CNA<\/a>).- Alumni of the early years of the Washington, D.C. \u201csession\u201d of the Pontifical John Paul II Institute for Studies on Marriage and Family say it gave them a strong formation for the New Evangelization.<\/p>\n\u201cWhat struck me as I read about the institute and its goal: it was to go deeper into understanding the teachings of the Church,\u201d said Dr. John Brehany, director of institutional relations for the National Catholic Bioethics Center and an alumnus of the institute\u2019s D.C. campus.<\/p>\n
The institute aimed to see Church teaching \u201cas life-giving,\u201d he told CNA, and \u201cto understand it, not to apologize for it, and to bring it to more effective dialogue.\u201d<\/p>\n
After the 1980 Synod on the Family, the publication of Pope St. John Paul II\u2019s apostolic exhortation Familiaris Consortio \u201con the role of the Christian family in the modern world,\u201d and the series of weekly audiences he gave on the human person, marriage, and the family \u2013 now known as \u201cTheology of the Body\u201d \u2013 the Pope established the Pontifical Council for the Family.<\/p>\n
Pope St. John Paul II planned to announce the formation of the Pontifical Institute for Studies on Marriage and Family on May 13, 1981, but he was shot in St. Peter\u2019s Square on that day and the announcement was delayed for over a year.<\/p>\n
The Washington, D.C. campus of the Pontifical John Paul II Institute for Studies on Marriage and Family was started in 1988, offering a Licentiate in Sacred Theology (S.T.L.).<\/p>\n
Today, the campus offers degrees of a Master of Theological Studies (M.T.S.), Doctorates of Sacred Theology (S.T.D.), and specializations in Marriage and Family and Person, Marriage, and Family (Ph.D.).<\/p>\n
The original mission of the institute, as some of the early alumni saw it, was to bring the rich teachings of the Church on marriage, the family, and the human person into an engagement with the modern world, but never from an uncharitable or apologetic standpoint.<\/p>\n
Pope St. John Paul II \u201cwould often say the future of the world and of the Church passes through the family,\u201d said Fr. John Riccardo, a priest of the Archdiocese of Detroit and popular Catholic speaker, who attended the D.C. campus from 1999-2001.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd so the mission of the institute was to respond to what John Paul II called the crisis of modernity, actually, which was the degradation and the polarization of the dignity of the human person,\u201d he told CNA.<\/p>\n
This crisis was occurring both in Communist Russia but also in the West with \u201crampant materialism.\u201d<\/p>\n
Pope St. John Paul II\u2019s establishment of the Rome institute came after \u201ca rolling wave, it seemed, of dissent\u201d from Church teaching in the 1960s, especially in the wake of Bl. Pope Paul VI\u2019s encyclical Humanae Vitae, Brehany said.<\/p>\n
In that period of time before the institute was founded, there had been much apology for and regret over Church teaching, he said. The institute \u201cwas a confident, very constructive approach to understanding and sharing the teachings of the Church on marriage and the family.\u201d<\/p>\n
Dr. Mark Latkovic, a professor of moral theology at Sacred Heart Major Seminary in Detroit, was in the original graduating class of the D.C. campus.<\/p>\n
As the campus was founded in 1988, only several years after the founding of the Pontifical Institute in Rome, it attracted world-class theologians \u2013 something that did not go unnoticed by prospective students.<\/p>\n
Some of the early faculty and lecturers included renowned scholars like William May, a moral theologian who had renounced his original dissent from Humanae Vitae; Scripture scholar Fr. Francis Martin; philosophy professor Ralph McInerny; then-president of the Rome Institute and future-Cardinal Carlo Caffara; and theologian Fr. Benedict Ashley, OP.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe faculty who were there in those first years were top-notch,\u201d Brehany recalled, adding that the rigorous curriculum gave him a solid foundation for when he later pursued his Ph.D. in health care ethics at St. Louis University.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think it was the highest-quality education I received anywhere,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
In 1988, Latkovic had just received his Master\u2019s degree at Catholic University and was preparing to study for his Ph.D. there when he received mail from the new John Paul II Institute, which was about to begin enrolling students.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe faculty they had assembled was probably the best faculty you could ever have in one place in the world. There\u2019s no way I could have gotten this faculty if I went to Oxford, or I went to Notre Dame,\u201d he said. \u00a0<\/p>\n
Latkovic felt called to attend the institute and took a \u201cleap of faith,\u201d joining the first graduating class. He studied under Fr. Ashley for two years as a graduate assistant, earning his S.T.L. in 1990. The Knights of Columbus covered his tuition.<\/p>\n
