2013 - “The Origins of Vatican II”
2013 - “The Origins of Vatican II”
Wednesday, April 24, 2013
Hesburgh Library, Carey Auditorium
His Eminence Walter Cardinal Kasper, President Emeritus of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, was invited to give the 2013 Keeley Vatican Lecture. He delivered a lecture entitled “The Origins of Vatican II.”
The Council for Promoting Christian Unity guides and serves the ecumenical activities of the Catholic Church, holds international theological dialogues with other Christian denominations, and is also responsible for Catholic-Jewish relations. Pope Francis specifically commended the theological work of Cardinal Kasper at his first Angelus message, noting that, “(i)n these days, I have been able to read a book by a cardinal — Cardinal Kasper, a talented theologian, a good theologian — on mercy. And it did me such good, that book.”
Born in Heidenheim, Germany, in 1933, Kasper was ordained to the priesthood in 1957. He studied at the University of Tübingen where he later became professor of dogmatic theology. He also taught at the Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C., in 1983. Cardinal Kasper served as bishop of Rottenburg-Stuttgart from 1989 until his 1999 appointment as secretary of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity. Pope John Paul II elevated him to cardinal and appointed him president of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity in 2001. The Council for Promoting Christian Unity guides and serves the ecumenical activities of the Catholic Church, holds international theological dialogues with other Christian denominations, and is also responsible for Catholic-Jewish relations. As president of the council, Kasper was also the president for the Commission for Religious Relations with the Jews. He retired as president of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity in 2010.
The annual Terrence R. Keeley Vatican Lecture provides the Notre Dame community with the opportunity to interact with distinguished representatives from the Holy See and significant dioceses of Europe. Past lecturers have included Cardinal Angelo Amato, Archbishop Charles J. Brown and Cardinal Reinhard Marx.