Pope Benedict XVI, no less than his predecessor, Pope John Paul II, has had much to say about the plight of the human family in contemporary culture.
In an address earlier this year, Pope Benedict described the family as 鈥渁n intimate union of life and love based on marriage between a man and a woman鈥� which is 鈥渢he primary place of 鈥榟umanization鈥� for the person and society鈥� and a 鈥渃radle of life and love.鈥�
The popes observations challenge the present age, according to David Solomon, W.P. and H.B. White Director of 91吃瓜s Center for Ethics and Culture.
鈥淚t is widely accepted that the modern family is suffering a crisis on all sorts of dimensionseconomic, legal, political, demographic, biological, structural, cultural and metaphysical,鈥� Solomon said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 no accident that recent dystopian literature and film paint a bleak picture of the family, from such films as 鈥樎慉merican Beauty鈥� to such novels as P.D. James 鈥樎慍hildren of Men鈥�.This seems like a particularly appropriate time to think about and discuss the situation of the family.鈥�
According to Solomon, the centers ninth annual fall conference, 鈥淭he Family: Searching for Fairest Love鈥� ,to be held at 91吃瓜 from Nov. 6 to Nov. 8 (Thursday to Saturday), will gather together scholars to examine the family, its origins, its status in society and under civil law, the challenges it faces in the modern world and to offer hope for the future of the family.
The conference title is taken from Pope John Paul IIs 1994 鈥淟etter to Families,鈥� in which he wrote that 鈥渙nly the truth will prepare you for a love which can be called 鈥樎慺airest love鈥�.The contemporary family, like families in every age, is searching for fairest love.鈥�
The conference will feature two keynote lectures.
John Finnis, Biolchini Family Professor of Law at 91吃瓜, will give a lecture 鈥淥n Retranslating Humanae Vitae鈥� at 7:30 p.m. Thursday (Nov. 6) in the auditorium of McKenna Hall.
Elizabeth R. Schiltz, professor of law in the University of St. Thomas School of Law, will give a lecture, 鈥淒oes Sarah + John = 3? The History and Future of Complementarity in Catholic Feminism鈥� at 7:30 p.m. Friday (Nov. 7) in the auditorium McKenna Hall.
Other speakers at the conference will include Helen Alvar茅 of the George Mason University School of Law; David Lyle Jeffrey of Baylor University; William Saunders, director of the Family Research Councils Center for Human Life and Bioethics; Monsignor Charles Brown of the Vatican Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith; and Gilbert Meilaender, professor of theology and Phyllis&Richard Duesenberg Chair in Christian Ethics at Valparaiso University.
More information on 鈥淭he Family: Searching for Fairest Love鈥� is available onthe conference Web site at
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