\u201cI never met a man like him before,\u201d Latkovic said of his teacher, the late Fr. Ashley, \u201cconversing with modern science inside-out. And so we were constantly in the classroom engaging current theories in science, sociology. He was literally an encyclopedia, an encyclopedia of knowledge.\u201d<\/p>\n
Brehany agreed that Fr. Ashley was a transformative teacher. \u201cHe did a lot of work in essentially understanding what was going on in modern science, acknowledging a lot of the data, but interpreting that data in light of a sound philosophy and faith,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
When Fr. Riccardo attended the institute several years later, May and Fr. Martin were still on the faculty, along with Dr. Kenneth Schmitz, Jill Atkinson, and David Schindler, Sr.<\/p>\n
They were \u201cpeople that really transformed my mind,\u201d he said. \u201cThey really solidified everything in my life that I understood in a way that I think I\u2019d never understood before, why God\u2019s plan for happiness, for the human person, just makes sense.\u201d<\/p>\n
Although the faculty were all faithful to Church teaching and to the mission of the institute, there was a positive diversity of opinions among them, the alumni said, which contributed to rich discussions and debates.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe were exposed to so many different viewpoints,\u201d Latkovic said, of Dominicans and Jesuits, of New Natural Law theorists and traditional Thomists. \u201cThere was just great dialogue and conversations across different disciplines.\u201d<\/p>\n
The original curriculum of the institute was quite theology-heavy, alumni said, and yet from the standpoint of Catholic theology and anthropology, they engaged with many current theories and arguments in the sciences.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe institute was always very theological, and always very scientific in its approach to these disciplines,\u201d Latkovic said. \u201cThere was very much a broad spirit, an openness to so many currents of thought,\u201d he said, \u201cand I don\u2019t see how the institute could have been anything less, because John Paul II himself was a Thomist and a phenomenologist.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThere were a number of disciplines that surrounded the topic of marriage and family, but it was all oriented to engaging the world,\u201d Brehany said.<\/p>\n
Fr. Riccardo said that in his time at the institute, the curriculum dealt with the practical issues that prepared him for a life of ministry.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Scripture is never abstract. And moral theology, quite frankly, is not abstract,\u201d he said. \u201cI would not describe what we got there, by any stretch of the imagination, as abstract. It was one of those things where I couldn\u2019t wait to first apply this to my own life, and then to run to tell others.\u201d<\/p>\n
Fr. Ashley in particular led his students to engage with many different scientific texts.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe were reading sociology,\u201d Latkovic said, \u201cwe were reading modern scientists, we were reading different people, Christian, non-Christian, Protestant,\u201d but always \u201cthrough the lens of the Catholic tradition, St. John Paul II\u2019s theology, and so on.\u201d<\/p>\n
That experience helped Latkovic develop a course on technology while teaching at seminary, something he probably would not have done without his prior education from Fr. Ashley, he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe had a deep interest in science, and a variety of fields in science,\u201d Brehany said. \u201cHe was very much rooted in the world of many practical issues.\u201d<\/p>\n
It was all in the spirit of \u201cengaging modernity, engaging the culture,\u201d Latkovic said, which he has carried with him into his teaching at Sacred Heart seminary today, \u201ctrying to see the good fruits, the good things that are out there.\u201d<\/p>\n
The institute prepared its first students to evangelize the society they lived in, yet many of the social problems in the years after Familiaris Consortio and the foundation of the institute are still present today.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think that the John Paul II Institute as founded, it seems to me that the vision and goals are even more relevant today than when they came into being,\u201d Brehany said.<\/p>\n
The original mission of the institute is still needed, he said, \u201ca confidence that the teachings of the Church are true and well-founded, a constructive approach to appreciating them more, and taking that understanding out, taking that faith out in a very constructive manner, and doing it with excellence.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe whole legacy of the program is giving us the tools, the way of thinking properly\u201d to face current-day problems, Latkovic said. \u201cI don\u2019t see John Paul II\u2019s thought being limited to one particular era.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve had troubled families, we\u2019ve had to administer pastoral care to families for centuries. Not much has changed there. But I see John Paul II\u2019s thought as part of the perennial philosophy,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Alumni of the institute now teaching bioethics and moral theology, or ministering to married couples or living in religious life, have counted the deep theological curriculum, the professors, and their engagement with contemporary issues as formation for their respective vocations.<\/p>\n
