CEC Director Snead on Pope Francis' Pro-Life Vision
CEC Director Carter Snead was quoted in a widely-published Associated Press article about Pope Francis' Apostolic Letter Misericordia et misera…
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Ave Maria University Students Join in CEC Fall Conference
Ave Maria University's "Academics at AMU" blog recently featured an article about the Notre Dame Center for Ethics and Culture sponsoring 11 undergraduate students to take part in the CEC's 17th Annual Fall Conference, "You Are Beauty: Exploring the Catholic Imagination."…
CEC Fall Conference on Beauty & the Catholic Imagination
More than 750 scholars and artists will gather at the University of Notre Dame for the Center for Ethics and Culture’s interdisciplinary Fall Conference, “You Are Beauty: Exploring the Catholic Imagination,” November 10-12. The conference will feature 90 presentations, including the keynote lecture “Beauty Is Part of God’s Creation” by Etsuro Sotoo, the lead sculptor of Barcelona’s Basilica de la Sagrada Familia, and a closing lecture on the poetry of Wallace Stevens by Mary Ann Glendon, former Ambassador to the Holy See. Additional invited speakers include author and philosopher Sir Roger Scruton, art historian Elizabeth Lev, James Beard Award-winning chef John Besh, Center for Ethics and Culture Senior Distinguished Research Fellow Alasdair MacIntyre, producer of Academy Award winning films Steve McEveety, and the director of Florence’s Museo dell’Opera del Duomo, Monsignor Timothy Verdon.…
Notre Dame to Award 2017 Evangelium Vitae Medal to Jerome Lejeune Foundation
The Notre Dame Center for Ethics and Culture will award the 2017 Notre Dame Evangelium Vitae Medal to the Jerome Lejeune Foundation at a Mass and Banquet on April 29, 2017.
“Professor Lejeune was a man of great faith, a brilliant geneticist, and a prophetic voice on behalf of people who suffer from intellectual disabilties,” said O. Carter Snead, William P. and Hazel B. White Director of the Notre Dame Center for Ethics and Culture. “He spent his professional life engaged in cutting-edge scientific research into the genetic causes of disabilities like Down syndrome and trisomy 18. He was motivated by deep compassion and an abiding love for disabled people, born and unborn. Today, the Jerome Lejeune Foundation carries on Professor Lejeune’s work by sponsoring ethically-conducted genetic research, securing healthcare for those with disabilities, and performing advocacy on behalf of the disabled in light of our shared human dignity.” Snead concluded, “The Jerome Lejeune Foundation perfectly embodies the spirit of the Notre Dame Evangelium Vitae…
CEC Cosponsors Annual Rimini Meeting
Carter Snead, Director of the Notre Dame Center for Ethics and Culture, and Mary O'Callaghan, CEC Public Policy Fellow, delivered presentations on the theme "Disability as a Resource" at the 37th annual Meeting for Friendship Amongst Peoples in Rimini, Italy, on August 22. More than 350 attendees from around the world gathered for Sunday's keynote session, which also included a special video interview with Jean Vanier, founder of the L'Arche movement, conducted by noted Italian journalist Maurizo Vitali.…
Director Snead's Featured CNN Op-Ed on VP Nominee Kaine
Carter Snead, director of the Notre Dame Center for Ethics and Culture and professor of law at Notre Dame Law School, has written a featured op-ed published on CNN's homepage about Democratic Vice-Presidential nominee Tim Kaine…
ND Vita Institute Heads West
On July 22 & 23, the Center for Ethics and Culture presented a special Notre Dame Vita Institute for the Archdiocese of Los Angeles at the invitation of Archbishop José H. Gomez. More than 100 participants from across Southern California took part in the weekend at St. John's Seminary in Camarillo, which was co-sponsored by the Archdiocesan Office of Life, Justice, and Peace. Sessions included presentations on the biological development of the unborn child from his or her earliest stages, legal issues surrounding abortion, physician-assisted suicide, federal policies toward embryonic stem cell research, analysis of popular philosophical arguments in support of abortion, and how to communicate the pro-life message across generations. Participants included nurses, doctors, college professors, priests, religious sisters, parish ministers, and pro-life advocates of all ages.…
Public Policy Fellow: The Obama Administration Nullifies Conscience Rights
CEC Public Policy Fellow Richard Doerflinger published an op-ed decrying the Obama Administration for its failure to protect conscience rights for health care providers in accordance with its legal responsibility per the Weldon Amendment. Doerflinger writes,
Yet through a mangled interpretation of the statute—one that ignores its plain text and inserts qualifiers and exceptions nowhere found in that text—the administration manages to neutralize the statute. For good measure, it announces that this law, which was repeatedly signed and praised by President Obama, is probably unconstitutional—echoing an argument long advanced by pro-abortionists, but not accepted by any court.
