries with it not only the fact of benefiting from the results of science, research and technology, but also of being aware of the cycles and rhythm of nature known to the inhabitants of rural areas, as well as the fact of defending the traditional customs of the indigenous communities, leaving selfish and exclusively economic reasoning aside.”
The rock
“This primary right to food," continued Benedict XVI, "is intrinsically connected to the protection and the defense of human life, the first and inviolable rock upon which the entire edifice of human rights is founded.”
He continued: “The effort to help mothers, above all those who are in great difficulty, to bring children into the world with dignity, thus avoiding the unjustified recourse to abortion, will never be sufficient.
“In this sense, safeguarding human life, in particular that which has already been conceived but not yet born, which is more innocent and defenseless, is a duty, with which there is linked, by its very nature, the care that the adoption of children be guaranteed by the legality of the procedures followed for this purpose.”
The Pope also commented on “the scourge of social violence, [which] is often made more acute because of the lack of dialogue and the stability of the family, economic inequality, grave negligence and deficiencies in the area of health care, drug consumption and trafficking and the plague of corruption.”
He praised Guatemala for the steps taken, and encouraged the country “in the fight against these tragedies, steps that must continue to be taken, promoting the cooperation of all to put an end to them, cultivating the right values and the fight against illegality, impunity and corruption.”
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WORLD FEATURES
Vatican Tapping Its Media as a Key Tool
Spokesman Tells of Efforts in Line With Papal Priorities
TORONTO, JUNE 2, 2008 (
Zenit.org).- One of the top priorities of Benedict XVI is the search for Christian unity, and the media institutions of the Holy See are there to help, says a Vatican spokesman.
Jesuit Father Federico Lombardi, director of the Vatican press office, Vatican Radio and Vatican Television Center, said this Friday at the Toronto Catholic Business Leaders' Breakfast.
"Since his first speech in the Sistine Chapel on the morning following his election," he said, "Benedict XVI clearly stated that ecumenism -- the search for unity with other Christian denominations -- is one of the greatest priorities of his pontificate."
The spokesman said the Pope's trip in 2006 to Istanbul, in which he met the ecumenical patriarch of Constantinople, Bartholomew I, "has thus far been the most evident sign of this ecumenical pursuit."
Underlining the role of the media organizations of the Holy See, Father Lombardi noted that "all the celebrations, including the encounter between the Pope and the patriarch, were internationally broadcast from the Vatican Television Center with live commentary in six different languages."
This is "perfect example of how we can put social communications to the service of ecumenism," he added.
Russia
Regarding ecumenical dialogue with the Orthodox patriarchate of Russia, Father Lombardi said despite difficulties, there are "many blossoming relationships from which we can cultivate the hope that one day soon we will arrive to an encounter of the highest level."
He shared his involvement in airing a one-hour documentary on Benedict XVI on national television in Russia: "This documentary was a co-production between Orthodox and Catholics, and contained a Russian message pronounced by the Pope himself for the Russian people."
"Naturally, a production of this kind was an 'absolute first,' and it could not have happened without the consent of the Orthodox patriarch of Moscow. Therefore it is considered a very positive sign," the spokesman said.
Interreligious
Regarding the relationships with Judaism and Islam, Father Lombardi said Benedict XVI "wishes for a sincere dialogue, one that does not hide the true problems."
He highlighted the Pontiff's visits to two synagogues -- in Cologne and in New York -- and his visits to the extermination camp of Auschwitz and the memorial of the Jewish victims of Nazism in Vienna.
"I like to recall that in his 24-year pontificate, John Paul II visited one synagogue, the synagogue of Rome, while Benedict XVI in three years has already visited two: Therefore, he is indeed making progress on the road paved by his predecessor," said Father Lombardi.
"This is also true for mosques: John Paul II visited one after 20 years of pontificate; Benedict has already visited one after a year and a half," he added.
Acknowledging that the relationship with Islam was difficult in the wake of Benedict XVI's Regensburg address in 2006, Father Lombardi observed, "This speech generated various Muslim responses to the Pope's position as well as an intense reflection within the Muslim world."
