A Meditation in St. Ives

When the train chugs into St . Ives, on the north coast of Cornwall a few miles east of Land \u27s End you see first a crescent-shaped white beach , filled with vacationers from York and Durham and the chillier parts of the Scottish Highlands. Not your usual English scene: there are hibiscus and bougainvillea; chemist shops selling Coppertone; bikinis of both sexes lying in a baking sun. It\u27s July in southwestern England. Around the western tip of the crescent is yet another crescent, this one filled with fishing boats and outlined by a busy boardwalk. And out at the end of the boardwalk, on the top of the hill, is an ancient stone chapel, dedicated to St . Michael and commemorating a spot of ground that has been sacred to the fishermen since the early Dark Ages

A China Diary

When I was first called and asked to be a member of the Catholic University Delegation to China to investigate educational exchange programs, I hesitated. I\u27m not a very good traveler on other people\u27s terms: tours and delegations are pre-determined, they leave little elbow room, and I\u27m not the most seasoned adventurer in the world. Anything beyond pasta, enchiladas, and roast beef I am immediately suspicious of; and I had heard about the rigors of Chinese travel. But I was goaded into it by my Jesuit brothers; and I also knew that if I passed up this chance to take the definitive photograph of the Great Wall, I\u27d never be able to look a camera in the lens again. So pushing aside all hesitations, I decided, Why not? A small group of us met in San Francisco International Airport on Thursday morning and took off for Tokyo. On the plane we saw a very gentle Japanese movie about a retarded man who can see only the beauty in life and becomes a nationally-renowned artist. A worthwhile reminder at the beginning of this trip into uncertainty. For in addition to my own personal hesitations, we have been told that this delegatimi is the first Catholic delegation since Cardinal Spellman\u27s in 1949. And so although the Chinese Ministry of Education is hosting our visit, we are not sure how a group of archbishops, nuns, priests, and Catholic laymen will be received by a government that has been openly hostile to our fellow Catholics, that has imprisoned and tortured some of our fellow Jesuits. Many Catholic Churches have been restored, and priests have been released from prison; but there are ominous signs that the government will allow the practice of religion only on its own terms. We shall see

In Search of Humanity

What is it that unifies our common enterprise here at Santa Clara? What makes it a common enterprise? We live in a pluralistic society and such a question is therefore hard to respond to with any assurance. Any attempt at unity is difficult: we\u27ve been struggling with it at least since Plato first tried to figure out how the many and varied aspects of reality proceeded from one source. But I think it\u27s a good question, and we ought always to be searching for the answer. There are, of course, various ways of answering it. We can talk about the ultimate goal of our university: service to society. We can talk about how we all participate in the means toward that goal: the struggle for understanding and the importance that love plays in our relationships with one another and with our students. We can talk about the element in that goal that is unique to a university: our common search for wisdom. And we can talk about how wisdom leads all of us toward justice - that, as a matter of fact, the educated, liberated mind is a mind that of its nature demands justice

Abortion: Three Comments

One of the most debated issues in modern life, and one that speaks to our deepest understanding of who God is and how life proceeds from God, is the issue of abortion. Thus the appropriateness of the preceding articles-both of them excellent essays on the subject. There are, however, three comments I would like to make concerning the argumentation in the articles: one comment on Father Fagothey\u27s article and two on Father Burtchaell\u27s

Iona: Touchstone for Reconciliation

Reflections of an American abroad

Can There be Dissent in Catholic Universities?

On Tuesday, September 15, Pope John Paul II addressed the American Bishops in Los Angeles and indicated, quite forcefully, that there can be no dissent in the Catholic Church. He said , It is sometimes claimed that dissent from the magiserium is totally compatible with being a \u27good Catholic\u27 and poses no obstacle to the reception of the Sacraments. This is a grave error . . . The examples he used throughout his talk encompassed such issues as abortion, the ordination of women, sexual and conjugal morality, divorce and remarriage. The mass media, of course, had their predictable field day with this address and omitted much of the nuanced qualification: For example, John Paul also said to the Bishops, I wish to support you as you continue to engage in fruitful dialogue with theologians regarding the legitimate freedom of inquiry which is their right. There is no doubt, however, that he did emphasize what everyone expected he would emphasize: the inacceptability of dissent and confrontation as a policy and method in the area of Church teaching, as he put it

Saints, Diamonds and Bears

A common complaint in academia goes something like this: If the essential work of education is that which occurs between student and faculty member, between students themselves, or between a student and a book, then why are so much money and so much energy spent in the nonessentials: athletics, dormitories, development and alumni offices, day-care centers, social activities-indeed , all the \u27support services\u27 of a university? Wouldn\u27t life on a campus be simpler and wouldn\u27t our work be more effective if we were to concentrate our efforts on the essentials? All of us, whether we\u27re administrators or faculty or board members, have to face this problemwhich may be more one of perception than of objective fact, but that does not make it any less real or any easier to solve