Professor Leonard Swidler
November 10, 2006
215-477-1080
dialogue@temple.edu

 

FORMER “BISHOP MAKER” TO RECEIVE “RIGHTS OF CATHOLICS AWARD”

“He was responsible for one of the best groups of American Catholic bishops we have had since John Carroll was elected the first American Catholic bishop,” remarked Leonard Swidler, the President of the Association for the Rights of Catholics in the Church (ARCC) and Professor of Catholic Thought at Temple University. “All but a few have now retired or died,” he added. He was speaking of Belgian Archbishop Jean Jadot who is receiving ARCC’s “Hans Küng Rights of Catholics in the Church Award” for 2006.

The Award ceremony will take place at Foundry Methodist Church (often a President’s church in Washington)—1500 16th Street, NW, Washington, DC 20036—Friday, November 17, 2006, at 7:30 P.M. Father Charles Curran—a friend of Archbishop Jadot since he was appointed Apostolic Delegate (Ambassador) to the United States 1973-1980—will give the Presentation Address.

Like the namesake of the Award, Father Hans Küng of Tübingen, Germany, Father Curran was removed from his professorship of Catholic Theology by the Vatican. “Archbishop Jadot did a wonderful job seeking out future American bishops who would carry out the freedom mandate of Vatican Council II” (1962-65),” commented Father Curran, who since 1986, has been teaching at Southern Methodist University.

In his Presentation, Father Curran intends to say: “Many of us who were strongly affected by Vatican II have been greatly disappointed by what has happened in the church since that time. A good number of our friends and colleagues have left the church because of their frustration and disappointment. One source of hope for all of us struggling for reform in the church is the example of people like Hans Küng and Archbishop Jadot who have continued to work for reform in the church despite their own personal hurts and suffering.”

“There is a certain symmetry that ARCC’s Hans Küng Award Presentation speech will be given by Father Curran, not only because they were both fired by Pope John Paul II, and Archbishop Jadot was quietly given a sinecure and no customary cardinal's red hat,” stated Swidler, “but also because Father Küng, as the best known former ‘papal bad boy,’ was invited to a lengthy reconciliatory conversation at the new pope’s summer home.”

The Award Ceremony will take place at the Foundry United Methodist Church (1500 16th Street, NW, Washington, DC 20036) at 7:30 p.m. with a reception to follow. The public is welcome. Donation at the door is $10.00. Information: Tel. (870) 235-5200, dialogue@temple.edu .