Remembering the life and mission, this week, of David L. Schindler, the defining Patriarch of the Catholic Church of the USA of my adulthood (1970-2022), has led me to ponder: who are the decisive Patriarchs, Doctors, Fathers of my time? Who has affirmed, protected, modeled, and acclaimed our faith in our time with paternal authority, clarity, certainty, intensity, vigor and efficacy? My list:
(Don't get nervous, dear Reader, there are no women here; but a separate list is forthcoming. I keep men and women in distinct arenas, just like in swimming, track, wrestling and ice hockey.)
1. David L. Schindler. The American "communio" family he fathered flourishes in the Washington D.C. at the Institute and Journal with a breathtaking richness of erudition, holiness, and contagious- mimetic spiritual-intellectual synergy in the tradition of John Paul, Benedict and Balthasar..
2. Cardinal Avery Dulles. Unequaled for the breath, depth, clarity and Catholic fidelity of his learning, he was a humble, gentle, shy man who started no school of his own. In the 1970s-80s he stood virtually alone against theological fashion in his allegiance to the Church. He influenced many by his teaching and writing. In the Evangelical-Catholic dialogue, as well as his challenge to the Dallas Charter on behalf of priests, he passed his cloak on to Monsignor Tom Guarino of Seton Hall.
3. Ralph Martin and leaders of the Charismatic Renewal. This is a personal, subjective preference of mine since I was so influenced by this movement. Martin, was, of course, one of many influential leaders under the influence of the Holy Spirit: Steve Clark, the Ranaghans, Fr. Michael Scanlon, Fr. Jim Ferry of NJ, Cardinal Suenens, and theologians Fr. Francis Martin, Fr. George Montague and countless others. Martin is distinctive in his move beyond the renewal into an aggressive evangelical mission, a practical theology of the saints, and his articulation of a classic Evangelical-Catholic theology that is John-Paul-friendly but with a sharper edge.
4. Giuseppe Gennarini. With his wife Claudia, Giuseppe brought the Neocatechumenal Way to the United States and has guided it's growth with a sage, firm, unwavering, wise hand.
5. Gil Baile. In his magnificent God's Gamble, this brilliant lawyer-turned-theologian synthesizes insights from the three most innovative, significant Catholic minds of the 20th century: his mentor Rene Girard, John Paul and Balthasar.
6. Monsignor Lorenzo Albacete. An influential leader of Communion and Liberation in the USSA, he is a delightful genius, eccentric, maverick, and influential disciple of Monsignor Giussani.
7. Paul Vitz and Fr. Benedict Groeschel. In distinctive ways, these two Catholic psychologists enriched our faith with the best findings of that science.
8. Bishop Barron, Archbishop Chaput, and Cardinals O'Connor, Burke and George. The most intelligent, clear, orthodox voices of the American hierarchy of the last half century.
9. Neuhaus, Novak, Weigel, Reno and "Neo-Conservative" leaders associated with First Things, as well as Fr. Fessio S.J. of Ignatius Press, Robert Royal of The Catholic Thing, Raymond Arroyo of EWTN and that school of mainstream American Catholic conservatism. While I share Schindler's reservations about their positive evaluation of American culture and capitalism, their thinking was always incisive, Catholicly orthodox, powerfully influential, erudite, and defiant of the dominant cultural liberalism.
10. Scott Hahn has drawn a remarkable legion of Evangelicals into the Church and developed a theology that is profoundly scriptural and Catholic. His is a distinctive contribution.
Special Mention
Currently we are witnessing the emergence of a younger generation of Catholic thinkers and activists, critical of the entire "liberal order" and articulating a refreshingly new vision that is economically populist (pro-labor, pro-New-Deal) and culturally conservative. They represent a variety of views and are called post-liberals, national conservatives, integralists, the New Right, and others. Examples: Douthat, Ahmari, Vance, Dineen, Pecknold, Vermule, Waldstein, D.C. Schindler, and others. They are too new and young to be full fledged patriarchs but they are most promising.
Roy K. is probably not Catholic and I know little about him except that by founding Sexaholics Anonymous (S.A.) in the 1980s he did for sex addicts what Bill W. and Doctor Bob did in the 1930s for alcoholics: offered a program of connection, accountability and recovery from isolation, shame and compulsivity. It mirrors the demanding, ennobling, "high bar" sexual ethos of the Church. Would that this hopeful program was known and available to the generation of predator priests who violated the young and ravaged our Church just as it was beginning. It is a promising path now for a younger generation plagued by pornography.
Finally I must honor, closer to home, men who mentored me personally and lived as patriarchs in a modest, local manner. My Dad, Ray Laracy, a tremendous father and role model. Pat Williams, mentor/friend in my college years ,librarian, autodidact, prize fighter, marine, family man, catechist. Ivan Illich who gave me a vision of Catholicism as mystical, radical, iconoclastic, creative, countercultural, erudite, sophisticated and yet deeply traditional. John Rapinich, contemplative and artist, my best friend and little-big-brother. Jesuit spiritual guides Joe Whelan, Neil Dougherty, John Wrynn. My "big-brother" friends Brother Ray Murphy and Meryl Jacobson.
We are blessed to stand on the shoulders of giants!
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