\u201cI did feel prepared intellectually to engage with anybody,\u201d Brehany said, but \u201cthe spirit was to do it constructively\u201d without apologizing for the Church\u2019s teachings.<\/p>\n
Fr. Riccardo draws upon his time at the institute in his priestly ministry.<\/p>\n
\u201cI can still remember a day really studying and praying with John Paul\u2019s words,\u201d he recalled. \u201cI literally felt like my spine got strong, as I was just praying with truth, and understanding what it is the Scriptures are revealing and what God\u2019s plan is,\u201d he said. \u201cI just felt like the Lord started to heal me in all sorts of areas of my life\u201d<\/p>\n
That has carried over into his ministry to others. \u201cI\u2019ve just seen example after example after example of marriages that have been healed, simply because of what I got there [at the institute] and what I\u2019ve been able to pass on.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mother M. Maximilia Um, F.S.G.M., provincial superior of the Franciscans of the Martyr St. George, earned a Masters in Theological Studies (M.T.S.) at the institute from 2003-05. The institute taught her about the human person and relationships, which she says helps her in her vocation as a mother superior.<\/p>\n
It also helped her foster a contemplative outlook on life, she said. She recalled the words of her professor David L. Schindler as he spoke to the new class on why they were at the institute.<\/p>\n
They were there to \u201cbecome more fully and radically human,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n
![](\"https:\/\/feeds.feedburner.com\/~ff\/catholicnewsagency\/dailynews?d=yIl2AUoC8zA\")
<\/a>\n<\/div>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/feeds.feedburner.com\/~r\/catholicnewsagency\/dailynews\/~4\/4tnVAr4k6VY\")
<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Washington D.C., Sep 21, 2017 \/ 04:27 pm (CNA).- Alumni of the early years of the Washington, D.C. “session” of the Pontifical John Paul II Institute for Studies on Marriage and Family say it gave them a strong formation for the New Evangel…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1031,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-22127","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-us"],"yoast_head":"\n
How the JPII Institute helped alumni 'become more fully and radically human'<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Washington D.C., Sep 21, 2017 \/ 04:27 pm (CNA).- Alumni of the early years of the Washington, D.C. “session” of the Pontifical John Paul II Institute for Studies on Marriage and Family say it gave them a strong formation for the New Evangel...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2017\/09\/how-the-jpii-institute-helped-alumni-become-more-fully-and-radically-human\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"How the JPII Institute helped alumni 'become more fully and radically human'\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Washington D.C., Sep 21, 2017 \/ 04:27 pm (CNA).- Alumni of the early years of the Washington, D.C. “session” of the Pontifical John Paul II Institute for Studies on Marriage and Family say it gave them a strong formation for the New Evangel...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2017\/09\/how-the-jpii-institute-helped-alumni-become-more-fully-and-radically-human\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Catholic News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2017-09-21T22:27:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/www.catholicnewsagency.com\/images\/Photo_by_Tim_Marshall_on_Unsplash_CNA.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"CNA Daily News\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"CNA Daily News\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"10 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2017\/09\/how-the-jpii-institute-helped-alumni-become-more-fully-and-radically-human\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2017\/09\/how-the-jpii-institute-helped-alumni-become-more-fully-and-radically-human\/\",\"name\":\"How the JPII Institute helped alumni 'become more fully and radically human'\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2017-09-21T22:27:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2017-09-21T22:27:00+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/#\/schema\/person\/35d4bd7addc580050842c844a11575f1\"},\"description\":\"Washington D.C., Sep 21, 2017 \/ 04:27 pm (CNA).- Alumni of the early years of the Washington, D.C. “session” of the Pontifical John Paul II Institute for Studies on Marriage and Family say it gave them a strong formation for the New Evangel...