The Catholic University and the Search for Truth

Overview A proposal to invigorate and sustain the Catholic intellectual tradition on campuses today Higher education is changing. Religious colleges and universities have not been immune to the general secularization taking place in society. How will Catholic colleges and universities and the Catholic intellectual tradition be affected? The Catholic University and the Search for Truth walks students and instructors alike through the complexities of the changing landscape of education and the Catholic population, clarifies the three parts of the “Catholic intellectual tradition” (CIT), and exposits Bernard Lonergan’s perspective on learning styles and intellectual authenticity as a way to promote an invigorated understanding and application of CIT. Orji highlights the characteristics of Catholic education, describes how and why Catholic education is uniquely important, and explains why everyone—Catholics and in fact all citizens regardless of religious belief—should care about the Catholic identity of Catholic colleges and universities. His approach to the questions “What is Catholic intellectual tradition?” and “Why Catholic intellectual tradition?” provides hope and a path forward toward an invigorated and renewed sense of CIT. Any student or professor can benefit from this text.