Here is Robert George's posting on Mirror of Justice on the recent reception of Hadley Arkes into the Catholic Church:
The
operation of divine grace on Hadley Arkes
Evelyn Waugh
described his masterpiece Brideshead Revisited as a story about "the operation of
divine grace on a diverse but closely connected group of
characters." Yesterday, I had the profoundly moving experience of
witnessing the operation of grace on a particular person and a diverse group of
people who were connected to each other through him. That person, Hadley
Arkes, the Edward Ney Professor of Jurisprudence and American Institutions at
Amherst College, was received into the Catholic Church in a beautiful ceremony
in the chapel of the Catholic Information Center in Washington, D.C.
Enveloped in the love of his many friends and admirers, Hadley was baptized,
confirmed, and received his first communion.
Hadley is an
outstanding political philosopher and constitutional theorist who has dedicated
much of his professional life to defending the dignity and rights of the child
in the womb. In remarks after the service yesterday, he explained that
his faith in Christ had come through the Church. The Church's moral
witness, especially on the sanctity of human life and on marriage and
sexual morality---a witness that has in our time made the Church a "sign
of contradiction" to the most powerful and influential elements of the
elite sector of contemporary western culture---persuaded him that the Church
is, despite the failings of so many of its members and leaders, fundamentally
"a truth-teaching institution." In teachings that many find to
be impediments, Hadley found decisive evidence that the Church is, indeed, what
she claims to be.
Speaking of his
Jewish identity, Hadley said that he neither would nor could ever leave the
Jewish people. His entry into the Church was for him, he stated, a fulfillment
of his Jewish faith, and in no way a repudiation of it. Invoking the
testimony and authority of the late Cardinal Lustiger of Paris, he
declared that he was and would always remain a Jew, though a Jew who, like the
earliest Christians, had come to accept Jesus as "the Christ,
the Son of the living God."
Hadley's sponsor was Michael Novak, who read aloud some charming verses he had composed for the occasion. The other speakers were Daniel Robinson of the Philosophy Faculty at Oxford University, Michael Uhlmann of the Political Science Department at Claremont Graduate School, David Forte of the Cleveland State University Law School, and your humble correspondent. The chapel was overflowing with people who had come from all over the country. The spirit of joy was extraordinary. Part of the reason for that, I believe, is that every person in the room had become a better Christian as a result of Hadley's friendship, long before Hadley himself entered the Church. More than a few people credited Hadley for their own conversions (or reversions). Like G.K. Chesterton, he spent years leading others into the Church before he walked through the door himself."
POSTSCRIPT: It was my great honor to be at Hadley Arkes's baptism and confirmation. He was my husband's favorite and most inspiring professor at Amherst College and touched many other lives--on campus and off. The pro-life movement and many parts of the Catholic Church in this country have felt his gracing intellect, wit and gift for legislative strategy. In fact, his influence has been so pervasive, many were surprised to learn that he was not already a Catholic. Welcome, Hadley Arkes, to the Body of Christ!"
UPDATE: Here is Hadley Arkes' reflections on his baptism and confirmation in The Catholic Thing. Well worthy reading.
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