Catholic Identity Lectures

Jonathan J. Reyes, executive director of the Department of Justice, Peace and Human Development of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops for the Annual William J. Young Social Justice Institute Lecture titled, "A Conversation on Religious Liberty," was followed by a panel of experts.

Dr. Sherra Theisen, UST assistant professor of philosophy, delivered the Rev. William J. Young Social Justice Institute annual lecture titled, "Social Justice Texas Nature Project." The lecture is named in honor of President Emeritus Rev. William J. Young.

The focus of the 2007 Young Social Justice Institute Summer Conference was "Health Care for All" featuring keynote speakers Sr. Carol Keehan, Catholic Health Association and Deacon Clarke Cochran of Texas Tech. The conference will examine life issues , Catholic hospitals in the 21st Century, health care for all, new covenant experience in Catholic health care, preventive health care, end of life ethics and politics, health care clinics and parish social ministry. The lecture is named in honor of President Emeritus Rev. William J. Young.

The focus of the 2009 Young Social Justice institute Summer Conference was "Poverty in the USA & Abroad." Thomas Massaro, S.J. is a professor at Boston College. The lecture is named in honor of President Emeritus Rev. William J. Young.

N.T. Wright, former Bishop of Durham in the Church of England and one of the world’s leading Bible scholars, delivered a UST Theology Department lecture titled, "Prayer Meets Theology: Paul's Vision of Christian Transformation." Wright is a research professor of New Testament and Early Christianity at the University of St. Andrews.

The focus of the 2010 Rev. William J. Young Social Justice Summer Conference was "Caring for God's Creation: Catholic Teaching on Environmental Justice." Keynote speaker Walter Grazer, former policy advisor for European Affairs for the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops and author of Catholics Going Green, discusses the principle of Catholic social teaching in relationship to environmental issues and suggests practical ways this teaching can be incorporated into Christian education and social ministry. The lecture is named in honor of President Emeritus Rev. William J. Young.

William L. Saunders, a senior fellow and director of Center for Human Life and Bioethics Family Research Council delivered the 2007 Archbishop Miller Lecture titled, "International Law, the Family, and the US Supreme Court." Also included is "The Question of 'Rights' to Gay Marriage and Abortion Effects on the Roberts' Court." The lecture is named in honor of University of St. Thomas President Emeritus Archbishop J. Michael Miller, CSB, and made possible through the generosity of the John W. and Alida M. Considine Foundation.

Retired Houston police officer and founder of Paper Houses Across the Border, Bob Decker delivered the Young InstituteFirst Friday Forum. Paper Houses Across the Border is a nonprofit organization whose mission is to work directly to assist individual living colonias (paper houses) along the border with Mexico. The lecture is named in honor of President Emeritus Rev. William J. Young.

The 2009 Young Social Justice Institute Summer conference presents "Poverty in the USA & Abroad" by Dr. David O'Brien.

Deacon Joe Rubio, Catholic Charities, delivered the Social Justice Seminar Series titled, "Immigration Reform: What Does it Mean?" The Series included discussion on immigration reforms and a panel presentation, led by Rubio, on a review of congressional reform proposals, including the McCain-Kennedy Bill, and they addressed a variety of questions. This Series is sponsored by the UST Social Justice Committee.

The focus of the 2009 Young Social Justice institute Summer Conference was "Poverty in the USA & Abroad." Rev. Larry Snyder is the President of Catholic Charities USA. Snyder addressed the reality of widespread poverty in the United States and how the national campaign by Catholic Charities USA seeks to address them. The lecture is named in honor of President Emeritus Rev. William J. Young.

Dr. Kenneth Schmitz, professor of philosophy at John Paul II Institute for Studies on Marriage and Family in Washington, D.C., delivered the 2004 Aquinas Lecture titled, "The Texture of Being: Paths of Action, Compass of Discourse." This lecture was hosted by the Center for Thomistic Studies.

Tracey Rowland, dean of the John Paul II Institute for Marriage and Family Studies in Melbourne, Australia, delivered the 2010 Archbishop Miller lecture titled, "Culture in the Thought of John Paul II & Benedict XVI." The lecture is named in honor of University of St. Thomas President Emeritus Archbishop J. Michael Miller, CSB, and made possible through the generosity of the John W. and Alida M. Considine Foundation.

Ross Douthat, New York Times columnist, delivers the 2012 Archbishop Miller Lecture titled, "Budget Wars and Culture Wars: What the 2012 Election Means for the American Future." The lecture is named in honor of University of St. Thomas President Emeritus Archbishop J. Michael Miller, CSB, and made possible through the generosity of the John W. and Alida M. Considine Foundation.

Rev. Bryan Massingale, STD, professor of theology at the Marquette University delivered the 2010 Rev. William J. Young Social Justice Institute Annual Lecture titled, "A Post racial America?: The Church’s Contribution to Racial Justice in the 21st Century.". The lecture is named in honor of President Emeritus Rev. William J. Young.

Dr. Matthew Levering, professor of Religious Studies, University of Dayton, delivered the 2011 Aquinas lecture titled, "Romans 1:20 and Our Knowledge of God." This lecture was hosted by the Center for Thomistic Studies.