China
The Jesuit commented as well on "a positive and encouraging sign of hope" coming out of the Vatican's relationship with China.
He said it revolves around the May 7 concert in the Vatican, wherein the Philharmonic Orchestra of China and the Choir of the Shanghai Opera House interpreted Mozart's Requiem. The concert was broadcast on Chinese television.
"It cannot be ignored that this event," the spokesman said, "beyond its cultural significance, represented an important sign of good relationship and friendship. The Chinese orchestra chose to perform an important piece, both Western and religious; the Requiem of Mozart and also a short, beautiful and popular Chinese song: Jasmin Flowers.
"Up until a few years ago it would have been unthinkable that a Chinese orchestra would perform a Western and religious piece in an international venue. The Pope attended the concert and gave a short but meaningful speech on art as a vessel of dialogue between peoples and cultures, recalling with affection all Chinese Catholics."
Days later a deadly earthquake hit China, and the Pope publicly manifested his sympathy and sorrow. "The Chinese ambassador to Rome shared with me that the Pope's words had a wide impact throughout the nation," said Father Lombardi. "The Pope is no longer a stranger to the Chinese people, but a great personality surrounded by attention and respect."
"It cannot be denied," he added, "that this moment in time marks a concrete sign of hope."
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Father Lombardi's address:
www.zenit.org/article-22778?l=english
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IN FOCUS
Canada's Catholic Revival
Church Showing Signs of Renewed Faith
By Pete Vere
QUEBEC CITY, JUNE 2, 2008 (
Zenit.org).- Faith will be an integral part of Quebec City's 400th anniversary celebrations this summer as Catholics from around the world will gather there this month for the 49th International Eucharistic Congress.
Isabelle Thiberge, director of communications for the Archdiocese of Quebec, told ZENIT the archdiocese organized the congress, to be held June 15-22, to coincide with the 400th anniversary of the founding of Quebec City. The theme of the event is “The Eucharist, Gift of God for the Life of the World.”
“The foundations of Quebec were the French language and the Catholic faith,” explained Thiberge. “We could not underline the 400 years of Quebec’s foundation without speaking of the Catholic faith, which instituted almost everything in our society. Our health care system and our education system, it all came from our religious brothers and sisters.”
A former mayor of Quebec City, Jean-Paul L'Allier, had invited the archdiocese to organize a special event for the year 2008, which marks the anniversary.
“So [Archbishop Maurice Couture], then the archbishop of Quebec, had the idea to ask Pope John Paul II for the International Eucharistic Congress,” Thiberge said.
The Holy Father approved the request in 2004.
Thiberge said many young Catholics have become active in the Eucharistic congress’s organization. “It’s a pleasant surprise,” said Thiberge.
“We had certain objectives for the number of youth in the congress, and we are surpassing them for the moment -- and it is with great happiness,” she added.
The preparations involved are not just logistical, but spiritual, continued Thiberge.
Since 2005, the organizers have hosted an annual youth rally to help young people prepare themselves spiritually for the congress.
“The first year we had 250 youth,” said Thiberge. “The second year we expected 350 youth, but had to halt registrations at 600 because we ran out of room. Last year we had over 1,200.”
This has lead to a strong youth flavor among the international congress’s programming.
“Young people are finding their place, volunteering, and becoming active in the preparation for this congress,” explained Thiberge. ”We are hoping this will lead to people coming back to the Church and rediscovering their Catholic faith.”
Early sign
Many Catholics in Canada welcome the Eucharistic congress as part of a wider Catholic renewal in what has become a predominately secular country over the last 40 years.
One of the earliest signs of Canada’s Catholic renewal was the foundation of the Companions of the Cross, initiated by Father Bob Bedard in 1988 as an association for priests and seminarians.
After their constitutions were approved by the Holy See in 2002, Archbishop Marcel Gervais of Ottawa subsequently established the Companions of the Cross as a society of apostolic life of diocesan rite on May 2, 2003.
The Companions of the Cross began during the 1980s as an informal prayer and study group that Father Bedard hosted at his parish for a group of local Catholic seminarians.
