Yale Catholic Center Celebrates 60th Anniversary

To celebrate its 60th anniversary at Yale, Saint Thomas More Catholic Chapel and Center will host a symposium and other events Friday-Sunday, Oct. 2-4. The weekend will also mark the launch of the Saint Thomas More Capital Campaign. All events will be held in the Chapel and Center at 268 Park St., and are open to the public free of charge.

The Georgian-style building was built in 1938, with funds donated by Yale alumni of the Catholic faith, and dedicated in October of that year. Among the Yale alumni who will be on hand for the celebration are Sargent Shriver ‘38 B.A., ‘41 LL.B., former Peace Corps director and current head of Special Olympics International; William F. Buckley Jr. ‘50 B.A., editor-at-large of the National Review; and Guido Calabresi ‘53 B.A., ‘58 LL.B., a judge in the U.S. Court of Appeals and former Law School dean.

The anniversary celebration will begin with an Evening Prayer on Friday at 7 p.m. His Eminence William Cardinal Keeler, archbishop of Baltimore, will preside over the ceremony; the Most Reverend Daniel A. Cronin, archbishop of Hartford, will also be in attendance. Shriver, who was the acolyte at the dedication mass 60 years ago, will serve as the lector. A reception will follow in the chapel hall.

A symposium titled “The Legacy of Thomas More: Catholic Faith and Intellectual Life at the Threshold of the 21st Century,” will be held 9 a.m.-4:15 p.m. on Saturday. The morning will include panels on “The Legacy of the Catholic Tradition: The Church in the World” and “Catholicism in an Educational Setting.” Participants will include the Reverend J. Bryan Hehir of Harvard University; Roberto Goizueta Jr. ‘76 B.A. of Loyola University at Chicago; Monika K. Hellwig, president of the Association of Catholic Colleges and Universities; and Yale professors Paul M. Kennedy, Bruce M. Russett, Harold W. Attridge and Calabresi.

In the afternoon, Buckley and Louis Dupr , professor emeritus of religious studies, will offer reflections on “Living One’s Faith in a Secular World.” The symposium will conclude with an address titled “Challenges for the Future” by Margaret O’Brien Steinfels, editor of Commonweal Magazine.

Sunday’s activities will begin with a Celebration of the Eucharist at 10 a.m. The Reverend Richard Russell, who served as More House chaplain from 1964 until 1989, will preach the homily. At a brunch following the service, Louis Martz, professor emeritus of history, will offer “Reflections on the life of Thomas More.”

For more information, call 777-5537.