Conte, Francis J.

English

University of Dayton

University of Dayton Law Review Volume 14 Number 1 Vincent R. Vasey Symposium: A Christian Theology for Roman Catholic Law Schools Article 2 10-1-1988 Vincent R. Vasey Symposium: Foreword Francis J. Conte University of Dayton Follow this and additional works at: https://ecommons.udayton.edu/udlr  Part of the Law Commons Recommended Citation Conte, Francis J. (1988) "Vincent R. Vasey Symposium: Foreword," University of Dayton Law Review: Vol. 14: No. 1, Article 2. Available at: https://ecommons.udayton.edu/udlr/vol14/iss1/2 This Front Matter is brought to you for free and open access by the School of Law at eCommons. It has been accepted for inclusion in University of Dayton Law Review by an authorized editor of eCommons. For more information, please contact mschlangen1@udayton.edu, ecommons@udayton.edu. UNIVERSITY. OF DAYTON LAW REVIEWVOLUME 14 FALL 1988 NUMBER 1VINCENT R. VASEY SYMPOSIUMFOREWORDFrancis J. Conte*I did not have the privilege, pleasure and benefit of knowing Fa-ther Vincent R. Vasey, S.M., lawyer, teacher, theologian, and priest.From the stories of his colleagues, our faculty, knowing Father Vaseywould have been not only a joy but a unique opportunity for learning.There is among the faculty of the School of Law a genuine reverencefor his personal memory and an abiding respect for his intellectual giftsand for his insistence on the critical importance of values, beyond factsand events.Vital to Father Vasey's world of learning, teaching and living, wasthe reality of a community of life and thought requiring a deep sensi-tivity to social justice, "[A]n integral part of his educational philosophy...[was the necessity of] a moral education that expressed itself inconcern for justice."1 Fittingly, the theme of the 1989 Vincent R. Va-sey Symposium focuses upon moral and social values in a legal educa-tion. The keynote topic of Professor Thomas L. Shaffer of the Univer-sity of Notre Dame School of Law, and his colleague Professor RobertRodes, is "A Theology for a Catholic Law School."Each year a different School or College at the University sponsorsa symposium in Father Vasey's memory. These symposia relate tothemes in one of Father Vasey's books, Chaminade: Another Portrait,a biography of the Founder of the Society of Mary, the religious com-munity to which Father Vasey belonged. The symposia also have somesignificance for the mission of the sponsoring School or College. Thelecture delivered by Professors Shaffer and Rodes, and the symposium* Dean of Law, University of Dayton School of Law.1. Heft, Introduction to Reflections on Chaminade, Another Portrait, in REFLECTIONS ONCHAMINADE, ANOTHER PORTRAIT; VASEY SYMPOSIUM I 7 (1988).Published by eCommons, 19882 UNIVERSITY OF DAYTON LAW REVIEWpanel's commentary by University faculty including Father JamesHeft, S.M., Ph.D., then Chair of Religious Studies and now Provost,Professors Susan Brenner and Richard Saphire of the law faculty, rein-force the importance of affirmative efforts to interfuse the realities ofvalues and justice into legal education.In addition to having a Juris Doctor degree, Father Vasey was acanon lawyer and the Procurator General of the Society of Mary inRome from 1968 to 1974. He also received a doctorate in Patristics,the study of the great theologians and pastors of the first 700 years ofChristianity, and authored a dissertation on the social teachings of St.Ambrose, the bishop of Milan and mentor of St. Augustine. His friendand brother in their shared religious community, Father James Heft,recently described the significance of this work and Father Vasey'sviews for law teaching this way:His doctoral thesis in patristics was entitled, The Social Ideas in theWorks of St. Ambrose, and included chapters on the relationship be-tween the rich and the poor, on the limitations of property rights, and onthe moral dimension of poverty. Drawing upon not only his understand-ing of the teachings of St. Ambrose and other doctors of the Church, butalso upon an extensive grasp of the social teachings of the CatholicChurch, Father Vasey presented to his law students a vision of right andwrong that always distinguished between the legal and the ethical, theexpedient and the principled, the merely adequate and the truly just.'The idea that moral and ethical values, as well as social values,should play a prominent role in law study, in ordinary law classes, isuncomfortable to some. In our rights and equality oriented society,neutral and amoral stances, may seem for many the more secure posi-tion and more protective of rights and equality. And in some cases neu-trality is certainly demanded. The needs of our society and in turn theneeds of our profession though demand more than merely neutrality.While we may not aspire to be a Catholic law school, as the LawSchool of Notre Dame is, or even a law school with a particular reli-gious or philosophical orientation, a genuine appreciation of the rolevalues play in the law and society and an affirmative calling upon val-ues drawn from religious, family and cultural heritage, is a useful,healthy vehicle for teaching law and justice to future lawyers and lead-ers. It is through life and the realities of community, and not codes,that we learn the meaning of true justice.The faculty and students of the University and School of Law whoparticipated in the symposium and colloquia led by Professors Shafferand Rodes, found the extensive and thoughtful comments of our col-2. Id.[VOL. 14:1https://ecommons.udayton.edu/udlr/vol14/iss1/219881 FOREWORD 3leagues from Notre Dame very stimulating. We hope that Father Va-sey, a dedicated scholar and devoted religious man, and an active mem-ber of the community of life and thought, finds this Symposium aproper tribute to him and his principled way of justice.Published by eCommons, 1988

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