As the group progressed in their knowledge of Scripture, the seminarians began to sense God calling them to move out of the seminary and into the rectory of St. Mary’s Parish with Father Bedard.
The priest initially dismissed the idea as an overabundance of enthusiasm among the seminarians.
Only with the greatest reluctance did he approach Archbishop Joseph-Aurèle Plourde, then archbishop of Ottawa, hoping that a negative response from the archbishop would quell the idea.
“It is not their idea, but mine,” Archbishop Plourde told Father Bedard.
The archbishop explained that he too had felt that seminarians should be trained in parishes, and that he was simply waiting for God to send him a priest willing to undertake this vision of priestly formation.
“Our apostolate is evangelization,” said Father Scott McCaig, the current moderator of the community. “The renewal of the Church is what’s really in our hearts. To see Catholics living in the fullness of the Catholic faith.”
Father McCaig said the community’s four pillars are fidelity to the Church’s teaching magisterium, total consecration to Mary, Eucharistic devotion, and a spirituality rooted in the charismatic Catholic renewal.
The Companions of the Cross boast 35 priests, two transitional deacons and 12 seminarians.
While seminarians with the community attend courses in philosophy and theology through the local Catholic seminary, they reside in parish rectories under the direction of the community’s priests.
“Seminarians should really understand the life of the parish,” said Father McCaig. “[They] should be a part of it, should be well-integrated into it.”
He explained that seminarians learn the practical importance of theology, why the Church’s theology matters, and how to apply what is learned in the classroom to concrete pastoral situations with laity.
This community emphasis continues after a seminarian is ordained to the priesthood. Priests will be assigned to one of the community’s various households, where they live in common with other priests and seminarians.
“Community is a big thing,” said Father McCaig. “Father Bedard saw young men shying away from a vocation to the priesthood because of the perceived loneliness of the calling. We see it as being very important that priests support each other.”
The cornerstone of this support is prayer, Father McCaig said, whether it be liturgical prayer within the parish, community prayer within each Companions of the Cross household, and the inner personal prayer of every priest and seminarian.
Education
A growing part of Canada’s Catholic revival is a renewal of Catholic schooling.
One such institute is Our Lady Seat of Wisdom Academy (OLSWA), a university-level institute located in Barry’s Bay, Ontario -- a small rural town nestled in Canada’s Ottawa Valley.
“OLSWA is a unique university-level approach to the study of classic liberal arts,” reads the welcoming statement at the academy’s Web site. “In wholehearted solidarity with the Church's call for a renewal in culture, we prepare students to grip confidently in mind and heart the future our Savior Jesus Christ has readied for them.”
The academy grew out of a collective of home schooling parents in the region who were concerned with the secular state of Canada’s post-secondary institutes, and who wanted to ensure a Catholic alternative for their children.
The academy, which now boasts 85 students, offers one-, two- and three-year programs in classical Christian liberal arts.
The academy’s courses have been accepted for full university transfer credit at such noted U.S. Catholic universities as Franciscan University of Steubenville and Christendom College.
“The Catholic faith flavors everything we do at the academy,” said David Warner, the academy’s new president. “Everything we associated with Pope John Paul II is featured prominently in our ethos and our curriculum.”
Students are also immersed in the thought of St. Thomas Aquinas and Cardinal John Henry Newman.
Yet the Catholic faith is not merely restricted to the classroom at Our Lady Seat of Wisdom Academy, students are housed around St. Hedwig Parish where daily Mass and liturgical prayer is made available to them.
Moreover, prayer is a part of dorm life, every class opens with a prayer, and students regularly participate in spiritual activities and engage in Catholic activism during their spare time. For instance, OLSWA students participate in Canada’s “March for Life” each spring.
“Prayer is absolutely central to everything we do,” said Warner.
While the academy introduces students to great Christian texts and teaches them how to think and how to reason, this is done within an atmosphere of prayer.
“Not as an add-on, but as an essential,” said Warner. “Prayer helps to clear our minds and be more receptive to the truth.”
The academy enjoys a strong relationship with the local Catholic parish, as well as with the diocesan bishop.
