Among other eras in history, he considers the prime of classical Athens, when he could have enjoyed the company of luminaries "around the Parthenon as they discussed the great and eternal issues of reality," along with "the great heyday of the Roman Empire."

These considerations of ancient Greece and Rome, in what would be King's final speech, speak to his close engagement with the Classics throughout his writings.

As one whose courses consider how classical ideas have contributed to public dialogue in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, I want to address here two particular points of contact with ancient Greece that loom large in King's thinking and teaching: King's advocacy of the Greek concept of agape, transcendent love for others, is critical to his message; and his embrace of Socrates as a model of civil disobedience, is revealing of his method.

More than "love"
At the core of King's social teaching lies the necessity for human beings to embrace an all-encompassing love for one another.

But the English word "love," with its abundance of associations, was too imprecise for what he wanted to convey. In order to express more clearly the type of transcendent love for humanity he was advocating, King turned frequently in his speeches to the ancient Greek he had studied at Crozer Theological Seminary and Boston University.

Building on the work of contemporary theologians - the American Harry Emerson Fosdick (1878-1969), the Swede Anders Nygren (1890-1978) and the German Paul Tillich (1886-1965) - King underscored the distinctions between the Greek words eros (romantic love), philia (the love of personal friendship) and agape. Continue reading

Sources

• ABC Religion & Ethics. The article is by Timothy Joseph, an Associate Professor and the Chair of the Department of Classics at the College of the Holy Cross.
• Image: Unheard Voices

"We must not allow ourselves to be drawn into the murky waters of cynicism, passivity, and bitterness. However, nor must we don the rosy spectacles of illusory optimism." Tomas Halik, Czech priest and author of "Night of the Confessor: Christian Faith in an Age of Uncertainty."

Firstly let me say how grateful I am to Rosemary Flannery and the Camino committee for inviting me here tonight. This parish is my spiritual home. I first learnt about the faith through this community; I have returned here over many decades and have felt here in conscious and real ways that that here is where I learnt what a community of faith is; and it was here more than 28 years ago that I celebrated my first Mass. Thankyou Rosemary and team. I'm so glad to be here to address something that is important to us all and central to my life - ministry. Continue reading

Sources

• Michael Kelly SJ in Eureka Street
• Image: Smell the Color Nine

Yet it is Benedict XVI himself who is being accused by his lifelong dissenting colleague, Hans Kueng, of "provoking" disobedience.

Kung goes as far as to call the Pope "schismatic" if he goes ahead and gives canonical recognition to the Society of St. Pius X, founded by Mgr. Lefebvre.

Kueng's harsh accusation was recently published in German newspaper Suedwestpresse.

He writes that preparations for the "final recognition" of the Lefebvrians are already underway and that recognition would be granted "even at the cost of integrating them into the Church using canonical subterfuge." He recalled that the members of the Fraternity "continue to reject fundamental documents of the Council." Continue reading