I have traveled far and wide, far beyond the simple parish I envisioned as a young man. My obligation of service has led me into diverse yet interrelated roles: college teacher, theologian, president of a great university, counselor to four popes and six presidents. Excuse the list, but once called to public service, I have held fourteen presidential appointments over the years, dealing with the social issues of our times, including civil rights, peaceful uses of atomic energy, campus unrest, amnesty for Vietnam offenders, Third World development, and immigration reform. But deep beneath it all, wherever I have been, whatever I have done, I have always and everywhere considered myself essentially a priest. —from the Preface

A devout Catholic politician assassinated by a capricious dictator. A Cardinal standing up for his people in the face of political repression. A priest leading his nation’s constitutional revision. The “Mother Teresa of Uganda” transforming the lives of thousands of abandoned children. Two missionaries who founded the best community radio station in Africa. A peace activist who has amplified the voices of grassroots women in the midst of a brutal civil war. Such are the powerful stories in For God and My Country, a book that explores how seven inspiring leaders in Uganda’s largest religious community have shaped the social and political life of their country. Drawing on extensive oral research, J. J. Carney analyzes how personal faith, theological vision, and Catholic social teaching have propelled these leaders to embody Vatican II’s call for the Church to be a sign of communion and unity in the world. Readers will gain rich insight into Uganda’s postcolonial politics and the history of one of Africa’s most important Catholic communities. Each chapter closes with leadership lessons and reflection questions, making this an ideal text for classroom and parish adoption.

A running account of the history of the U. of Notre Dame from its foundation in 1842 through the end of the Civil War written by the man honored as its founder, Edward Sorin, who left France in 1841 to head the first band of missionaries sent by the Congregation of Holy Cross to the New World. Annot

A provocative new biography probes deeply into the storied life of Father Ted Hesburgh, the well-loved but often controversial president of Notre Dame University. Considered for many decades to be the most influential priest in America, Rev. Theodore M. Hesburgh, played what many consider pivotal roles in higher education, the Catholic Church, and national and international affairs. American Priest examines his life and his many and varied engagements—from the university he led for thirty-five years to his associations with the Vatican and the White House—and evaluates the extent and importance of his legacy. Author and Notre Dame priest-professor Wilson D. Miscamble tracks how Hesburgh transformed Catholic higher education in the postwar era and explores how he became a much-celebrated voice in America at large. Yet, beyond the hagiography that often surrounds Hesburgh’s legacy lies another more complex and challenging story. What exactly were his contributions to higher learning; what was his involvement in the civil rights movement; and what was the nature of his role as advisor to popes and presidents? Understanding Hesburgh’s life and work illuminates the journey that the Catholic Church traversed over the second half of the twentieth century. Exploring and evaluating Hesburgh’s importance, then, contributes not only to the colorful history of Notre Dame but also to comprehending the American Catholic experience. Praise for American Priest “An excellent, engaging biography . . . [Miscamble] deftly captures the ‘whole Hesburgh’ in a fair and thorough portrait.” —Catholic Philly “Excellent . . . the story that Father Miscamble tells is an all-American story—the rise of a Catholic of relatively modest background, close to his immigrant roots, to a place of prominence among the nation’s elite.” —Public Discourse

Two Philosophers Ask and Answer the Big Questions About the Search for Faith and Happiness For seekers of all stripes, philosophy is timeless self-care. Notre Dame philosophy professors Meghan Sullivan and Paul Blaschko have reinvigorated this tradition in their wildly popular and influential undergraduate course “God and the Good Life,” in which they wrestle with the big questions about how to live and what makes life meaningful. Now they invite us into the classroom to work through issues like what justifies our beliefs, whether we should practice a religion and what sacrifices we should make for others—as well as to investigate what figures such as Aristotle, Plato, Marcus Aurelius, Iris Murdoch, and W. E. B. Du Bois have to say about how to live well. Sullivan and Blaschko do the timeless work of philosophy using real-world case studies that explore love, finance, truth, and more. In so doing, they push us to escape our own caves, ask stronger questions, explain our deepest goals, and wrestle with suffering, the nature of death, and the existence of God. Philosophers know that our “good life plan” is one that we as individuals need to be constantly and actively writing to achieve some meaningful control and sense of purpose even if the world keeps throwing surprises our way. For at least the past 2,500 years, philosophers have taught that goal-seeking is an essential part of what it is to be human—and crucially that we could find our own good life by asking better questions of ourselves and of one another. This virtue ethics approach resonates profoundly in our own moment. The Good Life Method is a winning guide to tackling the big questions of being human with the wisdom of the ages.