John L. Allen, prize-winning Vatican correspondent and CNN analyst on Vatican affairs, delivered the 2006 Archbishop Miller Lecture titled, Megatrends in Catholicism." The lecture is named in honor of University of St. Thomas President Emeritus Archbishop J. Michael Miller, CSB, and made possible through the generosity of the John W. and Alida M. Considine Foundation.

The Institute of Interfaith Dialog presents "Present and Future of Christian-Muslim Relations" by Fr. Thomas Michel S.J.

Martha Hennessy, the seventh grandchild of Dorothy Day, co-founder of the Catholic Worker Movement, delivered the 2011 Rev. William J. Young Social Justice Institute Annual lecture titled, "The Increasing Relevance of the Catholic Worker Movement for Engaging 21st Century Problems." The lecture is named in honor of President Emeritus Rev. William J. Young.

Dr.. Germain Grisez of Mount St. Mary's University, Emmitsburg, MD, a well-known Catholic ethicist, delivers the 2005 Aquinas Lecture "The Restless-Heart Blunder." This lecture was hosted by the Center for Thomistic Studies.

Rev. Kevin Flannery, SJ, Pontifical Gregorian University, delivered the 2012 Aquinas Lecture titled “The Capacious Mind of Thomas Aquinas." Following the thought of Thomas Aquinas, the Church occasionally calls upon Christians to make difficult choices. Is there a good reason to follow Thomas in such regards? Fr. Flannery argues that, yes, there is. This lecture is hosted by the Center for Thomistic Studies.The Capacious Mind of Thomas Aquinas. The University of St. Thomas Center for Thomistic Studies hosted Rev. Kevin Flannery, S.J., Pontifical Gregorian University, as he gave this year’s Aquinas Lecture titled “The Capacious Mind of Thomas Aquinas."

Dr. Mauro Ferrari, president and CEO and Ernest Cockrell Jr. Distinguished Endowed Chair of the Methodist Hospital Research Institute, presents the Archbishop Miller Lecture titled, "Five Prayers: A Testimonial on Faith and Science." The lecture is named in honor of University of St. Thomas President Emeritus Archbishop J. Michael Miller, CSB, and made possible through the generosity of the John W. and Alida M. Considine Foundation.

Cardinal Avery Dulles, the Laurence J. McGinley Professor of Religion and Society at Fordham University, delivered the 2006 Aquinas lecture titled, "The Apologetics of Aquinas." This lecture was hosted by the Center for Thomistic Studies.

Dr. Robert George. McCormick professor of jurisprudence and director of the James Madison program in American Ideals and Institutions at Princeton University, delivered the 2009 Archbishop Miller Lecture talk titled, "Public Morality." The lecture is named in honor of University of St. Thomas President Emeritus Archbishop J. Michael Miller, CSB, and made possible through the generosity of the John W. and Alida M. Considine Foundation.

From the Pew to the Public Square: Pursuing the Common Good, was a 2012 gathering of Archdiocesan parish social ministers, Vincentians, members of the UST community and other archdiocesan and parish ministers. Keynote speaker Joan Rosenhauer, executive vice president, U.S. Operations, Catholic Relief Services, delivered a talk titled, "Moral Consciences & Good Citizenship: Forming the Faithful for Action." UST Rev. William J. Young Institute was a co-sponsor of this event.

Religious Freedom: Its Roots in Catholic Thought and its Place in Vatican Diplomacy by Fr. Donald Nesti, Charlie Balsam, Joe Tortorice, John L. Allen Jr. The Second Vatican Council (1962-65) marked a sea change in Catholic thought with regard to religious freedom, although the theological roots of the idea go all the way back to Christ and his teaching of “render unto Caesar.” In recent decades religious freedom has emerged as the centerpiece of Vatican diplomacy, which, among other things, has bred a new and far more positive understanding of the United States and its role on the global stage. Today the most creative and passionate Christian reflection on religious freedom is emerging from the Middle East, where Christians are an embattled, and shrinking, minority, and where separation of religion and state amounts to a survival strategy. This lecture will sketch the past, present and future of the Catholic approach to religious liberty, both in theory and in concrete geopolitical situations.

Mary Ellen Bork, lecturer and co-founder of Women Affirming Life, delivered the 2008 Archbishop Miller Lecture titled, "The New Feminism of Pope John Paul II: Vision and Challenge. The lecture is named in honor of University of St. Thomas President Emeritus Archbishop J. Michael Miller, CSB, and made possible through the generosity of the John W. and Alida M. Considine Foundation.

Dr. Peter Kreeft, professor of philosophy at Boston College and at the King's College in New York City, delivered the 2010 Aquinas Lecture titled, "Thomistic Personalism: A Marriage Made in Heaven, Hell, or Harvard." This lecture was hosted by the Center for Thomistic Studies.

Msgr. John F. Wippel, delivered the 2008 Aquinas lecture titled, "Thomas Aquinas and The Controversy Concerning Unity of Substantial Form in Human Beings." Thomas Aquinas maintained, against much contemporary opinion, that each human possesses a single and unique substantial form. This lecture was hosted by the Center for Thomistic Studies.