Dear Friends:

The Roman Forum begins its 2007 - 2008 academic year in a spirit of great joy, due to the publication of the motu proprio, Summorum Pontificum, of His Holiness, Pope Benedict XVI. Professor Dietrich von Hildebrand, our founder, Dr. William Marra, our long-time president, and Michael Davies, our dear friend and close associate, dedicated their lives to the defense and restoration of the traditional Catholic Mass from the very start of the long battle for its vindication and restoration. They persevered in the conviction that this day would come; and we owe a great debt of gratitude to His Holiness Pope Benedict for the arrival of that day in our own lifetime.

The publication of Summorum Pontificum represents a victory in one battle and the beginning of others. These battles will be waged within the Church at large and within the souls and minds of individuals, Catholics and Catholics-to-be, who will now have the opportunity to discover or rediscover, as well as to be catechized and transformed by, the full liturgical splendor of the Roman Catholic Church. Perhaps you have already seen, as I have, new and curious faces in attendance at your local traditional Mass. Where will these newcomers or returning Catholics go for answers to the questions that will form in their minds when they are first exposed or reintroduced to a Mass which must seem to them by turns new and timeless, foreign and yet strangely like home?

Many places, to be sure. But did you know that right now, and indeed, for the last sixteen years, the Roman Forum is and has been the only organization in New York City and the surrounding area offering people not enrolled in an academic program a continuous and systematic, university-level course in the history of the Catholic Church? Our Sunday history classes, in the facilities of the New York University Catholic Center, are just one element of the regular schedule of academic-year and summer-time educational and cultural opportunities offered by the Roman Forum and made possible, in large part, by your generous donations. May I take a moment of your time to remind you of what we do and tell you about some new things we are planning for the coming year?

1) Roman Forum Colloquia: The first of four, day-long conferences (two in the fall and two in the spring) is entitled Where Do We Go from Here? The Motu Proprio and the Recovery of Christendom. This event will be co-sponsored by Una Voce New York and will include Christopher Ferrara, myself and a panel of diocesan clergy, religious and representatives of traditionalist priestly societies. Please refer to the separate sheet for full details of this October 20th conference and also our November 17th conference, entitled Modern Image and Catholic Truth: The Sleep of Reason. Two more conferences on the theme of real truth as opposed to mythical contemporary images will be held in the spring.

2) New York City Lectures in Church History:  Binding the Rhinoceros, the sixteenth annual New York series of Church History lectures, takes its name from an 11th century description of clerical and lay efforts to harness the flawed powers of the natural world to the plan of Christ. The 2007-2008 lectures carry the account of Medieval Catholic Reform and the Taming of Nature from the death of the Emperor Basil II in 1025 to that of St. Bernard in 1153. Lectures take place on Sundays and include opportunity for questions and discussion with refreshments. This year we are relocating to the wheelchair-accessible facilities at the spiritual center for the Catholic Chaplaincy of New York University: St. Joseph Church, 371 Sixth Avenue. Details and the schedule of lectures are attached. Although we are pleased to have these new facilities available, the rental cost will be triple what it was in the old Catholic Center, which is no longer available. The continuance of this series, which is open to all for a donation of $10, is greatly dependent upon the generosity and commitment of those attending and anyone else who would like to help.

3) Summer Symposium on Lake Garda, Italy (June 26 through July 7, 2008, 11 nights): For nearly two weeks during the summer, a small Italian resort on Lake Garda, the largest and most beautiful lake in Italy, is literally transformed into a Catholic village, with daily traditional Mass, lectures, Catholic camaraderie, superb food and wine, and day trips to surrounding sites, like Venice. For participants, many of whom come back year after year, and feel like family, it is a rare and wonderful opportunity to experience Catholic life on the continent where Catholic culture first came to flower. This year’s symposium, Age of Iron or School for Saints? The Tenth Century, the Beginnings of the Catholic Revival (892-1025) and their Contemporary Significance,  will focus on an era replete with some of the most vexing problems in Church History, and yet extraordinarily rich with initiatives for reform and renaissance. Our faculty will discuss the period not only in and of itself, but also as a guide for emerging from our own modern-day ecclesiastical crisis. Your support is especially needed for scholarships for students, seminarians and priests.

4) MP3 Files: Lectures by Michael Davies, William Marra, David Allen White, myself and more, newly remastered: Almost all of the lectures of our History of Christianity program, from 1993-2006, are available to download to your computer for 1 dollar per lecture or purchase on audio tape at www.keepthefaith.org.  2007 tapes will soon also be posted.

A dear friend, who was born into and grew up in the Church after the Council, recalls that when she attended her first traditional Mass, she left the church with the realization that she was going to have to relearn her religion from scratch. Whether the newcomer or returnee to this Mass feels the same need to go back to the beginning, or just finds awakened in him a new desire to deepen his knowledge of his Church and her riches, he will need teachers to guide him in the project of mining the treasure trove of authentic Catholic culture and intellectual life. That is the special apostolate of the Roman Forum and we cannot continue without your support. Like you, we are feeling the effect of the rising prices of everything; but we want to be able to maintain our commitment to keeping our classes and conferences affordable and to giving assistance to worthy candidates to our summer symposium. Your generosity is absolutely essential in helping us to meet our operating expenses and support students with scholarships.

Summorum Pontificum is a victory, but it’s also the signal for the start of a new stage in the battle. We need to press the advantage in order to stimulate many more Catholics to study the fullness of the Catholic doctrinal, spiritual, political, social and cultural tradition; to understand more completely what is theologically and historically understood by the “restoration of all things in Christ.”

As I have written in the past, we consider every donation we receive to place upon us a serious responsibility to use our resources well and wisely. To show you our appreciation, we have arranged that the intentions of our benefactors be remembered once a month at a traditional Mass offered in Rome by our chaplain, Msgr. Ignacio Barreiro-Carámbula. With the acknowledgment of your donation, of any size, you will receive a note confirming that you have been enrolled in these Masses.

I thank you in advance for your generosity.

Sincerely yours in Christ,

John C. Rao, Director
Assoc. Prof. of History, St. John’s University
D. Phil., Oxford University

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