The Woodstock Report

In Other News...

Woodstock's Ethics in Public Policy project continues to garner international interest for its most recent publication, The Ethics of Lobbying: Organized Interests, Political Power, and the Common Good. The project's director, Woodstock senior fellow Edward B. Arroyo, S.J., recently traveled to Universidad Alberto Hurtado, the Jesuits' new university in Santiago, Chile, to lead a seminar on "Lobbying: Intereses Organizados, Poder Pólitico, y Bien Común." Participants included José Miguel Insulza (Chile's Interior Minister), Fernando Echeverría (President of the Chilean Cámara de Construcción), Eduardo Aninat, ( Ex minister of Hacienda and ex vicedirector of the International Monetary Fund), and Fernando Montes, S.J. (Universidad Alberto Hurtado's rector).

You can find a copy of Father Arroyo's PowerPoint presentation to the seminar here (in Spanish).
A comprehensive update on our Ethics in Public Policy work is available on the project's web page.

Joseph Godfrey, S.J. Woodstock visiting fellow Sr. Donna Markham, O.P., gave a brown bag lunch presentation at the Center on her paper, "Rogue Events and Leadership." In July, she will begin work in her new role as prioress of the Adrian Dominican Sisters, based in Adrian, Michigan. She was elected to that position at the order's 16th General Chapter, held in February 2004.

Other recent brown bag presentations were made by visiting fellow Peter Bernardi, S.J., on "Theology and Politics: Catholic Responses to French Fascism," by visiting fellow Joseph Godfrey, S.J., on "In? God? We? Trust?: Understanding Trust (and Suspicion) for, and in, Christian Religion," and by international visiting fellow Dr. Zhang Xianqing on "The Early Dialogue Between Christianity and Chinese Folk Religion: A Case Study of Guilio Aleni S.J."

Since the end of the Cold War, the world has arguably become a less forgiving place. Ethnic cleansing in the former Yugoslavia, inter-tribal genocide in Rwanda, international terrorism, the crisis in Iraq, and the “culture wars” in liberal democracies – all these have revealed forces of un-forgiveness. At the same time, these forces have propelled the notion of forgiveness into the geopolitical conversation.

On May 4, Woodstock held a public forum that explored these developments in a program titled, “Forgiveness in International Politics: An Alternative Road to Peace.”

That is also the title of a new book published by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops and authored by Woodstock fellows William Bole, Drew Christiansen, S.J., and Robert T. Hennemeyer. Following the Mary 4th Forum was a book reception hosted by Woodstock, together with USCCB Publishing.

Donald W. Shriver, president emeritus of Union Theological Seminary in New York and author of An Ethic for Enemies: Forgiveness in Politics, also addressed the gathering. Also speaking were Father Christiansen, who is counselor for international affairs to the Bishops’ Conference and associate editor of America magazine; and Doris Donnelly, a professor of religious studies at John Carroll University (Cleveland) who has written widely on various dimensions of forgiveness.

Robert Hennemeyer, Doris Donnelly, Drew Christiansen, S.J., and Donald Shriver Please look for an edited account of the speakers' presentations in the October 2004 issue of the Woodstock Report.

Mark Mossa, S.J. The November 2003 Conference on "Catholic Traditions on War and Peace" was featured in the "News & Views" section of Church magazine's Spring 2004 issue. The event was co-sponsored by Woodstock and the U.S. Jesuit Conference, with the aim of examining the Catholic Church's just-war tradition in light of shifting geopolitical realities since the end of the Cold War.

New Orleans Province Jesuit Mark Mossa, S.J., is now working with Woodstock senior fellow Dolores Leckey and Paula Minaert to build on the November event, and prepare educational materials that draw on the event's presentations and discussions.

The U.S. Jesuit Conference web site contains a brief overview of the project.

Dr. Saban-Ali Duzgun and Dr. Beatriz Domingues, two of Woodstock's International Visiting Fellows, recently made presentations on the work that they have carried out during their fellowship at the Center.

During his time at Woodstock, Dr. Saban-Ali Duzgun wrote a paper on "Method in Theology: Past Challenges and New Opportunities," which examines the ways that contemporary theological methodology has been affected by movements such as foundationalism, text criticism, linguistic analysis and analytical philosophy, and existentialism. It gives special attention to the development of a new methodology within the context of Islam. Dr. Duzgun is a professor in the Divinity Faculty of Ankara University, Ankara, Turkey.
While at Woodstock, Dr. Beatriz Domingues has prepared a paper on "A Rich Past and an Uncertain Future: Jesuits and Enlightenment in the Luso-American World." This is one element of her research into the role of Jesuits in the Hispanic and Luso-American enlightenment and in the creation of their cultural and political Identity. She describes her project as a comparative study that "calls attention to the similarities and differences between the behavior and intellectual production of Mexican and Brazilian Jesuits…. This comparison can be very useful to continue rethinking the work of the Society of Jesus, before and after the prohibition of the order."

