Summer Conferences

Dr. Scott Hahn, the bestselling author of numerous books, presented a talk on the uniquely-Christian understanding of God as Father, “from whom all fatherhood in heaven and on earth is named” (Eph. 3:15). He explained the connection between Divine and human fatherhood, emphasizing that true fatherhood is “more theological than biological.” “Why are we here? To raise Godly families. But we can’t do...

Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone, the Archbishop of San Francisco, gave a homily on the modern attack on marriage and the steps we can take to combat it, reflecting on readings from the Mass of the Holy Family. “We profess to be Christians; our family life must look different from those who do not have faith.  And we do so precisely because we live according to this high call of virtue and mutual r...

Mary Beth Bonacci, an internationally recognized speaker, gave a talk on the importance of true love and the differences between how men and women express love. “The abuse of the word ‘love’ has grown so much worse. We conflate attraction and desire with love, and now, we conflate agreement with love, and conversely, disagreement with hate. We urgently need to figure out what real love it, what it...

Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone, the Archbishop of San Fransisco, gave a talk in which he encouraged the laity to transform our culture by living out God’s plan for marriage. “It is no surprise that, yes, we do have a lot to fix in our society.  A society of justice, peace, and prosperity for all–these are the fruits of a society with a strong culture of marriage and the family. So let us steel ou...

Dr. Timothy O’Donnell, the author of Heart of the Redeemer and Swords Around the Cross: The Nine Years War , presented a talk on the essential role of the family as a Domestic Church. He explained how the fight for our culture is rooted in our understanding of the family. “The key to the Church’s teaching on marriage and family and its role in society lies in the family’s identity as a Church in m...

Mary Stanford, a theology professor at Christendom College, reflects on four points which Adam, the first man, discovered in the Garden of Eden about the nature of the human person and God’s plan for marriage. “Without a generous giver and trusting receiver, there can be no gift. Without gift, there can be no love. And without an environment of love, human persons start to lose their humanity. Our...

The speakers of the Summer Conference on Restoring the Divine Plan for Marriage and the Family hold a question-and-answer session.

Dr. Scott Hahn, the author or editor of over forty books, including best-selling works The Lamb’s Supper , Reasons to Believe , and Answering the New Atheism , spoke on the need to renew a covenant with God through encountering Christ in the New Testament. Pointing out that a “massive amnesia has soaked into our age,” Hahn argued that all Christians must restore their “deep memory” again by truly...

Patrick Madrid discusses how to explain and defend the choice to be Catholic, as well as how to answer difficult questions about the faith. He emphasizes the importance of maintaining perspective, pointing out that apologetics is the art of winning souls.  Patrick Madrid is an American Catholic author, radio host, apologist, the host of several EWTN television and radio series, and was the publish...

Professor McGuire tackles the topic of John Henry Newman, a colossal figure of the 19th century world. The prolific writings of John Henry Newman offers timely insights that can be applied to the New Evangelization.  Professor Brendan McGuire, Ph. D., is a Catholic historian specializing in the classical and medieval periods.  He received his doctoral degree in medieval history from Saint Louis Un...

Closing the conference, popular EWTN host, author, and conference emcee Marcus Grodi gave practical advice to attendees on how to look at the science of conversion itself, and how to form a strategy of dialogue to help bring fallen-away Catholics, and Protestants, to the beauty of the Catholic Church. “In my own journey, as I was growing closer to the Catholic Church, I realized that there was mor...

Dr. O'Donnell discusses the importance of evangelization in the midst of adversity. He reflects on the apostolic exhortation Evangelii Gaudium, and what it means to encounter Christ.   Dr. O’Donnell is the president of Christendom College, where he also teaches courses in history and theology. He was the first layman to receive both his licentiate and doctoral degrees in Ascetical and Mystical The...

Dr. R.J. Matava, who was previously a Liddon Fellow at Oxford’s Keble College, presented a talk titled “Conversion and Apologetics: Personal Vocation as a Key to the New Evangelization.” Positing that holiness of life is essential for apologetics, Matava treated the nature of apologetics through a theological and historical lens, looking at what it needs to be effective within the New Evangelizati...

