This past week witnessed the passing of a priest-theologian who was definitely "old school."
Monsignor William Smith, professor of moral theology at Saint Joseph's Seminary in Dunwoodie, Yonkers, New York, for nearly forty years, died a week ago this Saturday at nearby St Joseph's Hospital. He was 69.
Smith was one of the leading Catholic voices in America on medical ethics, including matters of abortion, reproduction, euthanasia, stem-cell research and cloning.
Featured here is a lecture given for International Catholic University, concerning the moral teaching of Pope John Paul II, specifically his encyclical Veritatis Splendor (The Splendor of Truth). An interview with John Mallon on critical issues in moral theology can be found by clicking here.
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1 comment:
An amazing man!! I wish he'd have been cloned, many in times over. That was sort of a joke, because he wouldn’t have wanted anyone cloned, but truly if we need priests and Church leadership to be more like him, more than ever, in these very sorry times. God help us.
I grew up in IHM church, so I was very privledged to have attended many a Msgr. Smith mass. Not only was the content of each homily brilliant and relevant, but his masses were reverent, something you rarely see these days -- well, not where I'm living now (Brooklyn, NY). I was fortunate enough to be home and able to attend his mass on Christmas morning this year -- I feel really fortunate for that. He will be greatly missed by those of us who are desperately seeking a 'more Catholic' Catholic church for ourselves and for our children.
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