“He has been on campus several times during the past few months,” said Warner. “He received our Oath of Fidelity, and has been extremely supportive of our effort.”
Warner states that the college seeks to instill a lifelong concept of authentic Catholic learning.
“We believe that Christ did establish his Church to make a difference on this planet,” said Warner, “and so we’re trying to play our small role in raising young Catholic, Canadian and other international students, into becoming good members of Church and society.”
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INTERVIEW
Can Business Be Catholic?
Interview With Michael Naughton of University of St. Thomas
By Annamarie Adkins
ST. PAUL, Minnesota, JUNE 2, 2008 (
Zenit.org).- Suspicion within the Church of profit and the residue of an ancient prejudice against “shopkeepers” and moneylenders have fueled a perception that Catholicism and commerce are like oil and water.
But the vast majority of Catholic colleges and universities in the United States offer undergraduate business majors, and many have graduate business programs leading to professional degrees. As a result, there has been a developing body of scholarship dedicated to formulating the unique mission of a Catholic business school.
Michael Naughton has been at the forefront of this movement. Naughton is the Moss Endowed Chair in Catholic Social Thought and director of the John A. Ryan Institute for Catholic Social Thought at the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul.
Naughton’s Ryan Institute is co-sponsoring the June 11-13
conference at the University of Notre Dame titled, “The Role of Mission-Driven Business Schools,” to explore these issues in greater detail.
Naughton previewed for ZENIT some of the themes of the conference and discussed the challenges a Catholic business school faces.
Q: Many critics believe a business school has no place in a Catholic university because business promotes selfish ends. How would you respond? Can business really be a professional calling?
Naughton: There is, as you say, a bias against business, particularly among some of the faculty in the liberal arts. They often operate with a Platonic/Aristotelian bias against commerce, since they understand business only in terms of its economic and instrumental dimensions.
Once I had a theologian say to me that success for him was persuading students away from majoring in business, since he saw little redeemable value in pursuing such a line of work.
However, if we look at some of the great Catholic thinkers on education -- Cardinal John Henry Newman, Jacques Maritain, Poe John Paul II, etc. -- what we find is that they all see a role for professional education within the university, precisely because they hold to the importance of the dignity of work.
Today, business is one of the major forms of work for our students; a Catholic university, as a cultural institution, plays an important role in the formation of students as to what this work should be.
Q: How should the principles and pillars of Catholic social teaching -- subsidiarity, solidarity, respect for human dignity and the common good, and a preferential option for the poor -- shape the curriculum and culture of a Catholic business school? Do Catholic business schools currently live up to this standard?
Naughton: It is important to remember that all business education involves an education in principles. The question is in what principles are we forming our students -- Machiavellian principles, economic principles, Catholic social principles, etc.
At the University of St. Thomas the vision statement of our college of business is “educating highly principled global business leaders.” I have found this to be a helpful vision because it has opened up for us a way to engage our faculty in an honest discussion on the principles of various moral traditions.
As to the culture part of your question, I see four important areas to engage these principles that can shape the identity of a Catholic business school.
The first is hiring. When Catholic business schools hire faculty, they should have candidates read an essay on Catholic social principles and ask them how they would engage such principles in their discipline. This would give a good sense of mission fit of potential new faculty.
Faculty development is a second area. If a Catholic business school is going to take its mission seriously, it has to devote time to engage faculty on the Catholic social tradition.
The third is research. Father Ted Hesburgh, former president of Notre Dame, once said that the Catholic university is where the Church does its thinking.
In a Catholic business school some of that thinking as it relates to the Church’s social principles should be engaging questions within finance, marketing, human resources, entrepreneurship, etc.
The last area is curriculum. There should be specific courses on Catholic social thought and business in which Catholic social principles and business theory and practice are specifically engaged.
But throughout all their business courses, students should encounter ethical and spiritual questions as they relate to a wider variety of issues such as the purpose of the firm and finance, just wages and human resources, humane job design and operations, truth telling and marketing, wealth distribution and economics, capital ownership and strategy, and so forth.
