2009: The Summons of Freedom
The tenth annual fall conference, “The Summons of Freedom: Virtue, Sacrifice, and the Common Good,” was held November 12–14, 2009. The inspiration for the conference’s title came from the remarks made on the South Lawn of the White House by Pope Benedict XVI during his 2008 apostolic visit to the United States: “Freedom is not only a gift, but also a summons to personal responsibility.” Here Pope Benedict underscored that freedom is both gift and summons, a call toward a particular “cultivation” or cultural formation in the virtues—virtues that always demand sacrifice, sometimes even the total sacrifice of one’s life—for the sake of common goods higher than merely private goods. Watch video recordings of the presentations using the links below.
Featured Presentations
- “‘Building a Bridge Over Troubled Waters: Inviting African-Americans into the Pro-Life Movement,” Rev. John Raphael, S.S.J.
- “Divorce as Fracture of the Common Good: Ingmar Bergman on Guilt, Art, and Confession,” Thomas Hibbs, Baylor University
- “Religious Freedom in America Today: ‘Freedom from,’ ‘Freedom for,’ or ‘Freedom of’?” Richard Garnett, University of Notre Dame
- “Freedom, Goods, and Persons: Christian Responsibility in a Post-Christian Age,” H. Tristram Engelhardt, Baylor University
- “Vicious Circles, Virtuous Circles, and Getting From One to Another,” J. Budziszewski, University of Texas, Austin
- “Tragedy as the Unconcealment of Being: A Literary Reflection on Sacrifice and the Common Good,” Lucy Beckett, Independent Scholar and Author
- “God, Notre Dame, Country: Rethinking the Mission of Catholic Higher Education in the United States,” Michael Baxter, DePaul University
- “The Image of God and the Common Good,” Russell Hittinger, University of Tulsa
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“Misconceptions About the Common Good,” Michael Novak, American Enterprise Institute
- “The Summons of Freedom: The Pope, the Apostle Paul, and Alasdair MacIntyre,” Robert Sloan, Houston Baptist University
- “Man and Woman: A Divine Invention,” Alice von Hildebrand
Past Conferences
- 2013: Fearfully and Wonderfully Made
- 2012: Exploring the Many Facets of Justice
- 2011: Radical Emancipation
- 2010: Younger Than Sin
- 2009: The Summons of Freedom
- 2008: The Family
- 2007: Dialogue of Cultures
- 2006: Modernity
- 2005: Joy in the Truth
- 2004: Epiphanies of Beauty
- 2003: Formation and Renewal
- 2002: From Death to Life
- 2001: A Culture of Life
- 2000: A Culture of Death