Joseph P. Chinnici, OFM, is one of the leading lights in the study of US Catholic history, having recently completed his magisterial study, American Catholicism Transformed: From the Cold War through the Counci. Chinnici’s scholarship is not limited to the field of US Catholicism; rather he has played a major role in the retrieval of the intellectual tradition inspired by St. Francis of Assisi, serving as General Editor of The Franciscan Heritage Series and helping to found the Commission on the Franciscan Intellectual Tradition. Beyond his scholarship Joe has served as Provincial Minister of the St. Barbara Province of Franciscans at a critical time in their history—the onset of the sexual abuse crisis that involved the Franciscan minor seminary. Joe’s response of honesty, transparency, and compassion set a standard for the Church, one that has only rarely been followed. He reflected on this crisis in light of his Franciscan heritage in his ground-breaking work, When Values Collide: The Catholic Church, Sexual Abuse, and the Challenges of Leadership.
Building a House of Living Stones invites eleven noted scholars to contribute to this Festschrift on the occasion of Joe’s eightieth birthday. We have divided the volume into three areas, reflecting the areas of Joe’s greatest academic contributions: 1) the Franciscan Intellectual Tradition; 2) the sexual abuse crisis in the Catholic Church; and 3) United States Catholic History.
Mary Lyons, former president of the University of San Diego provides a brief biography. Margaret Carney, OSF; William J. Short, OFM, Mary Beth Ingham, CSJ, and Angelyn Dries, OSF provide varied explorations of the Franciscan Intellectual Tradition. James McCartin and James O’Toole address different dimensions of the sexual abuse scandal, and William Portier; Leslie Tentler, Steven Avella, and Jeffrey Burns offer cutting-edgeessays on US Catholic history.
The essays presented in this collection signify the great respect, love, and admiration for Fr. Joe, for his scholarship, leadership and friendship.
