Blog Archive » 2008 » April

Pope Benedict surprised and delighted a lot of people today. After his Mass at Nationals Stadium, he met privately with several victims of clergy sex abuse, a move that surprised many but a gesture consistent with a theme of repentance and reconciliation he tackled head-on at the start of this visit.

To the delight of Catholic educators, his address to us at Catholic University struck exactly the right notes of encouragement and affirmative challenge. Calling the work of Catholic schools "an outstanding apostolate of hope" and praising the work of great women in the history of Catholic education like Katharine Drexel and Elizabeth Ann Seton, Pope Benedict immediately established rapport with his audience of Catholic school superintendents, diocesan religious educators and university presidents. As a former university professor himself, a fact he noted wryly, he approached his remarks with a collegial tone that resonated well with the collegiate leaders in the room. Full Article

Pope Benedict XVI's visit to Washington appears to be going very well; he enjoyed the warm greetings at the White House and enthusiastic adulations of thousands of Washingtonians and people from all over.

At the White House, Pope Benedict called on Americans to use their privileges to create a more just and humane world.

President Bush replied, according to the Washington Post, that "in a world where some treat life as something to be debased and discarded, we need your message that all human life is sacred and that each of us is willed, each of us is loved."

Today as well, the Supreme Court of the United States ruled that death by lethal injection is a Constitutionally acceptable form of capital punishment. Chief Justice John Roberts, a Catholic appointed by President Bush, wrote the majority opinion, and he was joined by six other justices including the other four Catholics on the Court. Full Article

Imagine for a minute that the Trinity community could have a kaffeklatsch with Pope Benedict when he's in town this week. (That strange looking word means "coffee and donuts and a discussion"…)

What would we want to discuss with the Pope?

Here are a few topics I'd like to discuss with him — and let me know yours!

1. How can the Catholic Church stop being co-opted by American political opportunists? Full Article

Sister Elizabeth Henry Bellmer, SND, saved many a tree on Trinity's campus, long before the Green Movement was fashionable. Our remarkable landscape, originally designed by Olmstead, includes an astonishing variety of chestnut, beech, magnolia, pine, maple and other beautiful trees. But over the years, as building and maintenance needs evolved, the workers would occasionally think that progress required removing a tree. Not on Sr. Elizabeth's campus! This renowned botanist could shut down the chainsaws, saving, among others, an elegant tall evergreen near the library that was endangered for a while because it blocked a security light. Move the light, don't destroy the tree! She was right, of course, and the tree still lives, albeit with a chainsaw scar. Full Article

Last Friday, I had the privilege of sitting in on a focus group conducted by students in Dr. Shelley Tomkin's seminar on public opinion polling. What a great affirmation of Trinity's mission in women's leadership development! The students organized a highly disciplined and effective session in which other students, faculty and staff answered a series of questions about current politics. I will not go into the details here since the actual report will come from the class and I don't want to pre-empt their fine work. But I do want to share a few observations. Full Article