Cardinal-Archbishop of Vienna, Director of Catholic Catechism,
visits Campus
(from the Fall 1999 Quarterly Newsletter)
 Christoph
Cardinal Schönborn, the Cardinal-Archbishop of Vienna
and Director of the Catholic Catechism, visited the campus
on September 19, during a rare visit to the United States.
He said Mass and then spoke to an overflow crowd in St. Bernardine
Library, which was specially set-up for the occasion.
The Cardinal spoke of his long-standing interest
in the College through his friendship with Dr. Michael and
Susie Waldstein (Classes of ’77 and ’78 respectively)
formed 20 some years ago in Europe. In 1997, after Pope John
Paul II asked Cardinal Schönborn to establish a theological
institute dedicated to marriage and family issues, Schönborn
recruited Dr. Waldstein, then a tenured professor of philosophy
at the University of Notre Dame, to head it up. Dr. Waldstein
now serves as President of the International Theological Institute
in Gaming, Austria. He accompanied Cardinal Schönborn
on the visit to the College.
Cardinal Schönborn surprised many when
he spoke of his own conversion to classical theology and especially
the theology of St. Thomas Aquinas. (See text of remarks at
side.) The Cardinal said he was a young theology student in
the turbulent times of the late 1960s, when Aquinas, and the
other great "masters" of the Church, were purged
from the curriculum and replaced with modern theologians.
Like his classmates, he embraced the changes,
but then began to see the hollow effect those changes were
having on his peers and on the many who were leaving the priesthood
around him. He described his encounter with two different
priests who introduced him to the great minds of the Church
and led him to see the rich intellectual heritage of the Catholic
Faith.
In 1985, following a General Synod of Bishops,
Pope John Paul II appointed a commission of bishops to draft
a universal catechism of the Catholic Faith. The Commission,
in turn, appointed Schönborn as Director of the project.
Five years later, after receiving comments from around the
world, the Catholic Catechism was published — an astonishing
feat given its scope and content.
In 1995, Pope Paul II appointed Schönborn
to the see of Vienna, one of the most troubled archdioceses
in the world — a sign of the pope’s confidence in
him. Schönborn inherited an archdiocese racked with scandal
from his predecessor, dissent from his clerics, and apostasy
from his people.
Former Reagan advisor William P. Clark escorted
Schönborn and Dr. Waldstein on the visit to the College
which culminated in a private luncheon at the Hacienda with
President Thomas Dillon, Mrs. Terri Dillon and friends of
the College.
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