Catholic social scientists present unique view
By Fabvienen Taylor
OXFORD — 140 people attended the annual meeting of the Society of Catholic Social Scientists (SCSS) recently in Oxford.
That number included about 80 members of the society — 50 of whom were presenters — lay people, priests and religious.
“Everybody said the panels are going well and last night’s dinner and speech went well,” said Ron Rychlak, associate dean for academic affairs of the University of Mississippi School of Law, on Saturday, Oct. 31.
“I’m proud of Father Joe Tonos for hosting the Mass and dinner last night,” he said.
Friday’s keynote speaker was Archbishop Celestino Migliore, apostolic nuncio and permanent observer of the Holy See to the United Nations (U.N.)
Archbishop Migliore spoke following Mass and a reception hosted by St. John Parish. The archbishop was principle celebrant of the Mass and Msgr. Elvin Sunds, vicar general of the Diocese of Jackson, concelebrated.
“I was very impressed with the archbishop’s presentation,” said Rychlak. “Of course I work with him and know about it but it was good and fun to hear his perspective on it.”
Rychlak, a St. John parishioner, has been an advisor to the Holy See’s delegation to the U.N. for 10 years. He spearheaded the conference being held in Oxford.
In his speech, Archbishop Migliore explained the role of the Holy See (papacy) at the U. N., where it is a permanent observer, not a full-fledged member state.
Many people think it is Vatican City that is represented at the U.N.
“Vatican City is a very small section of Rome,” said Rychlak. “Why should it be in the United Nations?
“It’s not, it is the Holy See, the papacy, which is really a nation around the world. The papacy has enormous influence in looking out for the protection of disadvantaged people, on issues of poverty, issues of peace, protection of the unborn and life at all stages. It has a very important, persuasive voice,” he said.
Just as the Holy See has a unique voice in its role at the U.N., the SCSS, founded in 1992, has a singular voice and approach in its mission.
The SCSS, according to its organizers, challenges the secularized approach to the social sciences by combining objective scholarly analysis with fidelity to the magisterium, the teaching office of the Catholic Church.
“Social science covers a whole lot of different disciplines — sociology, political science, psychology and so forth,” said Father Bevil Bramwell, professor of systematic theology at The Catholic Distance University and a presenter at the conference.
“It helps when we can talk to each other in the context of faith because Pope Benedict has said we have to live life with faith and reason, those three things have to go together.
“All the social sciences study life. When they study it using reason and in the light of faith, they bring together those three aspects to give a good vision of life, an informed vision in light of the faith, and in light of good scientific principles and reason as well,” Father Bramwell said.