\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2017\/09\/how-the-jpii-institute-helped-alumni-become-more-fully-and-radically-human\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2017\/09\/how-the-jpii-institute-helped-alumni-become-more-fully-and-radically-human\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2017\/09\/how-the-jpii-institute-helped-alumni-become-more-fully-and-radically-human\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"How the JPII Institute helped alumni ‘become more fully and radically human’\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/\",\"name\":\"Catholic News\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/#\/schema\/person\/35d4bd7addc580050842c844a11575f1\",\"name\":\"CNA Daily News\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8f1180c7dca7995d4a997aac72a3a88a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8f1180c7dca7995d4a997aac72a3a88a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"CNA Daily News\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\/\/www.catholicnewsagency.com\/\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/author\/cna-daily-news\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"How the JPII Institute helped alumni 'become more fully and radically human'","description":"Washington D.C., Sep 21, 2017 \/ 04:27 pm (CNA).- Alumni of the early years of the Washington, D.C. “session” of the Pontifical John Paul II Institute for Studies on Marriage and Family say it gave them a strong formation for the New Evangel...","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2017\/09\/how-the-jpii-institute-helped-alumni-become-more-fully-and-radically-human\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"How the JPII Institute helped alumni 'become more fully and radically human'","og_description":"Washington D.C., Sep 21, 2017 \/ 04:27 pm (CNA).- Alumni of the early years of the Washington, D.C. “session” of the Pontifical John Paul II Institute for Studies on Marriage and Family say it gave them a strong formation for the New Evangel...","og_url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2017\/09\/how-the-jpii-institute-helped-alumni-become-more-fully-and-radically-human\/","og_site_name":"Catholic News","article_published_time":"2017-09-21T22:27:00+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"http:\/\/www.catholicnewsagency.com\/images\/Photo_by_Tim_Marshall_on_Unsplash_CNA.jpg"}],"author":"CNA Daily News","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"CNA Daily News","Est. reading time":"10 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2017\/09\/how-the-jpii-institute-helped-alumni-become-more-fully-and-radically-human\/","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2017\/09\/how-the-jpii-institute-helped-alumni-become-more-fully-and-radically-human\/","name":"How the JPII Institute helped alumni 'become more fully and radically human'","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/#website"},"datePublished":"2017-09-21T22:27:00+00:00","dateModified":"2017-09-21T22:27:00+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/#\/schema\/person\/35d4bd7addc580050842c844a11575f1"},"description":"Washington D.C., Sep 21, 2017 \/ 04:27 pm (CNA).- Alumni of the early years of the Washington, D.C. “session” of the Pontifical John Paul II Institute for Studies on Marriage and Family say it gave them a strong formation for the New Evangel...","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2017\/09\/how-the-jpii-institute-helped-alumni-become-more-fully-and-radically-human\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2017\/09\/how-the-jpii-institute-helped-alumni-become-more-fully-and-radically-human\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2017\/09\/how-the-jpii-institute-helped-alumni-become-more-fully-and-radically-human\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"How the JPII Institute helped alumni ‘become more fully and radically human’"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/","name":"Catholic News","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/#\/schema\/person\/35d4bd7addc580050842c844a11575f1","name":"CNA Daily News","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8f1180c7dca7995d4a997aac72a3a88a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8f1180c7dca7995d4a997aac72a3a88a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"CNA Daily News"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/www.catholicnewsagency.com\/"],"url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/author\/cna-daily-news\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22127","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1031"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=22127"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22127\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22127"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=22127"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=22127"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![](\"https:\/\/www.catholicnewsagency.com\/images\/Photo_by_Tim_Marshall_on_Unsplash_CNA.jpg\")
<\/p>\n