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A prominent Jesuit will speak on a papal document and how it affects Catholic higher education in the United States during two programs on Thursday, Feb. 17.
Charles Currie, SJ, president of the Association of Jesuit Colleges and Universities (AJCU), will discuss Ex Corde Ecclesiae, a church document on Catholic higher education, as well as the directions for implementation recently approved by the U.S. Catholic Bishops.
The Dean's Seminar, sponsored by the College of Arts and Sciences, will be held at 3:30 p.m. in the Pre Marquette Gallery in DuBourg Hall. All University faculty, staff and students are invited to attend. For more information, call Alison Fogarty at 977-2602.
"It is an honor to have Father Currie as our special guest speaker for the Dean's Seminar," said Dr. Shirley Dowdy, dean of the College of Arts and Sciences. "His discussion should be very informative and enlightening about the state of higher education in the Catholic, Jesuit tradition today."
Currie also will be the featured speaker at the Feb. 17 Soup with Substance program, speaking on the topic of, "What Does Ex Corde Mean to Us?" Soup is served at noon in the Argentum Room of Busch Memorial Center. For more information, call campus ministry at 977-2428.
Ex Corde Ecclesiae is the 1990 document in which Pope John Paul II emphasized the importance of fostering and maintaining Catholic identity and heritage in Catholic universities and colleges. In November, U.S. Catholic bishops approved a plan for implementation. This document since has been sent to the Holy See for approval.
The AJCU promotes cooperative efforts among the 28 Catholic, Jesuit universities in the nation and represents them before Jesuit and Church officials, Congress and other higher educational associations. Currie became president in August 1997.
Ordained a Jesuit priest in 1963, Currie has served in a number of leadership positions during his career. Most recently, he was rector of the Jesuit community at St. Joseph's University in Philadelphia, where he was an adjunct member of the theology faculty. He taught a course in "Theology and Science," which earned him honors from the Templeton Foundation. During the 1996-97 academic year, he coordinated university-wide "Conversations on Ignatian Identity" involving students, faculty and staff in discussions about how to make Ignatian ideals effectively present on campus.
After the assassination of Jesuit martyrs at the hands of El Salvadoran troops in 1989, Currie was appointed a special assistant to the president of Georgetown University to coordinate the university's response to the tragedy. Before that, he had assisted Georgetown in Central America with its Central American Scholarship Program.
During this period, Currie worked closely with officials on negotiations between the government and rebel forces. In September 1991, he was one of three official representatives of the U.S. Jesuits at the trial of the soldiers accused in the murders. In April 1994, Currie served as an official observer for the presidential elections in El Salvador.
Since 1982, the Dean's Seminar has brought speakers to Saint Louis University to address issues of interest to students, faculty and staff.
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