The University of Dallas continued its celebration of the 50th Anniversary of the Second Vatican Council on Wednesday October 16 with a panel discussion on the Dogmatic Constitution on the Church, Lumen Gentium. The Second Vatican Council met from 1963 1965 and is hailed by many Catholic theologians and historians as the most significant event in Church history in the past century. The event, co-sponsored by the Department of Theology and the School of Ministry, offered the university community the opportunity to hear from a panel of nationally renowned scholars on how this central document, which describes the nature and structure of the Church, continues to effect the life of the Catholic Church.
The first panelist, Fr. Roch Kereszty, O.Cist. of the Theology Department described the reception of the document over the past fifty years. This reception has included both positive developments and exaggerated developments, the "confusion and the renewal", Fr. Kerestzy explained. His presentation also highlighted the importance of the Trinitarian structure of the Church. Dr. Dan Luby of the School of Ministry discussed the impact that the treatment of the role of the Laity in the Church in chapter 4 of Lumen Gentium has had on Catholicism. His presentation focused on the universal call to holiness, the development of lay ecclesial ministry, and mission of the laity to act as "leaven in the world" as key developments. Dr. Bruce D. Marshall Lehman Professor of Christian Doctrine at Southern Methodist University's discussed the themes of ecumenism and interfaith relations in Lumen Gentium and two other key documents published by the council. His presentation described the challenge, laid out by the fathers of the council, of holding together the apparently contradictory ideals of valuing the dignity and truth that is to be found in other Christian denominations and non-Christian religions while at the same time upholding the unique nature of the Roman Catholic Church.
The event was well attended by a number of students, faculty and members of the university community who participated in a discussion with the panelists and a reception after the presentation. This panel conversation was the third collaboration between the Department of Theology and the School of Ministry as a part of the ongoing celebration of the council.
On Thursday, Sept. 26, several members of the university community gathered to celebrate the completion of Course II of the Studies in Catholic Faith and Culture program, the first component of UD's Liberal Learning for Life initiative. The course is titled "The Person: Tradition and History."
+ Read MoreTo found the famous Core curriculum of the University of Dallas, as an education "best for the individual," Donald and Louise Cowan looked to John Henry Newman's The Idea of a University. He unapologetically promotes the Western classics -- precisely because so few know our own culture well enough to appreciate the depth of any other.
+ Read MoreThis summer, the University of Dallas invites students, alumni, faculty and staff to join its first-ever tour abroad of Russia, led by Professor of Physics Richard Olenick and Affiliate Instructor of Spanish, French and Italian Irina Rodriguez. From June 8 to June 16, 2020, Olenick and Rodriguez will guide participants through the cities of Moscow and St. Petersburg, taking them on a cultural and literary tour of the "Russian soul."
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