Father Andrew Cozzens, assistant professor of systematic theology and director of liturgy at the St. Paul Seminary School of Divinity, will present a lecture, “From Crisis to Holiness: Vatican II, Blessed John Paul II and the Renewal of the Ministerial Priesthood,” on Monday, Oct. 15.
Father Andrew Cozzens
This talk is part of the Archbishop Ireland Memorial Lecture Series. Free and open to the public, the event will be held at 7:30 p.m. in 3M Auditorium, Owens Science Hall.
Cozzens notes that the ministerial priesthood was radically challenged by Vatican II. The post-conciliar period marked a moment of crisis in the priesthood with changing roles and rampant departures from ministry. Out of this seeming chaos, Pope John Paul II invited Catholics to consider a renewed and deeper identity of the ministerial priesthood, one rooted in the council’s vision of priestly holiness expressed through pastoral charity.
This dramatic story of the reform and renewal will demonstrate how the priest must live his identity today in order to serve the New Evangelization.
