Elizabeth Brown responds to Patrick Shrake on the Boston College controversy

[Professor Brown writes:]

I was disappointed to see Pat Shrake, a recent graduate of the University
of St. Thomas School of Law, attempting to attack the integrity and
credibility of Kenneth Himes and David Hollenbach, S.J., as a way of
diverting attention from the important issue of whether Secretary of State
Rice has and is actively promoting a war that is at odds with Catholic
Social Teachings.  Pat's comment on Boston College's records of awards lifts
language directly from the Cardinal Newman Society's report on Catholic
College's entitled Culture of Death on Catholic Campuses: A Five Year
Review, pp. 16-17.  Bishop John Vlazny, the retiring chairman of the Bishops
and Presidents Committee of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, noted,
the Bishops and Presidents Committee "has regularly monitored the
publications and positions of the Cardinal Newman Society, and has found
them often aggressive, inaccurate, or lacking in balance."

In his comments, Pat is trying to change the question from Secretary Rice's
character and actions to insinuating that Dr. Himes and Fr. Hollenbach are
not acting consistently with Catholic Social Teaching all the time. Pat has
no facts to back up his insinuation.  Merely raising the question, however,
diverts attention from the more important issue - the extent to which U.S.
foreign policy as designed and implemented by Secretary Rice is at odds with
Catholic Social Teaching.

Both Dr. Himes and Fr. Hollenbach are experts in the area of Catholic Social
Teachings regarding war and peace and have written extensively on those
issues.  It would be natural for them to be particularly concerned when
individuals that their university is planning on honoring violate Catholic
teachings in that area.

Dr. Himes has served as President of the Catholic Theological Society of
America (2000-2001) and is also a member of the Society of Christian Ethics.
He was on the editorial board of New Theology Review and was editor of that
journal from 1998-2002. He was a fellow of the Center for Theological
Inquiry in Princeton, NJ during 1992. For several years he acted as
theological consultant for the Office of Social Development and World Peace
at the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.

Fr. Hollenbach served as President of the Society of Christian Ethics
(1995-1996) and on the Board of Directors of the Catholic Theological
Society of America (1982-1984). He is on the Editorial Board of the Journal
of Religious Ethics and the steering committee of the Consultation of
Religion and Human Rights of the American Academy of Religion. He assisted
the National Conference of Catholic Bishops in drafting their 1986 pastoral
letter Economic Justice for All: Catholic Social Teaching and the U.S.
Economy. In 1979 he received a Walsh-Price Fellowship for travel in Israel,
Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, and Egypt to do research on religion and human
rights in the Middle East. In 1996 he received a Fulbright Fellowship for
research and teaching in Kenya. In June, 1998, Hollenbach received the John
Courtney Murray Award for outstanding contributions to theology from the
Catholic Theological Society of America.

Elizabeth F. Brown
Assistant Professor of Law
University of St. Thomas
School of Law
1000 LaSalle Ave, MSL 400
Minneapolis, MN 55403-2015
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