Catholic business schools that take these four areas seriously would be well on their way to living up to their vision. My sense is that most Catholic business schools have room for improvement in these four areas.
Q: What does “Ex Corde Ecclesiae” have to say to Catholic business schools?
Naughton: “Ex Corde Ecclesiae” does not say much specifically to Catholic business schools, but the vision of the document is extremely relevant to such schools.
John Paul II wrote of four characteristics of a Catholic education: “(a) the search for an integration of knowledge, (b) a dialogue between faith and reason, (c) an ethical concern and (d) a theological perspective.”
These four criteria are desperately needed in business education today. Warren Bennis and James O’Toole -- in a highly critical article on business education entitled “How Business Schools Lost Their Way” in the Harvard Business Review -- argued that business schools are increasingly becoming more specialized and less interdisciplinary, and they are adopting a scientific instead of a professional model of business education.
It seems to me that Catholic business schools, if they are informed by the vision of “Ex Corde Ecclesiae,” stand the best chance to address these criticisms that Bennis and O’Toole raise in their article. Catholic business schools can provide a distinctive vision of business education that enables them to stand apart from their competitors.
Q: Most business schools require a course in “business ethics.” Does a Catholic business school teach this any differently? How does a Catholic business school differentiate itself from secular business schools?
Naughton: In the past, Catholic universities have tended to take business ethics more seriously than other universities; however, there is a temptation in business ethics to come to a common agreement by driving the discussion down to the lowest common denominator.
This kind of ethical approach quickly moves one to either the law, namely, what is ethical is what is legal. Or it leads to a position that ethics pays, namely, good ethics is good business. What is often avoided in this approach to business ethics is how people can speak from their center in making ethical decisions, and in particular from their faith.
It seems to me that business ethics courses at Catholic universities should open up students to a robust vision of business leadership as a profession and a vocation. A business ethics approach at a Catholic university has an intellectual arsenal that is unique from most universities.
Depending upon the theology and philosophy requirements, a business ethics course can and should demand from its students a more sophisticated integration of theological and philosophical ethics. This vision should draw upon the ethical tradition of the natural law, the virtues, Catholic social principles, rights and duties, etc., that inform and form students in the moral and spiritual importance of business.
This approach to business ethics can help students manage the complexities of business life without either losing their soul or going broke. This is certainly a large order, but one that lies at the heart of what makes business education at a Catholic university distinctive to its identity.
Q: Benedict XVI stated in his recent address to American college and university presidents that a Catholic institution of higher education should assist students in deepening their relationship with Jesus Christ. Can this really be accomplished in a business education program?
Naughton: John Henry Newman wrote that “every profession has its dangers,” and business is no exception.
The excessive pursuit and desire for money and power, the cold pragmatic instrumental reasoning of treating employees as means only, rather than ends, the prideful conceit of understanding business as only a career, etc., are all indicators to a destiny that excludes God.
The Second Vatican Council document “Gaudium et Spes” warns us that the split between one’s professional life and one’s religious commitments is a dangerous error of our age. This divided life, particularly for Christian businesspersons, seriously impairs their relationship with Christ.
A Catholic university, if it takes its mission seriously, needs to engage its business students in ideas of vocation, faith and reason, spirituality of work, principles of the Catholic social tradition, the cardinal and theological virtues, responsibilities to poor and marginalized, all of which can move the student to a richer understanding and relationship with God.
Q: The main goal of a business is to successfully create, market, and sell a product or service for profit. How does a Catholic business school navigate the tension between teaching its students to be effective businesspeople, and discouraging cynical and self-serving practices like exploiting the vices of consumers?
Naughton: A Catholic business education is a formation in “practical wisdom,” an education that engages students in the utilization of highly effective means toward morally good ends. It is an education in both the how and the why of business.
If our students are not effective in the “how,” they can go broke; but if they are not thoughtful on the “why,” they can become corrupt.
One of the most powerful insights in Catholic social teaching comes from John Paul II’s 1981 encyclical letter on work, “Laborem Excercens.” He explains that work is not only about the effective changes on products and services, but more profoundly the change work has on the person.
