Woodstock in the News

The latest book by Woodstock Fellow John Haughey, S.J., receives a major award from the Catholic Press Association

July 17, 2010. Where is Knowing Going? The Horizons of the Knowing Subject, the latest book by Woodstock Fellow John C. Haughey, S.J., was recently honored with first place in the Catholic Press Association's 2010 Book Awards' Education category. The award citation explains that "By exploring the question, 'When is a Catholic university truly Catholic?' this book ranks high on the 'must read' list of serious educators. Based on sound research, coupled with a reasoned approach that offers an expansive, and sometimes controversial, view of problematic issues faced on the university level, this book provides a thought-provoking basis for critical consideration and discussion."

Click here for the full list of Catholic Press Association award winners.

Tom Reese, S.J., appears on NPR's All Things Considered to discuss the Vatican's Outreach to the Anglican Community

October 25, 2009. Woodstock Senior Fellow Father Tom Reese, S.J., took part in a panel discussion on NPR's All Things Considered radio program, to discuss the Vatican's new outreach to members of the Anglican community.

You can listen to the audio here, on this NPR web page.

"Confessions of a Modern Nun": America magazine features Woodstock Fellow Sister Ilia Delio's reflections on the state of women religious in the U.S.

October 12, 2009. Sister Ilia Delio, OSF, contemplates on the paths of Catholic religious sisters in the U.S. and their relationships with the Church, their communities, and one another, in a thought-provoking new article in America magazine. In addressing the many important quesitons raised about the future of women religious in the Church, Sister Delio reflects on her own theological development during the course of her life as a religious.

"Those who have taken off the habit and those who are putting on the habit mark two distinct paths in religious life today. What is happening? Did most women religious misinterpret the documents of the Second Vatican Council? Is what some see as a rebellious streak taking its toll? Have women defied the church? Some interpret empty novitiates and an aging membership as evidence that women religious have made the wrong choice—for secularization. Others maintain that their intent was to live more authentically as women religious in a world of change.

"For many years I wondered whether women religious had misread the signs of the time. Yet as I have pondered the mystery of God, I have come to believe that the evolutionary universe is moving forward in part because women religious are working in the trenches of humanity among those who are poor, oppressed and forgotten. Today world religions are playing a greater role in the synthesis of a new religious consciousness. The women [of the Leadership Conference of Women Religious] have risked their lives in the pursuit of authentic Incarnation and have proclaimed prophetically that the love of God cannot be exterminated or suppressed. They continue to fight for systemic change on behalf of oppressed people. Congregations may die out, but the paths inscribed in history by the women religious of Vatican II are nothing less than the evolutionary shoots of a new future."

Read the full text of Ilia Delio's article on the America web site

Woodstock Fellow Dolores Leckey's review of Archbishop Weakland's memoirs is featured in America magazine

October 5, 2009. After knowing and working with Bishop Weakland for over 30 years, Woodstock Senior Fellow Dolores Leckey recently reviewed his new memoir, A Pilgrim in a Pilgrim Church: Memoirs of a Catholic Bishop, for America magazine in an article called "The Bishop's Tale".

"With every experience, his world—including the church world—grew larger and culturally richer. But the Benedictines gave him something more, something that remains to this day. They gave him the Rule of Benedict as a way to center his life and to guide him as he moved from one leadership role to another, nationally and internationally. He learned from the monks who were involved in his formation that St. Benedict saw the monk as one on a search for God. Benedict did not say the important point was finding God, but the continuous search for God. In all of the roles and responsibilities that were his over the years—abbot of St. Vincent’s, abbot primate of all the Benedictine houses in the world, archbishop of Milwaukee, a national leader regarding issues of social justice, liturgy, ecumenical and interreligious matters—always the Rule, the Benedictine way of life, anchored him.

"A Pilgrim in a Pilgrim Church becomes a lens for viewing—and understanding a little better—a period of church history where tensions, confusion and hope intertwined."

Read the full text of Dolores Leckey's book review on the America web site

Where is Knowing Going? The Horizons of the Knowing Subject: A groundbreaking new work by Woodstock Senior Fellow John C. Haughey, S.J.

July 2009. Order your copy of the publication here!

Where is Knowing Going?

"This book will be welcomed by those who wrestle with the challenge of understanding the distinctively Catholic character of Catholic universities. Its special contribution is to show how research, scholarship, and the production of new knowledge are intrinsic to the project of 'emerging catholicity' that should be central to the Catholic university's self-understanding." --Joseph Appleyard, S.J., Vice President for University Mission and Ministry, Boston College

Catholic institutions of higher learning are at a crossroads: How can they remain true to their roots while recognizing that many of their administrations, faculties, and student bodies have little connection with the tradition? How can these institutions remain competitive while maintaining a relationship to the Church?

During the past several years Catholic theologian and Woodstock Senior Fellow John C. Haughey, S.J., has conducted groundbreaking research on these questions, in tandem with a team of Catholic scholars from around the United States. Haughey has also conducted numerous workshops with faculty at a dozen Catholic colleges and universities to learn firsthand about their research and teaching aspirations. Those relationships and conversations provide the foundation for this book's many insights.

