Rev

Concerning Rev. Robert J. Daly’s Appointment

as Chairman of the Patristic Institute at Holy Cross

Submitted November 12, 2004

The ancient Greeks had an open mind. The most famous of philosophers, Socrates, had as a starting point, "One thing only I know, and that is that I know nothing". The present situation at Holy Cross, namely the selection of a uniquely qualified non-Orthodox to teach at our Seminary is not unique; other non-Orthodox, Christian colleges have gone through similar experiences. In this connection let me relate a personal observation.

Shortly after World War II, I took advantage of the GI Bill to study for advanced degrees at an Ivy League university. One of the students that I met was a Jesuit priest (If you recall, the Jesuits are the intellectuals who are concerned with education and scholarship); we became friends and would study together. This priest was brilliant - he graduated at the top of his class from the seminary, and was selected by the Jesuits to study at the Jesuit college in the Boston area where he earned BS and MS degrees, with honors, in Physics.

For his PhD degree, he was sent to an Ivy League university for two reasons: (1) to avoid inbreeding and (2) to calibrate the program at his Jesuit college. My friend was shocked to note that the Ivy undergraduates knew more physics than he with his master's degree. It did not take him long to determine the reason for this discrepancy, namely: (1) During the pre-WWII era, many Catholic colleges overemphasized sports at the expense of scholarship. For example, whenever there would be a football game between this college in Boston and say a distant college like Notre Dame, the school would essentially shut down for several days, no homework and also to allow for transportation since there were no airplanes then. Also, the Roman Church, just as the Greek Church, has many important religious holidays which were observed, which meant more lost time. Consequently, there was not enough time left to cover all the course material properly. (2) The professors were either Jesuits or white Roman Catholic laymen - even if Einstein had come around looking for a position, he probably would not have been hired. My friend vowed that when he went back to his college, things would change, and they surely did. A few years later when I was invited to lecture there, at Boston College, I noted Asiatic professors and even two Jewish professors, one of whom had been a high school classmate of mine. I don't need to point out that now athletics have been moderated somewhat and that Boston College is no longer a provincial college, but a top-ranked, most respected national university.

Now coming to our own Holy Cross Theological School; it seems to me that some of our brightest professors, like Father Theodore Stylianopoulos (whom I have known both as a student and as priest at the Lexington, Mass Church), who obviously love their Church and their Seminary, are willing to stick out their necks to further advance the school in its quest toward higher scholarship and excellence. They know what they are doing. They are selecting the most qualified and experienced person for leading this most valuable Institute; this is one more step towards making Holy Cross America's Beacon of Orthodoxy. At the present time, we are in competition with several other prestigious Orthodox Seminaries. If we are to attract better students and more students, we need to forget about the ancient Greeks, become more humble and try to do better for our Seminary.

Finally, let me remind you that our own Holy Patriarch Bartholomew studied and received his advanced doctoral degree neither from the Theological Schools at Athens nor at Salonica, but from the Pontifical Oriental Institute of the Gregorian University at Rome.



Volume 6 Number 46 - Tuesday, November 16th, 2004	A Publication of the ORTHODOX CHRISTIAN LAITY