Leo R. Ward, C.S.C.: Irish America's Rural Man of Letters
Throughout his life, Leo R. Ward, C.S.C., transcended disciplinary and political boundaries in his quest for the common good. A self-described "half-monk, halflayman, half-scholar, half-author," Ward was one of the leading American Catholic progressives of his day. A professor of moral phi...
| Main Author: | |
|---|---|
| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | Drawer...
|
| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Published: |
American Catholic Historical Society
2007
|
| In: |
American catholic studies
Year: 2007, Volume: 118, Issue: 4, Pages: 19-35 |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) |
| Summary: | Throughout his life, Leo R. Ward, C.S.C., transcended disciplinary and political boundaries in his quest for the common good. A self-described "half-monk, halflayman, half-scholar, half-author," Ward was one of the leading American Catholic progressives of his day. A professor of moral philosophy at the University of Notre Dame from 1929 to 1962, he was a prolific and eclectic author, writing over twenty books on moral philosophy, the Catholic Church, Catholic education, and the cooperative movement. In particular, Ward studied in various ways how communities are formed and preserved in an increasingly atomized society. Ward's prescriptions for community were inspired by the common-sense values of faith, freedom, and community that he experienced in the Iowa farm village of his birth and in the agrarian Ireland of his travels. In both places, he witnessed "holy secularity" in action, as communities not only worshiped God through devotions, but also in their daily life and work. Ward saw the practice of holy secularity as an essential paradigm for the modern world to follow. He lamented that rural communities in America and in Ireland were in decline, and he considered the cooperative movement to be an important means of protecting and promoting rural life. Ward, however, was no mere rural sentimentalist. He supported the reforms of Vatican II that attempted to open up the church to outside influences, and he called for the creation of sophisticated, professionalized Catholic intellectual communities that would shake Catholic universities such as Notre Dame out of their isolationist slumber. Leo R. Ward's worldview was thus surprisingly cosmopolitan, despite his rural origins and his Roman collar. |
|---|---|
| ISSN: | 2161-8534 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: American catholic studies
|