The Buzz Board
Picks from the Inner Circle
James Carroll
Info
RSS
James Carroll's recent book is Practicing Catholic, a story of American belief. He is a columnist for the Boston Globe and Distinguished-Scholar-in-Residence at Suffolk University. His other books include An American Requiem, which won the National Book Award, House of War, winner of the PEN-Galbraith Award, and Constantine's Sword, now an acclaimed documentary. Boston Globe columnist and Distinguished Scholar-in-Residence at Suffolk University |
|
 
As a gift from America, President Obama could do no better than present Pope Benedict with a copy of We Hold These Truths: Catholic Reflections on the American Proposition, by the Jesuit theologian John Courtney Murray. It is no coincidence that this book, which did more than any other to transform the relationship between the United States and the Catholic Church, was published in 1960, the year that John F. Kennedy was elected president. (It is still in print.) For his writings on religious liberty, Murray was silenced by the Vatican in 1954, yet that did not stop him from advising Kennedy (he vetted the famous Houston Ministers' speech). An exemplar of "faithful dissent," Murray is a model for liberal Catholics to this day, and his work was vindicated by the Second Vatican Council in 1965, where he was the main author of "On The Dignity of Human Persons," the declaration that affirmed religious liberty—even for Catholics. |
cbeenthere
Would that be appreciated? If only... But, I do wish President Obama would read it, I think it would help him in regard to decisions he has had to make to Health and Human Services.
PRoche
Actually, I think "Head and Heart, American Christianities" would have been a much more fitting read for Catholic in Chief.
Thank you.
As a first time user, your comment has been submitted for review. It can take anywhere from a few hours to a day or two for your comment to be reviewed, depending on the time of week and the volume of comments we receive.