As John Ruskin put it, “The highest reward [or punishment] for man’s toil is not what he gets from it, but what he becomes by it.”
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On the Net:
The Role of Mission-Driven Business Schools: www.stthomas.edu/becu
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DOCUMENTS at ZENIT Web Page
Father Lombardi's Address to Business Leaders
TORONTO, JUNE 2, 2008 (
Zenit.org).- The full text of the address Jesuit Father Federico Lombardi, director of the Vatican press office, Vatican Radio and Vatican Television Center, gave Friday at the Toronto Catholic Business Leaders' Breakfast is available on ZENIT's Web site.
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Father Lombardi's address:
http://www.zenit.org/article-22778?l=english
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DOCUMENTS
Pope's Itinerary for Trip to Australia
Will Participate in 23rd World Youth Day
VATICAN CITY, JUNE 2, 2008 (
Zenit.org).- Here is the itinerary for Benedict XVI's apostolic trip to Australia, released Friday by the Vatican press office.
The highlight of the July 12-21 trip will his participation in the 23rd International World Youth Day.
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Saturday, July 12, 200810 a.m. Departure in plane from the Leonardo da Vinci Fiumicino Airport (Rome) for the airport of Darwin/Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) air base.
Sunday, July 13, 20089:15 a.m. Arrival at RAAF Military Air Base in Darwin.
Technical stop.
10:30 a.m. Departure by plane from Darwin's RAAF air base to Sydney's Richmond RAAF military base.
3 p.m. Arrival at Sydney's Richmond RAAF Military Air Base airport.
3:15 p.m. By car form Sydney's Richmond RAAF Military Base airport to private residence.
Private time until Thursday morning, July 17, 2008.
Thursday, July 17, 2008
7:30 a.m. Private Mass in chapel of Sydney's St. Mary's Cathedral House.
9:00 a.m. Welcome ceremony in Sydney's Government House.
Address by the Holy Father.
9:30 a.m. By car from Government House to Sydney's Mary MacKillop Memorial.
9:45 a.m. Prayer visit to Sydney's Mary MacKillop Memorial Chapel.
10:00 a.m. By car from Mary MacKillop Memorial to Sydney's Admiralty House.
10:15 a.m. Courtesy visit to governor general in Sydney's Admiralty House.
Meeting with prime minister in Sydney's Admiralty House.
11:05 a.m. By car from Admiralty House to Sydney's St. Mary's Cathedral House.
11:30 a.m. Arrival at Sydney's St. Mary's Cathedral House.
2:20 p.m. By car from St. Mary's Cathedral House to Sydney's Rose Bay pier.
Brief welcome with traditional dances and songs by a group of Aborigines.
2:45 p.m. Embarkation on "Sydney 2000" ship and travel by sea to Barangaroo's East Darling Harbor pier in Sydney.
Young people's welcome celebration at Sydney's Barangaroo East Darling Harbor.
Address by the Holy Father.
4:45 p.m. By popemobile from Barangaroo East Darling Harbor to Sydney's St. Mary's Cathedral House.
5:30 p.m. Arrival at Sydney's St. Mary's Cathedral House.
Friday, July 18, 2008
7:30 a.m. Private Mass in chapel of Sydney's St. Mary's Cathedral House.
9:30 a.m. Separate private audiences with the governor of New South Wales, the premier of New South Wales and Sydney's mayor, with their respective families, in the reception hall of Sydney's St. Mary's Cathedral House.
10:25 a.m. On foot from St. Mary's Cathedral House to the crypt of Sydney's St. Mary's Cathedral.
10:30 a.m. Ecumenical meeting in the Crypt of Sydney's St. Mary's Cathedral.
Address by the Holy Father.
12 noon On foot from St. Mary's Cathedral to Sydney's St. Mary's Cathedral House.
12:30 p.m. Lunch with young people in the Reception Hall of Sydney's St. Mary's Cathedral House.
2:55 p.m. On foot from St. Mary's Cathedral House to Sydney's St. Mary's Cathedral.
