Here are the ten greatest Catholic intellectuals in American history... [Catholic Caucus]

Ignatius Scoop.com ^ | 10-11-11 | Tom Hoopes,

[Salvation]

Here are the ten greatest Catholic intellectuals in American history...

... according to a survey of "top Catholic commentators, editors and scholars" conducted by Benedictine College's Gregorian Institute. Tom Hoopes, Vice President of College Relations and writer in residence at Benedictine College (Atchison, Kansas), writes:

 Since future categories in the Hall of Fame will recognize novelists and bishops of dioceses, nominees such as Flannery O'Connor and Archbishops James Gibbons and Charles Chaput are not included here. The work of those represented here mainly concerns the world of ideas and academic scholarship.

The Catholic Hall of Fame's Greatest American Catholic intellectuals, in the order of their birth:

   1. Orestes Brownson (1803–1876)
   2. John Courtney Murray (1904-1967)
   3. John Senior (1923-1999)
   4. Avery Dulles (1918-2008)
   5. James Schall (1928-)
   6. Ralph McInerny (1929-2010)
   7. Richard John Neuhaus (1936-2009)
   8. Mary Anne Glendon (1938-)
   9. George Weigel (1951-)
  10. Robert P. George (1955-)

The inspiration for the hall of fame is the mural at Benedictine College's St. Benedict's Hall. When students walk into our major academic building, they pass through a depiction of the greatest Catholics of all time in various disciplines painted on the walls.

Read the entire post on the Gregorian Institute's site. Funny to think that just this morning I was e-mailing with Fr. James Schall about some important issues related to an essay (as he writes often for Ignatius Insight) and college football (as he's a big fan). I've read essays and columns by all of these intellectuals, but have read most deeply from works by Cardinal Dulles, Fr. Schall, Fr. Neuhaus, Weigel, and George. However, I've been reading more of Brownson lately, and am continually impressed by his writing and thinking. And John Senior's book, The Restoration of Christian Culture, is a fantastic and challenging work.

Ignatius Press, of course, has published some books by Fr. Schall, Ralph McInerny's novel, The Red Hat, Avery Cardinal Dulles' excellent History of Apologetics, and also carries several books by George Weigel, the late Fr. Richard John Neuhaus, Mary Anne Glendon's Traditions in Turmoil, and Cardinal Dulles' Magisterium (the latter two published by Sapientia Press).

[Salvation]

And interesting list and it looks like more are to come since this doesn't include some other clelrgy, etc.

[Salvation]

**Since future categories in the Hall of Fame will recognize novelists and bishops of dioceses, nominees such as Flannery O’Connor and Archbishops James Gibbons and Charles Chaput are not included here**

Catholic Ping!

[stevem]

He seemed to explain his theology via the interview process, but I always enjoyed reading William Buckley when he talked about ‘faith’ and his faith.

[Cicero]

Well, probably people can think of a few other candidates who might have been on the list.

But I think that all ten of those chosen are admirable.

[djrakowski]

It’s a pretty good list... but I’d add Fr. John Hardon.

[Salvation]

Definitely.

[Salvation]

But maybe Father John Hardon would be consider more a liturgist or catechist. What do you think?

[djrakowski]

Perhaps so... It depends, I suppose, on how one defends “intellectual.” I’d argue that there can be a significant degree of overlap between catechists and intellectuals.

[Tax-chick]

I think categorizing Fr. Hardon is up in the air. I’m not sure about Brownson - *such* a noodle. Scott Hahn, perhaps, although time will show how his output stands up to further analysis. Better than Brownson’s, I predict.

[stfassisi]

Dear Sister, this is a liberal list, to think that George Weigel is on this list and Fulton Sheen and many others are not proves it.

George Weigel does not belong!

[Salvation]

There was someone that JMJ333 was always posting too. A German name I think. It was when Lady in Blue first posted all the saint’s threads.

[Jo Nuvark]

Not G.K. Chesterton Ping!

Is it because he was an apologist?
An apologist can also be an intellectual.

I’m confused.

PLEASE CONTACT ME BY FREEPMAIL IF YOU
WISH TO BE ADDED OR REMOVED FROM THIS LIST.

[Salvation]

I think that Pope Benedict/Cardinal Ratzinger will come out as an intellectual and a catechist.

I would agree about Archbishop Fulton Sheen.

[Tax-chick]

Fr. Stanley Jaki, maybe? He was quite a thinker, in a quirky way. And what about Peter Kreeft?

[Tax-chick]

I would guess “not Chesterton” because he was “not American.” Just a thought ...

[stfassisi]

This whole list is not a good list.

Dulles and others and especially Neuhaus

[Salvation]

I’m glad you pinged me — in American history. Would that be why G. K. is not here?

[Salvation]

G.K. Chesterton was born in Kensington, London on May 29, 1874.

[stfassisi]

Where on this list is Aquinas ,Chrysostom, Asssisi, etc...

[iowamark]

“1. Orestes Brownson (1803–1876)
New England public-spirited intellectual. “Catholics are better fitted by their religion to comprehend the real character of the American constitution than any other class of Americans.” Calvinist convert to Universalism and then Catholicism.

2. John Courtney Murray (1904-1967)
New York Jesuit theologian. “America has raised the standard of living to historically unknown heights. …We have multiplied our needs endlessly and thereby multiplied our sorrows.”

3. John Senior (1923-1999)
Columbia University student of Mark Van Doren whose University of Kansas great books program “made converts without proselytizing.” Kansas’ state motto “To the stars, through difficulty” inspired him.

4. Avery Dulles (1918-2008)
Convert Jesuit theologian and cardinal, son of John Foster Dulles. Warning against “excessive and indiscreet accommodation,” he said, “Catholicism will be well-advised to cultivate a measured, prudent counterculturalism.”

5. James Schall (1928-)
Prolific Jesuit political philosopher. “No one will seek the highest [things] if he believes that there is no truth, that nothing is his fault, and that government will guarantee his wants.”

6. Ralph McInerny (1929-2010)
Notre Dame philosophy professor, novelist, poet and translator of Aquinas. Said McInerny: “It is the writing, producing a well-made story, that counts. All the rest is gravy.”

7. Richard John Neuhaus (1936-2009)
Canadian-Texan public-spirited intellectual. “Once religion is reduced to nothing more than privatized conscience, the public square has only two actors in it — the state and the individual.”

8. Mary Anne Glendon (1938-)
Harvard law professor, Vatican ambassador. “All who are ... committed to the advancement of women can and must offer a woman or a girl who is pregnant, frightened, and alone a better alternative than the destruction of her own unborn child.”

9. George Weigel (1951-)
Papal biographer, public-spirited intellectual. “Ideas are not intellectuals’ toys: ideas have consequences, for good and for ill, in what even intellectuals sometimes call ‘the real world.’”

10. Robert P. George (1955-)
Princeton jurisprudence professor. “The impulse to redefine marriage in order to recognize same-sex and multiple partner relationships is a symptom, rather than the cause, of the erosion of the marriage culture.””