Seminarian Formation Most Important
The national Knights of Columbus Supreme Council showed its wholehearted endorsement of the Michigan Knights by placing an outstanding leadership gift of $ 250,000 into the life ethics endowment .
“ Our founder , the Venerable Fr . Michael J . McGivney , is holding our brother Knights to a higher standard in their lives ,” says Mr . Kenneth Unterbrink , the current State Deputy of the Michigan Knights . “ Our brother Knights hold that the formation of our seminarians is as important as it gets .”
In supporting the Father McGivney chair , “ We are then living up to the standards of our founder ,” Mr . Unterbrink explains . “ We , the Knights of Columbus , have an obligation to support the formation of our seminarians , and more importantly to support their pro-life formation .”
Chairholder is International Scholar
But who would be the first chairholder ? Dr . Janet Smith , called an “ international voice for life ” by Monsignor Lajiness , was invited to become the holder of the Fr . Michael J . McGivney Chair of Life Ethics . Dr . Smith , who joined Sacred Heart ’ s faculty in 2001 , is one of the preeminent scholars in the country on Catholic sexual ethics and bioethics . She has written and spoken extensively on topics such as the natural law , Natural Family Planning , assisted suicide , contraception , and abortion .
She accepted the seminary ’ s invitation — which received a hearty thumbs-up from the Michigan Knights — and became the chairholder for the academic year 2004- 05 . She continues to be the Father Mc- Givney chair of life ethics today .
The endowment by the Michigan Knights allows Dr . Smith to teach graduate-level courses at Sacred Heart to seminarians , deacon-candidates , and lay ministry students . She continues to advance the “ culture of life ” by promoting the beauty of Catholic teaching on life issues and human sexuality through her writing and speaking ministry .
THE FRIENDSHIPS THAT HAVE BEEN FORMED THROUGH THIS PROJECT — THIS IS CERTAINLY
ONE OF THE GREATEST OUTCOMES .
“ I am extremely thankful for the opportunity provided for me by the funding of the Fr . Michael J . McGivney Chair of Life ,” Dr . Smith says . “ I have been teaching the fundamental moral theology classes for years and am able to enfold the life issues into almost every element of those courses .”
Dr . Smith also teaches priests from across the country and around the world who are enrolled in Sacred Heart ’ s Licentiate in Sacred Theology ( STL ) degree program . The post-graduate STL degree specializes in the theology and methods of the new evangelization . She teaches courses on St . John Paul II ’ s Theology of the Body , bioethics , sexual ethics , and a seminar on the social and moral implications of same-sex attraction , to priests who attend a five-week summer residency session at the seminary .
“ The courses have helped the STL priests to preach on life issues and to compose presentations for their parishioners and fellow priests ,” Dr . Smith says , adding that she teaches on these same topics to graduate seminarians in the Master of Divinity program .
Her tenure as the Father McGivney chairholder overflows with other accomplishments . Dr . Smith helped to organize a national conference on Humane Vitae , Pope Paul VI ’ s document on the transmission of life , and recently organized an international conference , held in Plymouth , Michigan , presenting the Church ’ s teaching on homosexuality , with a follow-up conference in Phoenix , Arizona , and more planned in other parts of the country . She serves the Universal Church through papal invitation as a three-term consultor to the Pontifical Council on the Family , and as a member of the
Anglican-Roman Catholic International Commission of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity .
Dr . Smith was able to take a partial leave of absence recently to care for her mother , Anne , who suffered from dementia . During this difficult time , “ The seminary has been spectacularly accommodating to me as I spent large portions of a year caring for my own mother . I learned an enormous amount about the lived experience of ‘ end of life ’ issues ,” she says .
Dr . Smith adds that she has been incorporating what she learned about the rewards and challenges — and heartbreak — of being a caretaker of an afflicted family member into her speaking ministry .
Gratitude and Bond of Friendship
There has been an extra benefit from the funding of the life ethics chair , says Monsignor Lajiness , who has served as the Detroit archdiocesan chaplain of the Knights of Columbus ( 2004-10 ) and also the Michigan state chaplain ( 2010-12 ). “ It has been close collaboration between the Knights and the seminary . The friendships that have been formed through this project — this is certainly one the greatest outcomes .”
Monsignor notes that as chaplain to the Knights , “ I had the honor to see on an intimate level the dedication — actually the ‘ otherworldly ’ dedication — the Knights have shown . They express their faith in so many ways .
“ With that perspective , my depth of gratitude to their service to the seminary through this significant gift , and also gratitude for their contributions to the Church throughout the world , is overwhelming .” shms . edu 21