Christendom College Lectures

Acclaimed author and professor Dr. Anthony Esolen delivered a talk entitled “The Gift of Self: Modern Culture’s Impact on Love” to the students and faculty at Christendom College on October 24. The talk examined how modern society’s understanding of human love has destroyed all sense of mystery and imagination. A professor at Providence College, Esolen explained that society has reduced love to se...

Theologian Msgr. Andrew R. Wadsworth delivered a talk entitled “The Making of the Missal” to the students and faculty of Christendom College on September 19. Msgr. Wadsworth, the Executive Director of the International Commission on English in the Liturgy (ICEL), examined the role of the Commission in producing the new translation of the missal of the Roman Rite. At ICEL, Msgr. Wadsworth has worke...

On May 2, Barbara Nicolosi Harrington’s talk entitled “Why Hollywood Matters” explored the challenges facing Christians in the art of cinema and the art in churches. Harrington explains how the traditional philosophical definition of beauty is the combination of wholeness, harmony, and radiance. A professor at Pepperdine University, Nicolosi is the founder of Act One, an organization that seeks to...

A professor in the English Department at the University of Dallas and author of several books on Thomas More, Dr. Gerard Wegemer presented Thomas More as an example for all who strive to be a positive force in their families and country. It was More’s dedication to self-cultivation and the liberty of the human person that made him the great man that he was, Wegemer said.  More believed that the li...

Acclaimed author and speaker, George Weigel, delivered a lecture to students and faculty at Christendom’s Rome campus on March 7. The lecture, entitled “The Achievements of Blessed John Paul II,” was held in the Rome campus’ academic center, Istituto Maria Santissima Bambina, located directly next to the Vatican. He discussed the Pope’s formation as a young man in Poland and his journey to the pri...

On February 16, the members of Shield of Roses hosted a talk entitled “Understanding The Culture of Life,”by former president of Shield of Roses, Alumnus Andrew Bodoh (’07).  Bodoh explained how many pro-lifers have great ambitions and want to really go out in the world and make a difference, yet they aren’t the ones who are getting up on Saturday mornings and praying in front of the clinics—they...

Author and Professor of Literature Dr. Michael Mack delivered a lecture entitled “Hamlet: Shakespeare’s Mousetrap?” to students and faculty at Christendom College on February 7. The talk was the first in the College’s new Faith & Reason Lecture Series. In his lecture, Mack reveals how Shakespeare uses one of his most famous plays to cause the audience to examine their own conscience. In the pl...

Renowned Dominican priest and Thomistic philosopher, Reverend Lawrence Dewan, O.P., delivered a lecture entitled “Being a Disciple of St. Thomas Aquinas in the Pursuit of Wisdom” as the keynote speaker at Christendom College’s annual St. Thomas Aquinas Lecture on January 28, 2011. Fr. Dewan discusses how St. Thomas Aquinas serves as a witness to wisdom. A member of the Pontifical Academy of St. Th...

“There is only one reason to be Catholic—not because you love father’s homilies, not because they have great youth groups, not because the cutest girl in the world sits in that third pew—it’s because it’s true,” clinical psychologist and radio personality Dr. Ray Guarendi told students at Christendom College on November 8. “If it’s not true, get out of it. Go do what you want. But if it is true, i...

On November 4, Professor Mary Stanford gave a talk entitled “Life in the Single Years” to the Christendom College community. Discussing the single life as a vocation in her talk, she encourages young women to look at this time in their lives as a time of growth and preparation for the rest of their lives. Professor Mary Stanford received her Master of Theological Studies degree from the Pontifical...

On September 27, 2010, Frank Hanna gave his talk entitled “Defending the Faith, Defending the Word of God”, relating how he established the Mater Verbi /Hanna Papyrus Trust, which sought to acquire for the Vatican sections 14 and 15 of the Bodmer Papyrus from the Martin Bodmer Foundation. The Bodmer Papyrus is a set of papyri which were discovered in 1952 at Pabau, Egypt. Dating back to A.D. 175,...

Paul Voss’ talk, entitled “To Hell and Back: Catholicism, Liberal Arts, and Business Ethics,” explains how the wisdom and ethics of the Catholic intellectual tradition has the ability to shape the future of business for the better. Voss is the President of Ethikos, an ethics consulting group, and an Associate Professor at Georgia State University. A gifted public speaker and award-winning teacher,...

On March 2, the Christendom College Republican Leaders invited Bob Marshall and Kate Obenshain to speak to the students body. Obenshain remarked that truly conservative colleges like Christendom were a rarity and was enthused by what she experienced on campus. She encouraged students to run for office, citing a need for good conservative men and women, now more than ever.

On March 2, the Christendom College Republican Leaders invited Bob Marshall and Kate Obenshain to speak to the students body. Delegate Bob Marshall (R), representing Virginia’s 13th District since 1991, addressed students and reinforced Obenshain’s charge to be active in politics while sharing a number of personal experiences in politics.

Susan Conroy, author and friend to Blessed Teresa of Calcutta, gave an address to the students and faculty of Christendom College on Monday, February 15, 2010. Conroy made her first trip to Calcutta to work with Blessed Teresa and the Missionaries of Charity in 1986. In 1987, at the request of Blessed Teresa herself, Conroy stayed in the Order’s convent in the South Bronx, New York, in contemplati...

Fr. Daniel Gee delves into the depths of spiritual life which is part of married life.  Marriage is a journey of offering and acceptance, involving sacrifice.   

On November 19, Dr. Kurt Poterack, Adjunct Professor at Christendom College, delivered a talk entitled “The Uniqueness of Music in the Western Civilization”. Dr. Kurt Poterack is the Director of the Christendom College Choir and is the Schola Gregoriana Coordinator, Beato Fra Angelico Fine Arts Program. Specializing in Gregorian and Renaissance polyphony, he received both his M.A and Ph. D. from M...

Dr. Doug Flippen discusses the four types of Temperaments, how they effect our life, and what we can do to shape and correct the weakness of our temperament. 

Entrepreneur and former Swiss Guard Andreas Widmer delivered a talk entitled “Seven Things I Learned from Pope John Paul II on Being a Catholic Business Person” to students and faculty at Christendom College on October 5. Widmer served as a Pontifical Swiss Guard from 1986-1988, protecting Pope John Paul II. He is a co-founder of the SEVEN Fund, a non-profit organization that seeks to encourage en...

 Dr. Patrick Divietri refutes the idea that religion makes no difference in divorce rates in marriage. In reality, the statistics show that religion plays a significant role a happy and stable marital relationship. 

On May 24, Professor Mary Stanford gave a talk entitled “Friendship, Femininity & Fickleness” to the women of the Christendom community. She summarizes the essence of femininity by discussing the “3 Cs”—care, conversation, and community.  Professor Stanford explains how women should use their natural God-endowed gifts as strengths, rather than allow them to become weaknesses. Professor Stanfor...

Understanding finance is crucial to prepare for the future and achieve personal success.

“All my life I’ve heard spirited advocacy for the dialogue between the Church and the wider culture, but this call has come, almost exclusively, from the Church and not from the culture,” Fr. Robert Barron said in his talk entitled “From Correlation to Assimilation: A New Model for the Church-Culture Dialogue” given to the students and faculty of Christendom College on April 20. “It is this one-wa...

Fr. Ben. J. Cameron discusses the tragedy and grief abortion inflicts on women, and the process of healing. By understanding the emotional and psychological pain abortion causes, we are more able to support and help women who have had an abortion. 

Fr. Chris Pollard discusses the value and significance of activities done in silence. Certain intense activities, such as prayer, study, or hunting demands silence.