Vatican II Series: The Social Vision of Vatican II

Holy Family Parish in Concord, Massachusetts, will be hosting renowned scholar and Boston priest Reverend Bryan Hehir on Thursday, March 7 at Monument Hall in Concord Center at 7:30 PM. Father Hehir is part of a year long program of special adult Faith Formation sessions under the rubric Vatican II Revisited.  In this session, Father Hehir will address the topic of the Catholic social vision of Vatican II, its background and ongoing effects.

J. Bryan Hehir is the Parker Gilbert Montgomery Professor of the Practice of Religion and Public Life at the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.  He is also the Secretary for Health and Social Services for the Archdiocese of Boston.  Prior to assuming these positions Father Hehir served as President and CEO of Catholic Charities USA, the national network of Charities in the United States, from 2001 through 2003.   From 1973-1992 he served on the staff of the U.S. Catholic Conference of Bishops in Washington, D.C., addressing issues of both foreign and domestic policy for the church in the United States.  From 1984-1992, he served on the faculty at Georgetown University in the School of Foreign Service and the Kennedy Institute of Ethics.  In 1993 he joined the faculty of the Harvard Divinity School as Professor of the Practice in Religion and Society.  From 1998-2001 he served as Interim Dean and Dean of the Divinity School. 

Father Hehir took his A.B. and Master of Divinity degrees at St. John’s Seminary and his Doctor of Theology at Harvard Divinity School.  His research and writing focus on issues of ethics and foreign policy, Catholic social ethics and the role of religion in world politics and in American society. He is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the American Philosophical Society and the Council on Foreign Relations.  He serves on the Board of the Arms Control Association, the Global Development Committee and the Independent Sector.  He was named a MacArthur Fellow in 1984 and is the recipient of over thirty honorary degrees from American colleges and universities. 

Publications include: “The Moral Measurement of War: A Tradition of Continuity and Change”; Military Intervention and National Sovereignty”; “Catholicism and Democracy”; “Social Values and Public Policy: A Contribution from a Religious Tradition”; and “The Moral Dimension in the Use of Force.”

We are extremely proud and happy that Father Hehir will be coming to Concord as part of Holy Family Parish’s Adult Faith Formation program. The presentation will be held at Monument Hall, 62 Monument Square in Concord Center at 7:30 PM.  A donation of $5 – 10 is deeply appreciated.