His Eminence Gerhard Cardinal Müller – former Prefect of the Congregation (now Dicastery) of the Faith delivered the Fall 2024 Mind & Heart Lecture on Monday, September 23 to a full Saint Joseph Chapel.
Before 300 people present to welcome him, the Cardinal delivered a lecture entitled “The Significance of Theology for the Church and the University”. Positing theology as a specific science that is historical, speculative, and practical, the Cardinal stressed that “if theology wants to do justice to its task, it cannot limit itself to a simple discourse on faith, or to a mere explanation of church doctrine.” “Without an academic and thus scientific theology”, said the Cardinal, “the challenges of digitalization, globalization, the technological revolution and the associated change in mentality in the younger generation, can never be met. Theology must prepare a new Christian humanism.”
This historic evening for the College began with a choral performance by The Saint Hildegard Project of Abendlied by German composer Josef Rheinberger. Following the Cardinal’s remarks, Dr. Dianne Barlas – Vice President for Mission & Ministry of Holy Cross College – shared concluding remarks that both expressed gratitude for the Cardinal’s presence and expounded on his lecture.
This Fall’s Mind & Heart Lecture was co-sponsored by Saint Augustine’s Press and Emmaus Academic (Saint Paul Center for Biblical Theology). The Cardinal’s newest book, True and False Reform: What it Means to Be Catholic, is published by Emmaus Academic and was available for sale following the lecture. The Cardinal was present at the post-lecture reception signing many books and speaking with attendees.
Unique to this year’s Mind & Heart Lecture was the College’s collaboration with the Aquinas at 800 Conference at the University of Notre Dame. Many conference attendees from the University came to Holy Cross College to listen to the Cardinal’s lecture, and they were welcomed in a special way by Dr. Marco J. Clark, President of Holy Cross College. “Your gathering is important for the global Church that is experiencing a renewal of Thomistic studies.”, spoke Clark, “May this renewal continue so that both the Church and the world might, in the words of Pope Leo XIII, be heated ‘with the warmth of Saint Thomas’ virtues and filled with the splendor of his teaching.’”
About Gerhard Cardinal Müller:
Gerhard Cardinal Müller was prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith from 2012 to 2017, during which time he also served as president of the Pontifical Biblical Commission, the International Theological Commission, and the Pontifical Commission Ecclesia Dei. Previously professor of dogmatics at the University of Munich from 1986 until 2002, Müller was appointed bishop of Regensberg, Germany, in 2002 by Pope John Paul II, later being elevated to archbishop in 2012 by Pope Benedict XVI and to cardinal in 2014 by Pope Francis. Prior to his appointment as prefect, Müller was chairman of the ecumenical commission of the German Bishops’ Conference, and he also served on the Pontifical Council for Culture, the Congregation for Catholic Education, and the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity. After his retirement in 2017, Müller was appointed a member of the Apostolic signatura by Pope Francis in 2021. The author of more than six hundred works on various topics, including dogmatic theology, revelation, ecumenism, and the diaconate, Müller is also the editor of The Complete Works of Joseph Ratzinger—Pope Benedict XVI in sixteen volumes at Verlag Herder.
About The Saint Paul Center for Biblical Theology:
The St. Paul Center is a nonprofit research and educational institute that promotes life-transforming Scripture study from the heart of the Church. The Center serves clergy and laity, students and scholars, with research and study tools— from books and publications to multimedia and online programming. Our goal is to be a teacher of teachers. We want to raise up a new generation of priests who are fluent in the Bible and lay people who are biblically literate. For us, this means more than helping people to know their way around the Bible. It means equipping them to enter into the heart of the living Word of God and to be transformed and renewed by this encounter.
About Saint Augustine’s Press:
Founded in 1996, St. Augustine’s Press represents the enduring effort to reconcile citizenship and conscience, and, always, the mind and the heart. Since then, St. Augustine’s Press has matured into an intellectual and cultural authority, introducing readers to the works of notable guides such as James V. Schall, Peter Kreeft, Ralph McInerny, Charles Rice, Stanley Rosen, Marvin O’Connell, and John Deely––among many others. They have brought the classics of Aquinas, Aristotle, and other masters back to life in new editions. Readers also find luminaries from abroad: Remi Brague, Rene Girard, Pierre Manent, Jean-Luc Marion, Roger Scruton, Jeremy Black, Ryszard Legutko, Leszek Kolakowski, Gabriel Marcel, Winston Churchill, and countless more. In addition to philosophy, the Press highly values works of theology (including canon law), history, and literary commentary.