Professor Brendan McGuire, Ph. D., is a Catholic historian, specializing in the classical and medieval periods.  He received his doctoral degree in medieval history from Saint Louis University, and in recent years has presented scholarly research on various historical topics at prestigious regional, national, and international conferences.  He has taught both history and classical languages at the...

Dr. Christopher Shannon, author of the highly acclaimed Bowery to Broadway , examined the historical approach of Jean Daniélou and Henri de Lubac. Shannon said that by placing the saints alongside the great political leaders of history, the saints, as types of Christ, would bring an organizing structure. “[According to Daniélou and de Lubac,] what we should be looking for in history is Jesus Chris...

Dr. Thomas Madden, whose expertise has been sought by The New York Times , Washington Post , Wall Street Journal , USA Today , NPR , and The History Channel , delivered a talk entitled “Rethinking Holy War: The Crusades and Catholic Devotion in the Middle Ages.” Madden exposed many contemporary misunderstandings of the Crusades as uneducated and lacking in any real evidence. Madden posited that in...

Dr. Adam Schwartz, whose great academic work, The Third Spring , was recently republished, discussed the theologies of history in G. K. Chesterton and the poet David Jones. “They believed that Christianity united philosophy and mythology for the first time,” Schwartz said. “Whereas in the ancient world, myth and religion were considered one thing and philosophy quite another . . . Christianity rhy...

On July 13, Christendom College hosted a one-day conference on Catholic history, featuring prominent historians from across the country. Over 230 attendees were given a Catholic perspective on topics that ranged from the Crusades to ecumenism with the Eastern churches.

Dr. Timothy O’Donnell, the author of Heart of the Redeemer and Swords Around the Cross: The Nine Years War , presented a talk entitled “Why History?: The Church’s View.” O’Donnell explained the importance that the Church has placed on the study of history and how in recent years the field has suffered from “a crisis of faith.” In the second part of his talk, O’Donnell described the thought of Dr....

Author and historian Dr. Brad S. Gregory discussed history as the “handmaiden of theology.” Gregory argued that while avoiding a Catholic confessional history, one might still serve a Catholic vision of history and reach those in academia who may be antagonistic toward Catholicism. “Because people are not likely to change their basic commitments unless there is something the matter with their own,...

Christendom College held a one-day conference on Catholic bioethics featuring renowned speakers including Francis Cardinal Arinze, Bishop Robert Morlino, Dr. Janet Smith, and Rev. Tadeusz Pacholczyk. The conference, held on July 9, 2012, drew close to 300 attendees who enjoyed presentations on the full range of life issues–from reproductive health to embryonic stem cell research. Francis Cardinal...

Christendom College held a one-day conference on Catholic bioethics featuring renowned speakers including Francis Cardinal Arinze, Bishop Robert Morlino, Dr. Janet Smith, and Rev. Tadeusz Pacholczyk. The conference, held on July 9, 2012, drew close to 300 attendees who enjoyed presentations on the full range of life issues–from reproductive health to embryonic stem cell research. Dr. Janet Smith h...

Christendom College held a one-day conference on Catholic bioethics featuring renowned speakers including Francis Cardinal Arinze, Bishop Robert Morlino, Dr. Janet Smith, and Rev. Tadeusz Pacholczyk.  The conference, held on July 9, drew close to 300 attendees who enjoyed presentations on the full range of life issues – from reproductive health to embryonic stem cell research. Following Smith’s ta...

Christendom College held a one-day conference on Catholic bioethics featuring renowned speakers including Francis Cardinal Arinze, Bishop Robert Morlino, Dr. Janet Smith, and Rev. Tadeusz Pacholczyk. The conference, held on July 9, 2012, drew close to 300 attendees who enjoyed presentations on the full range of life issues–from reproductive health to embryonic stem cell research. Bringing the conf...

Dr. O'Donnell moderates a question-and-answer session at the Catholic Teaching on Bioethics Summer Conference. Christendom College held a one-day conference on Catholic bioethics featuring renowned speakers including Francis Cardinal Arinze, Bishop Robert Morlino, Dr. Janet Smith, and Rev. Tadeusz Pacholczyk.  The conference, held on July 9, drew close to 300 attendees who enjoyed presentations on...