Cardinal says universities must teach church's intellectual tradition

Published: 2008-04-10

PITTSBURGH (CNS) -- In America and the world today, many people perceive religion and intellectual life as adversaries, but a major task of a Catholic university is to counteract this view by revealing the depth and riches of the Catholic intellectual tradition, according to Cardinal Francis E. George of Chicago. Cardinal George, who also is president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, made the comments in a recent address at Duquesne University on "The Importance of the Catholic Intellectual Tradition in the Life of a Catholic University, the Church and Society." Cardinal George said, "If anyone thinks (the subject of this lecture is) not ambitious enough, perhaps we could add its importance to the world and eternal life as well. It wouldn't be hubris to do so, because the Catholic intellectual tradition is not only important but crucial at the deepest level in all these dimensions of human life." He was the inaugural speaker for the Richard T. and Marion A. Byrnes lecture series at Duquesne's McAnulty College and Graduate School of Liberal Arts.

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