The Jurisprudential Legacy of John Paul II

Today St. John's welcomed many MoJ-ers to its conference on the jurisprudential legacy of John Paul II.  The opening panel explored several interesting themes, but one common inquiry was the extent to which John Paul modeled a publicly accessible mode of cultural engagement.  Situating John Paul against the academic debates on religion's acceptability in public discourse, Greg Sisk emphasized the inseparable religious and political dimensions of the pontiff's prophetic ministry.  Robert Araujo, S.J. linked John Paul's embrace of the rule of law with the inherently moral norms underlying international law's expansion beyond the rules of war and peace to a more sustained and aspirational peace-building effort.  Rev. Gerald Twomey traced John Paul's evolving approach to the "preferential option for the poor" as evidence of John Paul's willingness to listen and learn from the real-world experiences of those with whom he came into contact. 

The question-and-answer session was especially lively: Fordham philosophy prof Joseph Koterski, S.J. and Michael Perry sparred over whether John Paul's message of human dignity was accessible in purely philosophical terms (Koterski says yes; Perry, no), and the panelists offered various takes on whether Catholic social thought is more or less effective, powerful and authentic when its theological foundations (e.g., the Incarnation) are not brought to the surface when its concepts are brought to bear on society.

This synopsis does not even begin to capture the richness of the discussion; I encourage others to chime in with their own perspectives of the day.  Other MoJers, including Amy Uelmen and Michael Scaperlanda, are on deck for tomorrow.

Rob