By Rev. Michael Sweeney, OP
Special to The Catholic Voice

This year marks the 50th anniversary of the Second Vatican Council.

	Thought leaders and Vatican II Jan. 28, 1:30 p.m. Dominican School of Philosophy and Theology, 2301 Vine St., Berkeley RSVP (required) to mzueger@dspt.edu or to 510-883-2086

The Council called for a renewed sense of the essentially missionary character of the Church in its task to proclaim Christ to the world. Catholics were reminded that they are called not only to evangelize individuals, but also to evangelize cultures and to renew and heal society in its structures and institutions.

To carry out the mandate of the council requires not only a thorough background in the traditional disciplines of philosophy and theology but also a grasp of such contemporary initiatives in secular society as the political and judicial process, economics and business, the sciences, bio-medical research, technology, media and the arts.

For this reason, Pope Paul VI, Blessed John Paul II and Pope Benedict XVI have called upon Catholic universities and graduate schools to investigate questions of faith and culture.

In response to this challenge, Berkeley’s Dominican School of Philosophy and Theology founded its College of Fellows in 2005. The fellows are men and women of eminence in their fields who meet annually with the faculty and students of the DSPT to offer analysis of contemporary issues and to provide a window into the arts and sciences, and the political, economic, and institutional worlds that they inhabit. At present the college numbers 18 fellows under the presidency of Cardinal James Francis Stafford. Cardinal Stafford is now retired, but formerly was archbishop of Denver and served many years at The Vatican.

As a college, the fellows have undertaken to offer a public series in which each member offers a brief presentation of the state of his or her profession through the lens of a Catholic imagination.  On Jan. 28, the feast of St. Thomas Aquinas, at 1:30 p.m., four members of the college will offer their reflections: Judge John T. Noonan Jr., senior Justice of the Ninth Circuit Court; Rep. Dan Lungren, R-Gold River; Barbara Elliot, Eleanor Roosevelt medalist and founder of the Center for Renewal in Houston, Texas; and Ray Flynn, former Ambassador of the United States to the Holy See and mayor of Boston.

The presentations, held at the Dominican School of Philosophy and Theology, are open to the public. Fellows who will also be in attendance are: Ron Austin, member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and the Directors Guild; Gil Bailie, founder of the Cornerstone Forum; Andre Delbecq, McCarthy University professor of management at Santa Clara University; Bob Flint, attorney, founder of the Alaska Family Council; Dana Gioia, poet, university professor at USC and former director of the National Endowment of the Arts; Velma Richmond, author and former Academic Dean of Holy Names College; and Kevin Starr, historian, university professor at USC and emeritus librarian of the state of California.

While the public are welcome to attend, space is limited and the school requests an RSVP to mzueger@dspt.edu or to 510-883-2086. 

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