Scholars gather to discuss Catholicism’s “Living Tradition”

Titled “That Which I Also Received: Living Tradition,” the de Nicola Center for Ethics and Culture’s (dCEC) 2025 conference centered on the reapplication and renewal of eternal principles to present circumstances. Through an integration of its academic nature with the dCEC’s Catholic culture and mission, the 25th annual Fall Conference emphasized the main tradition which it received: a living friendship with Jesus Christ.

Monsignor John Paul Kimes, Associate Professor of the Practice at the Law School, defined tradition in his opening homily, saying, “It is nothing other than what the book of Wisdom says today about Wisdom herself: ‘She produces friends of God.’ It is the friendship of Jesus Christ that we have received, that has been passed down to us from those who believed before us.”

Jennifer Martin, dCEC director, echoed this Catholic reality. “You have to hand it on to a community, to be part of a community from person to person. What you receive is from others. It’s not just what you make up. It has to be received with open hands. And a lot of what the de Nicola Center is about is understanding all of this as gift,” said Martin. 

Heavily involved in the cause of advancing St. John Henry Newman to the title of “Doctor of the Church,” Martin’s role influenced her decision to focus this year’s conference on the living communal aspect of the search for truth. “It can never be academic or abstract because that’s foreign to the nature of Catholicism. We are embodied. We live together in community,” said Martin. 

The conference’s three keynote speakers focused on architecture, love, and prudence. Philippe Villeneuve, chief architect in the restoration of Notre-Dame de Paris following its famous 2019 fire, centered the opening keynote on the history and technical aspects of the famous cathedral. “I am going to try to speak English with a beautiful accent, a French accent,” joked Villeneuve in his opening remarks.

Villeneuve’s 70-minute presentation connected the technical aspects of architecture to the deeper meaning of Notre-Dame de Paris. “The church was to be the representation of heaven on earth, the heavenly Jerusalem, the dwelling place of God. [It] had to be defended by eight vaults. This is why the western façade is crowned with battlements,” said Villeneuve.

After celebrating Friday’s conference Mass in the Basilica of the Sacred Heart, Most Reverend Daniel Flores, Bishop of the Diocese of Brownsville, Texas, delivered the second keynote, entitled “The Translated Word.” Diving deeply into the meaning of the word love, as translated and interpreted by Ss. Jerome and Augustine, Flores demonstrated his deep commitment to academia. 

However, Flores favored simplicity during the Q&A portion of his lecture. When asked by Will Anderson of Benedictine College how to respond to the given Word, Flores answered, “Tonight, before you go to bed, you say your prayers. You say, ‘Holy Spirit, fill my heart more deeply with the knowledge of your love, that, in some way, I may be a fitting sign of the presence of Christ’s love in the world.” 

“You say that prayer honestly and sincerely, [and] it will change how you live tomorrow, because God hears that prayer,” explained Flores.

Having moved from embodied architectural theology and through the theological virtue of love, the conference concluded with a keynote lecture by Zena Hitz, Tutor at St. John’s College in Annapolis. Focusing on the virtue of prudence, Hitz advocated that practical wisdom is no mere cleverness but must be ordered to the good. “Prudence is the ingenuity of love,” noted Hitz.

Hitz underscored the tension between the current philosophical notion of prudence and the understanding of prudence in the literary tradition, ranging from the Odyssey to the Bible and One Thousand and One Nights.

Hitz maintained that Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics is widely misunderstood as practical wisdom for an isolated individual, while, in reality, it is intended for rulers in a body politic. “The best form of government is where citizens rule and are ruled in turn,” said Hitz, echoing Aristotle.

Hitz ended with a call for her audience to realize the interconnectedness of morality and our responsibility and authority towards one another. She argued that this realization should occur through the organic growth of families, communities, schools, and businesses, assisted by practical wisdom. “To build and govern such institutions, the great virtue of practical wisdom is very much needed: the virtue of practical wisdom that our literary traditions illuminate and our philosophical traditions clarify,” said Hitz.

Hitz’s keynote in particular hit home for Thomas Doyle of Benedictine College. He told the Rover, “I’ve thought about law pretty seriously and talking about the difference between practical knowledge and then how that impacts virtue … was really interesting, especially applying it to modern society and thinking about what lawmakers should be looking at.” 

Brian Buttner, fifth year architecture student at Notre Dame, was duly impressed in his comments to the Rover. “The three talks that I’ve been to have all solidified the idea that students are not well-read enough and I felt personally attacked by that,” said Buttner.

The conference wrapped up on a lighthearted note with a live recording of The Pillar’s podcast at on-campus restaurant Legends. J.D. Flynn and Ed Condon, co-founders of The Pillar and podcast hosts, interspersed jokes, games, and merch handouts with a serious discussion on Catholicism broadly and Notre Dame in particular. Flynn and Condon interviewed Martin on her vision for the conference and the de Nicola Center, while Lucy Spence, Editor-in-Chief of the Irish Rover, spoke about her own experience with the Catholic identity at Notre Dame. The lively atmosphere underscored the communal nature of the living tradition of the Catholic faith.

James Lieblang is a graduate student earning his M.A. in theology. Please contact him at jlieblan@nd.edu. 

Photo Credit: de Nicola Center for Ethics and Culture (X)

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