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Director Snead's Response to Preliminary Injunction Blocking Implementation of Indiana HB 1337
Carter Snead, director of the Notre Dame Center for Ethics and Culture and professor in the Notre Dame Law School, issued the following response to Thursday's decision by U.S. District Court Judge Tanya Walton Pratt to issue a preliminary injunction against Indiana House Bill 1337, which prohibits abortion based on a diagnosis of disability, sex, race, or national origin. Professor Snead's statement follows:…
Vita Institute 2016 Prepares Pro-Life Leaders
Current and future pro-life advocates and leaders from North America, South America, and Europe gathered on the campus of the University of Notre Dame for a week-long "pro-life boot camp" at the Center for Ethics and Culture's annual Vita Institute, June 18-25. Participants studied the fundamentals of life issues with world-renowned scholars across a wide range of disciplines including social science, biology, philosophy, theology, law, neonatology, and fertility counseling.…
Director Snead's op-ed on SCOTUS' Texas HB2 decision featured by CNN
CNN has published an op-ed by CEC director Carter Snead in which he responds to the Supreme Court's decision striking down key provisions of Texas House Bill 2, which he had provided expert testimony in support of. "The Supreme Court's decision in Whole Woman's Health v. Hellerstedt…
CEC Cosponsors Philosophy Workshop: "Aquinas on Politics"
The ND Center for Ethics and Culture is partnering with the Thomistic Institute and the Catholic & Dominican Institute to cosponsor the 6th Annual Philosophy Workshop, "Aquinas on Politics" at Mount Saint Mary College, June 2-5. Workshop faculty include regular CEC Fall Conference presenters Fr. Thomas Joseph White OP and Fr. Michael Sherwin OP, who will explore the thought of the Universal Doctor on civic life including the common good, the human family, natural rights, and the nature of justice. Participants will discuss St. Thomas's commentary on Aristotle's Politics…
CEC Director to Deliver Inaugural "Law & Justice Lecture" at University of Florence
On Monday, May 30, Notre Dame Center for Ethics and Culture Director and Professor of Law Carter Snead will deliver the inaugural University of Florence “Law and Justice Lecture” in Florence, Italy. The lectureship was established to provide the opportunity for internationally renowned scholars to engage in university-wide interdisciplinary dialogue on pressing matters of law and public policy. The honor also includes appointment as a Visiting Professor of Law at the University of Florence.…
CEC Cosponsors Seminar on "Economics and Catholic Social Thought"
Fifteen junior faculty and graduate students from international institutions are gathering at the University of Notre Dame May 23-25 for an intensive seminar on "Economics and Catholic Social Thought." The ND Center for Ethics and Culture is cosponsoring the seminar in collaboration with the Lumen Christi Institute…
Disability and the Face of Mercy: Notre Dame Collaborates with Pontifical Council to Host Conference
The Notre Dame Center for Ethics and Culture and the Jacques Maritain Center at Notre Dame, in collaboration with the Pontifical Council for the New Evangelization, are hosting a two-day colloquium on disability and mercy to take place in Rome, June 5–6, 2016. The colloquium will bring together theologians, scholars, historians, persons with disabilities, families, and intentional Christian communities for shared discussion about disability and the ways in which mercy, properly understood, requires friendship, communion, and a shared life with those who have disabilities.
Congratulations to Sorin Fellows of the Class of 2016
Congratulations to the 13 Sorin Fellows who graduated this weekend as members of the Class of 2016! Through their affiliation with the Center for Ethics and Culture, these superb young alumni received mentorship, internships, and opportunities to deepen their understanding of the Catholic moral and intellectual tradition and examine the many ways they can be brought to bear on pressing ethical issues in culture and public policy today.…
Call for Papers: 17th Annual Fall Conference on the Catholic Imagination
The Center for Ethics and Culture invites scholars and artists to submit proposals for our Fall Conference, entitled "You Are Beauty: Exploring the Catholic Imagination." The 17th Annual Fall Conference will consider “aesthetic contemplation sublimated in faith” (“Letter to Artists,” Pope St. John Paul II), exploring the relationship between the imagination, beauty, truth, and religion in a variety of contexts, particularly the arts, philosophy, theology, political theory, and the sciences. The conference will take place at the University of Notre Dame, November 10 - 12, 2016.…
Praise for CEC Fellow Richard Doerflinger as He Retires From USCCB
Richard Doerflinger, a Public Policy Fellow of the Notre Dame Center for Ethics and Culture, retired at the end of April after 36 years as the associate director for pro-life activities and policy for the US Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB). In recognition of his role as a lifelong champion in defense of human life, Doerflinger was honored in 2011 with the first ever Notre Dame Evangelium Vitae Medal, and as a Public Policy Felllow he continues to serve as an expert on bioethical issues.
Sorin Fellow Interviewed on Disability and Abortion
Following on her "Women Deserve Better" op-ed published earlier this month in the Observer, Sorin Fellow Laura Wolk (L '16) was recently interviewed by Crux columnist Kathryn Jean Lopez. In the interview, Laura reflected on her own experience as a blind woman and the relationship between individualism, disability, and true freedom:…
Center Fellow Defends Abortion Protection Laws for Disabled Babies
Center for Ethics and Culture Public Policy Fellow Dr. Mary O'Callaghan was a guest on EWTN's Morning Glory radio program on Friday, April 15, discussing abortion protection for babies receiving prenatal diagnoses of various disabilities. Such legislation is consistent with the protections guaranteed in the Americans with Disabilities Act, said O'Callaghan, the difference being that, "we're not just talking about failure to build a wheelchair ramp, we're talking about total exclusion from society, from life itself, based on a single characteristic of a child."…