Tim Bradley, Staff Writer

In his papal encyclical Ex Corde Ecclesiae, Blessed Pope John Paul II described the mission of the Catholic university as presenting the truth about God, man, and nature.  The Center for Ethics and Culture was created with this mission in mind,  a mission all the more important as our world increasingly denies the existence of objective truth.

The Notre Dame Center for Ethics and Culture was created in the summer of 1999.  According to a university press release dated October 25, 2011, the Center was created to investigate “ethical issues and cultural concerns drawing on the intellectual resources of the Catholic tradition.”

The official mission statement of the Center concerns a deeply held belief that the truths taught by the Catholic Church are the foundation for “freedom, justice, human dignity, and the common good.”  The animating aim of the Center is “to share the richness of this Catholic moral and intellectual tradition through teaching, research, and dialogue, at the highest level and across a range of disciplines.”  In this way the Center promotes the Catholic character of the university both on campus and in the public sphere.

The Center’s presence has remained constant from its founding, even with a recent change in leadership.  On October 25, 2011, the university announced that O. Carter Snead, Professor of Law, would be replacing Dr. David Solomon, Professor of Philosophy, as the Director of the Center. This decision that was made entirely at the discretion of the University.

Shortly after becoming director, Snead discussed what his appointment meant in an interview with the Cardinal Newman Society, “The leadership of the University could have done anything they wanted. They could have shut [the Center] down if they wanted to. This is a positive sign that the university recognizes the importance of the Center and shares the goal to pursue scholarship at the most rigorous levels within the Catholic intellectual moral tradition.”

Snead further said: “I love Notre Dame and I believe in Notre Dame and this is a very powerful confirmation of my faith in the institution.”

In a letter to friends of the Center dated September 13, 2012, Snead wrote that the goal of the Center remains “to share the richness of the Catholic moral and intellectual tradition through teaching, research, and exchange. In particular, we aspire to help students, faculty and staff, alumni and friends and colleagues in other academic institutions to appreciate the many ways in which the Catholic tradition offers unique and distinctive resources for engaging the most pressing matters of ethics, public policy, and culture.”

The Center’s distinctive resources are numerous.  It hosts an annual fall conference on ethical, political, and cultural issues featuring interdisciplinary dialogue amongst the world’s most prominent thinkers.  The Center also hosts an annual spring conference on medical ethics to discuss questions from clinical settings.  It conducts a fellowship program in which both “eminent and emerging scholars” are brought to the Notre Dame community to conduct research, with the ultimate goal of making these scholars long-term members of the community.

The Center also disperses semi-annual newsletters to provide supporters updates on the Center’s activities and the upcoming schedule of events.  Additionally, the Center holds extensive programming for students and other members of the Notre Dame community, such as its annual Catholic Literature Series (which this year explored JRR Tolkien and his works), the Catholic Culture Film Series, the Arthur J. Schmitt Lecture Series, and the semi-annual Bread of Life dinners.

The mission of the Center states, “In all these endeavors, we raise the profile of Catholic scholars and writers who are doing important work but who might not be heard without our help…we engage the questions much of the American academy prefers to ignore – and we do so by working with anyone of any views, so long as he or she is willing to come together in open and honest debate.”

Senior philosophy and accounting major Margaret Kennedy, an Undergraduate Assistant at the Center, sees the Center living out its mission “by providing opportunities for faculty, staff, students, and the community to engage the rich intellectual and cultural tradition of the Church…by organizing and sponsoring events that promote discussion of various topics relevant to the Catholic faith and culture.”

One reason Kennedy believes the Center is often able to pull off successful student-oriented events is that lectures are frequently paired with a reception or a meal of some sort, which “provides a forum for students and faculty to engage on a level that they don’t have the opportunity for on a regular basis.”

The overarching aim of the Center is, according to Snead, “to help Notre Dame’s Catholic character flourish on campus, and to bring Notre Dame’s voice into the public square in service of human dignity and the common good.”

The Center for Ethics and Culture advertises its events extensively on posters throughout campus and through Facebook. Also, check out the website for more information: ethicscenter.nd.edu

Tim Bradley is a freshman economics and theology major. To complain about his brother Michael, contact him at tbradle5@nd.edu.