3:00 p.m. Prayer at the start of the Stations of the Cross in the square in front of Sydney's St. Mary's Cathedral.
The Holy Father will pronounce the prayer at the end of the First Station and will follow the Stations of the Cross on television from the crypt of Sydney's St. Mary's Cathedral.
6:30 p.m. By car from St. Mary's Cathedral to the University of Notre Dame's Sacred Heart Church in Sydney.
6:45 p.m. Meeting with a group of disadvantaged youth at the University of Notre Dames' Sacred Heart Church.
Address by the Holy Father.
7:45 p.m. By car from the University of Notre Dame's Sacred Heart Church to Sydney's St. Mary's Cathedral House.
8:00 p.m. Arrival at Sydney's St. Mary's Cathedral House.
Saturday, July 19, 2008
9:00 a.m. On foot from St. Mary's Cathedral House to Sydney's St. Mary's Cathedral.
9:30 a.m. Holy Mass with Australian bishops, seminarians and men and women religious novices -- and consecration of the new altar -- at Sydney's St. Mary's Cathedral.
Homily by the Holy Father.
11:30 a.m. Return to the sacristy.
11:45 a.m. On foot from St. Mary's Cathedral to Sydney's St. Mary's Cathedral House.
12:15 p.m. Lunch with the Australian bishops and the papal entourage in the reception hall of Sydney's St. Mary's Cathedral House.
6:30 p.m. By car from St. Mary's Cathedral House to Sydney's Randwick Racecourse.
7:00 p.m. Vigil with young people at Sydney's Randwick Racecourse.
Address by the Holy Father.
9 p.m. By car from Randwick Racecourse to Sydney's St. Mary's Cathedral House.
9:30 p.m. Arrival at Sydney's St. Mary's Cathedral House.
Sunday, July 20, 2008
8:30 a.m. By car from St. Mary's Cathedral House to Sydney's Victoria Barracks heliport.
8:45 a.m. Arrival at Sydney's Victoria Barracks heliport.
Embarkation on helicopter to fly over the gathering of young people in the Southern Cross Precinct -- Centennial Park and Randwick Racecourse -- in Sydney.
9:15 a.m. By popemobile from the Victoria Barracks heliport to Sydney's Randwick Racecourse.
Tour in popemobile among young people gathered in the Southern Cross Precinct -- Centennial Park and Randwick Racecourse -- in Sydney.
9:45 a.m. Arrival at the prepared Sacristy in Sydney's Randwick Racecourse.
10:00 a.m. Mass for the 23rd World Youth Day in Sydney's Randwick Racecourse.
Homily by the Holy Father.
12:15 p.m. Return to the Sacristy.
12:30 p.m. By car from Randwick Racecourse to Sydney's St. Mary's Cathedral House.
1:00 p.m. Arrival at Sydney's St. Mary's Cathedral House.
Lunch with the papal entourage.
6:00 p.m. Meeting with the benefactors and organizers of the 23rd World Youth Day in the reception hall of St. Mary's Cathedral House and in the Chapter Room of Sydney's St. Mary's Cathedral.
Address by the Holy Father.
7:00 p.m. On foot from the Chapter Room of St. Mary's Cathedral to Sydney's St. Mary's Cathedral House.
Monday, July 21, 2008
7:00 a.m. Mass in private in the Chapel of Sydney's St. Mary's Cathedral House.
8:35 a.m. Leave from St. Mary's Cathedral House in Sydney.
8:45 a.m. By popemobile from St. Mary's Cathedral House to the Domain.
8:50 a.m. Gretings to the volunteers of the 23rd World Youth Day at the Domain.
Address by the Holy Father.
9:10 a.m. By car from the Domain to Sydney's international airport.
9:30 a.m. Farewell ceremony at Sydney's international airport.
Address by the Holy Father.
10:00 a.m. Departure by plane from Sydney's international airport for Darwin's airport.
1:50 p.m. Arrival at Darwin's airport.
Technical stop.
3:05 p.m. Departure by plane from Darwin's airport to Ciampino in Rome.
11:00 p.m. Arrival at Rome's Ciampino airport.
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