A few weeks ago, on Nov. 16, Catholicism lost one of its greatest scholars and educators: David L. Schindler of the John Paul II Institute for Marriage and Family in Washington, D.C. I was fortunate to be friends with Dave for the last 25 years of his life, and I was terribly sad to see him go. However, his passing also brought back wonderful memories. He was a generous soul and, like all real truth-seekers, very humble. Despite his enormous erudition in philosophy and theology, he never felt that it was beneath him to engage in dialogue with less knowledgeable people such as myself.
The week Dave died, Congress was debating the so-called Respect for Marriage Act, which passed yesterday. This coincidence reminded me of a dinner 10 or 15 years ago, at one of the John Paul II Institute’s annual conferences, when the conversation drifted toward the topic of same-sex civil marriage. The sentiment around the table was of opposition, but I felt that the group was not fully grasping the cultural context. So I made a remark to the effect that “the important thing to understand is that same-sex marriage is perfectly consistent with the way our culture understands opposite-sex marriage.”
Dave’s response was characteristic: He simply reflected for a few seconds, and then approvingly repeated my thought, as if he had not fully articulated it before and was happy for a new insight. In his memory, let me briefly elaborate on that observation.
What Do Love and Marriage Mean Today?| National Catholic Register
What Do Love and Marriage Mean Today?| National Catholic Register
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