ALUMNI PROFILE:
ELLIOT MILCO
By Br. Stephen Mary Ruhl, O.P.
Mr. Elliot Milco (MA ’13) is Deputy Editor of
First Things magazine. Born and raised in
Chicago, he came into the Catholic Church
through the Dominican parish of St. Mary’s
in New Haven, Connecticut, while studying at
Yale University.
What influence did your studies at the PFIC
have on you?
My time at the PFIC was easily the most
intellectually nurturing time in my life. The
quality of instruction, the level of rigor and
concern for learning, the spirit of love for
the truth—all of these aspects far outstripped
anything I had experienced previously, and
left me with a definite intellectual foundation
from which to approach moral, metaphysical,
and theological problems. They gave me the
tools to see the integrity of Christian doctrine
as something infinitely profound in its
intelligibility, and to appreciate the mysteries
of our faith not as an excuse for confusion
but as an invitation to expect ever greater
understanding.
Were there any
influenced you?
particular
friars
who
Frs. John Baptist Ku, O.P., John Corbett, O.P.,
and Thomas Joseph White, O.P., were all stellar,
each in his own distinctive way. But I think it’s
safe to say that Thomas Aquinas has influenced
me the most!
Faith & Reason - Volume IV, Issue III
“I believe emphatically
in the importance of the
PFIC, in its tremendous
power as an instrument
in God’s hands for the
restoration of all things
in Christ by means of the
truth of the Gospel.”
How has your education formed your writing
at First Things?
I’ve tried to integrate an unabashedly Catholic,
unabashedly traditional perspective, informed
by Thomistic theology. Usually doing this
requires no conscious effort, as these are all
habits that were formed in me during my time
at the PFIC.
I believe emphatically in the importance of the
PFIC, in its tremendous power as an instrument
in God’s hands for the restoration of all things
in Christ by means of the truth of the Gospel.
I’m very grateful to be able to support the work
of the friars at the PFIC and the Thomistic
Institute, and would heartily encourage others
to do so as well!
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