Veritas - Winter 2003 Newsletter

Congar Award Recipient Rev. Bryan Hehir Says “War Is Optional”

Rev. Bryan Hehir, President of Catholic Charities USA and pre-eminent Catholic theologian, addressed a capacity audience as he received the Yves Congar Award for Theological Excellence at the St. Thomas-St. Catherine Lecture on February 10, 2002. In presenting the Congar award, Fr. John Markey, OP, introduced Hehir as “probably the most significant religious leader in both church and secular circles…one of the great living theologians of our day.”

Rev. Hehir’s talk focused on three subjects involving the Catholic Church. First, the possibility of war with Iraq and whether traditional deterrence can work. Second, poverty in America and the possibility of collaboration between Church and government: “To be human is to accept bonds of responsibility toward others,” he said. Finally, the four-fold (moral, legal, administrative, and pastoral) effects of the sexual abuse crisis on the Church’s moral authority: “This crisis has produced ... a double erosion of trust” and “without trust ... ministry is almost impossible”, he said.

Hehir is the first Catholic to serve as dean of Harvard Theological School, from 1999-2002.