Thomas Blantz's monumental The University of Notre Dame: A History tells the story of the renowned Catholic university's growth and development from a primitive grade school and high school founded in 1842 by the Congregation of Holy Cross in the wilds of northern Indiana to the acclaimed undergraduate and research institution it became by the early twenty-first century. It's growth was not always smooth--slowed at times by wars, financial challenges, fires, and illnesses. It is the story both of a successful institution and the men and women who made it so: Father Edward Sorin, C.S.C., the twenty-eight-year-old French priest and visionary founder; Father William Corby, C.S.C., later two-term Notre Dame president, who gave absolution to the soldiers of the Irish Brigade at the Battle of Gettysburg; the hundreds of Holy Cross brothers, sisters, and priests whose faithful service in classrooms, student residence halls, and across campus kept the university progressing through difficult years; a dedicated lay faculty teaching too many classes for too few dollars to assure the University would survive; Knute Rockne, a successful chemistry teacher but an even more successful football coach, elevating Notre Dame to national athletic prominence; Father Theodore M. Hesburgh, C.S.C., president for thirty-five years; and 325 undergraduate young women who were first to enter Notre Dame in 1972, among thousands of others. Blantz captures the strong connections that exist between Notre Dame's founding and early life and today's University. Alumni, faculty, students, friends of the University, and fans of the Fighting Irish will want to own this indispensable, definitive history of one of America's leading universities. Simultaneously detailed and documented yet lively and interesting, The University of Notre Dame: A History is the most complete and up-to-date history of the University available.

In Faith and Violence, Thomas Merton offers concrete and pungent social criticisms grounded in prophetic faith about such issues as Vietnam, racism, violence, and war.

When John C. H. Wu’s spiritual autobiography Beyond East and West was published in 1951, it became an instant Catholic best seller and was compared to Thomas Merton’s The Seven Storey Mountain, which had appeared four years earlier. It was also hailed as the new Confession of St. Augustine for its moving description of Wu’s conversion in 1937 and early years as a Catholic. This new edition, including a foreward written by Wu’s son John Wu, Jr., makes this profoundly beautiful book by one of the most influential Chinese lay Catholic intellectuals of the twentieth century available for a new generation of readers hungry for spiritual sustenance. Beyond East and West recounts the story of Wu’s early life in Ningpo, China, his family and friendships, education and law career, drafting of the constitution of the Republic of China, translation of the Bible into classical Chinese in collaboration with Chinese president Chiang Kai-Shek, and his role as China’s delegate to the Holy See. In passages of arresting beauty, the book reveals the development of his thought and the progress of his growth toward love of God, arriving through experience at the conclusion that the wisdom in all of China’s traditions, especially Confucian thought, Taoism, and Buddhism, point to universal truths that come from, and are fulfilled in, Christ. In Beyond East and West, Wu develops a synthesis between Catholicism and the ancient culture of the Orient. A sublime expression of faith, here is a book for anyone who seeks the peace of the spirit, a memorable book whose ideas will linger long after its pages are closed.

In World War II, more than twelve thousand Protestant ministers, Catholic priests, and Jewish rabbis joined the Chaplain Corps. They were men of faith under fire. And they would charge straight into Hell to save the soul of a single soldier… Representing America’s three major religious traditions, volunteers from across the country enlisted as noncombatant commissioned officers to provide spiritual strength and guidance for those fighting men who never knew if they were going to survive. Armed only with Bibles, Torahs, and the tools of their holy trade, these men of God went wherever the troops went. They prayed over men about to go into combat on land, at sea, and in the air. And, most important and difficult of all, they guided fallen fighting men of every faith as they breathed their last, and gave up their lives in the fight against tyranny. These are the personal stories of some of the bravest and most selfless men who served with the armed forces. Many lost their lives or suffered debilitating wounds as they strived to keep the military personnel spiritually awake, morally fit—and prepared to make the journey from this world to the next without fear or despair, and with the trust of the Almighty in their hearts. INCLUDES PHOTOGRAPHS