The Seminary Explores

Pope Frances has called a special meeting in Rome for February 2019 to address the scandal in the Roman Catholic Church concerning the abuse of boys by priests, but will it be enough?

Dr. Christopher Bellitto, Professor of History , Kean University, and author of “Renewing Christianity.”, explores the history and future of this ongoing crisis. How it has been handled and ignored in the past and what is being done about it now. He believes that–despite the bishops’ historic reservations toward “secular” interference—the first call when abuse is suspected must be to the police.

On the 50th anniversary of the Tet Offensive, Lt. Col. (ret.) Thomas Dombrowsky a Vietnam War combat veteran and Adjunct Professor, Gettysburg College, asks what we have learned: the trauma of veterans was not so much outright hostility as disinterest or silence; we should not blame the soldiers for bad policy; and, above all, we need to think beyond the end of hostilities so that winning the peace becomes as important as winning the war. On the positive side, he notes that two American presidents, Obama and Trump, have visited Viet Nam.