I Call You Friends

In North America over the last three decades, no one has thought as long and hard about the nature of the Catholic university, has been so passionate in its avowal, so visionary in its conception, and so persistent in reminding all who would listen that the university is a specifically Catholic achievement and the Catholic university an enduring legacy, as John Cavadini.

As the long-time chair of the Department of Theology at the University of Notre Dame and the even longer-serving McGrath-Cavadini Director of the McGrath Institute for Church Life, John C. Cavadini has provided a vision for leadership in Catholic higher education and especially the Catholic university's call to serve the Church with unparalleled creativity, industriousness, and hope. The breadth and wisdom of Cavadini's distinctive leadership is a model for guiding the Catholic university along its unique mission, both within higher education and for the life of the Church. This vision is captured in Cavadini's person and, by extension, in the initiatives, projects, and institutional activities that he has designed and executed. The vision is difficult to see all at once because of its comprehensiveness but, once glimpsed, it shines as a standard by which leadership in Catholic higher education may be measured.

This leadership has never been more necessary for the life of the Catholic university and its service to the Church.

""Simply put, this is a must-read for Catholics and all students concerned with the Catholic university in twenty-first-century American society.""
--Lou Nanni, Vice President of University Relations, University of Notre Dame

""John Cavadini has been a master teacher, an effective administrator, and trusted advisor to generations of students. This volume reflects John's great love of the Church and his efforts to make Christ better known, loved, and served.""
--Monk Malloy, former President, University of Notre Dame

""Both richly theoretical and eminently practical, this is required reading for those seeking to understand Cavadini's view that a university's Catholic identity is not a hindrance to be endured, but a privilege to be celebrated.""
--Mark L. Poorman, President, University of Portland


Leonard J. DeLorenzo is Director of Undergraduate Studies and Academic Director of Notre Dame Vision in the McGrath Institute for Church Life with a concurrent appointment in the Department of Theology at the University of Notre Dame. His publications include Witness: Learning to Tell the Stories of Grace that Illumine Our Lives, Work of Love: A Theological Reconstruction of the Communion of Saints, and What Matters Most, and he is the editor of another volume published under a Wipf & Stock imprint: Dante, Mercy, and the Beauty of the Human Person.
Timothy P. O'Malley is Director of Education and Academic Director of the Center for Liturgy in the McGrath Institute for Church Life with a concurrent appointment in the Department of Theology at the University of...