We are happy to announce that two Woodstock projects have been awarded new grants to support their work:

Woodstock's Catholicism and Civic Renewal project is the recipient of a $225,000 grant from the Henry Luce Foundation. The Catholicism and Civic Renewal project, directed by senior fellow Dr. John Farina, seeks to combine historical, constitutional, and political analysis with systematic theological reflection, in order to explore the role that Catholicism can play in the process of American civic renewal. The project plans a series of seminars, conferences, discussion groups, and books. A Georgetown University press release about the grant can be found here.
Leon Hooper, S.J., senior fellow and head of the Woodstock Theological Center Library, has received a $6,000 matching grant from the Loyola Foundation to support the creation of a major new web site containing the collected works of John Courtney Murray, S.J. Major support for this effort has also been provided by members of John Courtney Murray's family. Please visit the John Courtney Murray bibliography page to see the work in progress.

The April 2004 issue of The Georgetown Independent student newspaper featured an article on the "Pacem in Terris" lecture series, of which Woodstock is a co-sponsor. The article incorporates an interview with Gasper Lo Biondo, S.J., the Center's director, who spoke about the ways in which Woodstock -- through initiatives like its Global Economy and Cultures project -- helps to further the University's commitment to social justice.

Brad Hamrlik, S.J., recently a visiting researcher at Woodstock, is serving as director of the July 2004 "Jesuit Family Retreat" sponsored by the Maryland Jesuit Province.

The retreats are meant for "economically-challenged families who live in cities and who would not otherwise have the means or opportunity to get away as a family to reflect, relax, pray and play with each other." This year's retreat is being held at the Jesuit Retreat Center in Pine Ridge Summit, PA. The program is offered in four different weeks: July 5-9, July 12-16, July 19-23, and July 26-30. You can read more about it in the March 12, 2004 issue of the Maryland Province's For Others newsletter.

Father Gasper Lo Biondo, S.J., has been named to represent the U.S. Jesuit Assistancy on a new Task Force on Globalization and Marginalization that is being assembled with the approval of Superior General Peter-Hans Kolvenbach, S.J. In addition to Father Lo Biondo, the task force will include six Jesuits representing other parts of the world. Father Fernando Franco, S.J., Secretary of the Jesuit Social Justice Secretariat, will serve as the group's convenor. The objective of the task force is to "to gather the reflections and conclusions of research projects already underway, to analyse from a global perspective the experiences of various actors, to benefit from the efforts to search for new alternatives and finally to generate concrete practical proposals in a White Paper on Globalisation and Marginalisation to be submitted to Fr. General by June 2006 and that may render more effective our response to this issue." The task force's first meeting is scheduled for November 2004 in Rome.

You can read more about the Task Force in the "Interest Areas" section of the Jesuit Social Justice Secretariat web site.

The Inter-American Development Bank's Initiative on Social Capital, Ethics, and Development featured an interview (in Spanish) with Father Gasper Lo Biondo, S.J., in a recent edition of its Entrevistas Clave. The topic of the discussion was "Development Actors and Their Responsibilities: The Interactions between Social Capital, Ethics, and Globalization." You can download the text from the IADB web site as a Word document.

Father Lo Biondo had earlier taken part in the IADB's January 16, 2004, "Ethics and Development Day," which also featured Norwegian Ambassador Knut Vollebaek and Nobel-prize-winning economist, Amartya Sen.

Woodstock's web site now includes a new section dedicated to the Center's day-long event on "Iberian Mystics: Music and Mysticism in Late Medieval and Early Renaissance Spain." The event was held on the Georgetown University campus on December 5, 2003. It included an academic conference on the ways in which religion interacted within the literary and musical experience of Spain in the late middle ages and at the dawn of the Renaissance. It also included a concert of "Iberian Mystics: The Music of Three Faiths" was presented in Gaston Hall by the Post-Classical Ensemble, conducted by Angel Gil-Ordonez. The concert's rich program offered an array of music representing the Christian, Jewish, and Arab traditions of 11th-20th century Spain. The event was organized by Woodstock senior fellow Dr. John Farina. The Music & Mysticism web site currently includes:

Information on the academic conference, including a program of papers and presenters.
Pictures from the conference.
A program of works and performers from the concert.
Links to co-sponsors and participants.

In addition to Forgiveness in International Politics, Woodstock fellows, friends, and associates have produced a number of noteworthy books and articles in recent months Woodstock fellow William Bole authored two chapters in the recent book American Catholics and Civic Engagement: A Distinctive Voice, edited by Margaret O'Brien Steinfels.

An article by senior fellow Rev. Raymond Kemp entitled "Preaching the Storm" was the "Reality Check" feature in the May/June 2004 issue of Preach magazine.

Former international visiting fellow Vincent Sekhar, S.J. has authored a book on Dharma in Early Brahmanic, Buddhist, and Jain Traditions, published by Sri Satguru Publications.

Finally, during his years as director of the Woodstock Theological Center Library, Joseph Tylenda, S.J., produced a number of books, including a new translation of The Imitation of Christ. Following up on the success of that book, Father Tylenda has prepared a contemporary translation of another spiritual work by Thomas a Kempis: On the Passion of Christ according to the Four Evangelists. This series of meditations explores the Gospel accounts of Christ's death, and may be of interest to those who have read and drawn inspiration from The Imitation of Christ.