I Call You Friends: John Cavadini and the Vision of Catholic Leadership for Higher Education

by Leonard J. Delorenzo, Timothy P. O'Malley (Editor)

In North America over the last three decades, no one has thought as long and hard about the nature of the Catholic university, has been so passionate in its avowal, so visionary in its conception, and so persistent in reminding all who would listen that the university is a specifically Catholic achievement and the Catholic university an enduring legacy, as John Cavadini.

As the long-time chair of the Department of Theology at the University of Notre Dame and the even longer-serving McGrath-Cavadini Director of the McGrath Institute for Church Life, John C. Cavadini has provided a vision for leadership in Catholic higher education and especially the Catholic university's call to serve the Church with unparalleled creativity, industriousness, and hope. The breadth and wisdom of Cavadini's distinctive leadership is a model for guiding the Catholic university along its unique mission, both within higher education and for the life of the Church. This vision is captured in Cavadini's person and, by extension, in the initiatives, projects, and institutional activities that he has designed and executed. The vision is difficult to see all at once because of its comprehensiveness but, once glimpsed, it shines as a standard by which leadership in Catholic higher education may be measured.

This leadership has never been more necessary for the life of the Catholic university and its service to the Church.

"Simply put, this is a must-read for Catholics and all students concerned with the Catholic university in twenty-first-century American society."
--Lou Nanni, Vice President of University Relations, University of Notre Dame

"John Cavadini has been a master teacher, an effective administrator, and trusted advisor to generations of students. This volume reflects John's great love of the Church and his efforts to make Christ better known, loved, and served."
--Monk Malloy, former President, University of Notre Dame

"Both richly theoretical and eminently practical, this is required reading for those seeking to understand Cavadini's view that a university's Catholic identity is not a hindrance to be endured, but a privilege to be celebrated."
--Mark L. Poorman, President, University of Portland

Leonard J. DeLorenzo is Director of Undergraduate Studies and Academic Director of Notre Dame Vision in the McGrath Institute for Church Life with a concurrent appointment in the Department of Theology at the University of Notre Dame. His publications include Witness: Learning to Tell the Stories of Grace that Illumine Our Lives, Work of Love: A Theological Reconstruction of the Communion of Saints, and What Matters Most, and he is the editor of another volume published under a Wipf & Stock imprint: Dante, Mercy, and the Beauty of the Human Person.
Timothy P. O'Malley is Director of Education and Academic Director of the Center for Liturgy in the McGrath Institute for Church Life with a concurrent appointment in the Department of Theology at the University of Notre Dame. He is the author of Liturgy and the New Evangelization, Bored Again Catholic, and Off the Hook: God, Love, Dating, and Marriage in a Hookup World

179 pages, Kindle Edition

Published July 10, 2019

About the author

Leonard J. DeLorenzo, Ph.D., teaches theology at the University of Notre Dame, where he also directs Notre Dame Vision within the McGrath Institute for Church Life. He was born on the East Coast (New Jersey), spent part of his childhood in the South (Tennessee), grew up for the most part on the West Coast (California), but has lived in the Midwest longer than anywhere else (Indiana). His travel beyond these quarters of the United States includes leading pilgrimages to Italy and Malta, as well as journeying somewhat regularly to the edge of the observable universe in a planetarium where he works collaboratively with a professional astronomer and astrophysicist.

DeLorenzo is the author of Witness: Learning to Tell the Stories of Grace that Illumine Our Lives (Ave Maria Press, 2016) and Work of Love: A Theological Reconstruction of the Communion of Saints (University of Notre Dame Press, 2017). He is currently editing a volume to which he is also a contributor dedicated to Dante, Mercy, and the Beauty of the Human Person (forthcoming from Cascade Books).

Reviews

[Aaron · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thought this was a great collection of essays reflecting on the contributions of John Cavadini to Catholic universities and the Church writ large. A couple of the essays seemed to not really connect with the Cavadini theme but were great all the same. I highly recommend this book to others!