In Where Is Knowing Going? Haughey explores what constitutes the Catholic identity of Catholic colleges and universities. Going beyond a doctrinal understanding of Catholic identity to one that engages and is engaged by the intellectual tradition of Catholicism, Haughey does not find that the issue of Catholic identity is adequately dealt with by marketing the distinctive identities of institutions in terms of their founding religious orders or saints. He provides a sure-handed process whereby the pursuits of individual faculty can be better aligned with the formal mission of the institution.

Woodstock Fellows Dolores Leckey and Sr. Ilia Delio, OSF, Receive Catholic Press Association Book Awards for Recent Publications

Care for Creation, the award-winning book co-authored by Woodstock Fellow Ilia Delio, OSF

May 29, 2009. Books by Woodstock Senior Fellow Dolores Leckey and Associate Fellow Ilia Delio, OSF, were honored with Catholic Press Association Book Awards at the Association's 2009 Catholic Media Convention in Anaheim, California.

The Assocation gave its First Place award in the Social Concerns category to Care for Creation: A Franciscan Spirituality of the Earth, co-authored by Sr. Ilia Delio, OSF, Keith Douglass Warner, OSM, and Pamela Wood. The award citation explained that:

"Anyone concerned about the ecological crisis has many resources on 'green' prayer, theology, and action steps available to them. Care for Creation is a welcome addition, though, because of its delightful, readable content and format. Firmly grounded in the Franciscan tradition that sees God’s creation and the Incarnation as 'fully and integrally' related, the book contains science, theology, practical advice, and inspiration. For the reader who is equally devoted to both Jesus and to our fragile world, this is a gem."

Grieving with Grace: A Woman's Perspective, the award-winning book by Woodstock Fellow Dolores Leckey

The book was also honored with Second Place in the Spirituality (soft cover) category. That award noted that:

"This timely book wonderfully presents a Franciscan spirituality of creation by considering the relationship between the earth as God’s creation and the Incarnation, the implications of St. Francis’s Canticle of Creation for the contemporary world, the role of contemplative prayer in light of global climate change, and the conversion that is necessary for humanity to face these challenges."

Dolores Leckey was honored with Third Place in the Family Life category, for her book Grieving With Grace: A Woman’s Perspective. The award stated that:

"Leckey conveys a sense of rhythm in the liturgical year and the nature of relationships. She poetically and personally ties the grief of loss and the hope of resurrection with a deep knowledge of the feminine. This book deserves an award for its creativity, uniqueness, and faithfulness to theology. It is outstanding for its conceptualization and delivery."

Christ in Evolution, the latest book by Woodstock Fellow Ilia Delio, OSF

Christ in Evolution: The Latest Book by Woodstock Fellow Ilia Delio, OSF.

February 27, 2009. Woodstock Associate Fellow Ilia Delio, OSF, has just published a new book on Christ in Evolution, produced by Orbis Books. Her book also features a foreword by Woodstock Senior Fellow John Haught. Commenting on the book, Denis Edwards, author of Breath of Life, writes that:

"Ilia Delio is a fresh new voice. She sees Christ as the center and meaning of an evolving universe. At the same time she does Christology with a contemplative heart. The originality of her contribution springs not only from these twin perspectives but also from her take on the tradition, with Bonaventure, Teilhard de Chardin, Raimon Paikkar, Thomas Merton and Bede Griffiths as her dialogue partners. This is an important, challenging and inspiring book."

You can view the book's table of contents and a preview chapter at the Orbis Books web site, or purchase a copy online from Amazon.com or Barnes & Noble.

Woodstock Senior Fellow John Haught

Woodstock Fellow John Haught Quoted in CNS Story on Evolution.

February 26, 2009. A new article by the Catholic News Service offers an in-depth exploration of the fact that "After 150 years, evolution debate continues among people of faith". One expert featured in the article is Woodstock Senior Fellow John Haught. You can read the article on the AmericanCatholic.org web site.

Beheading and Religious Profiling: Reflections of Woodstock Visiting Fellow Aloysious Mowe, S.J.

February 25, 2009. In his blog on the Washington Post / Newsweek "On Faith" web site, Aloysious Mowe, S.J., a Woodstock International Visiting Fellow from Malaysia, offered his reflections on the topic:

"American Muslim leaders have been quick to condemn the beheading of a woman by her Muslim husband in Buffalo, saying it has nothing to do with religion. Is there a connection between religion and domestic violence?"

Click here to read Father Mowe's analysis, and post your own comments.

Woodstock Fellow & Georgetown University Theology Professor Daniel Madigan, S.J.

Georgetown University Highlights the Interreligious Work of Woodstock Fellow Daniel Madigan, S.J.

February 24, 2009. Georgetown University's Blue & Gray newspaper has published an in-depth profile of Woodstock Fellow and Georgetown University Theology Professor Daniel Madigan, S.J., an Australian expert on Muslim-Christian dialogue. The profile is titled "Facilitating Interreligious Dialogue: Jesuit Daniel Madigan Uses Scholarship For Better Muslim-Christian Understanding", and you can read it here on the Georgetown University web site.