Catholic Diocese of Spokane, Washington

From the

Official News Magazine of the Diocese of Spokane

(From the Dec. 18, 2003 edition of the Inland Register)

Gonzaga University’s president, Jesuit Father Robert Spitzer, will speak Jan. 30 at the Cathedral of Our Lady of Lourdes.(IR photo)

Two priests – one local, one from the East Coast – will present a day of reflection on morals, ethics, and modern society next month.

Jesuit Father Robert Spitzer, president of Gonzaga University, and Father Benedict Groeschel of the Franciscan Friars of the Renewal, will speak on Friday, Jan. 30, at the Cathedral of Our Lady of Lourdes, 1023 W Riverside Ave. in Spokane.

Both men hosts television series seen on the Eternal Word Television Network on cable. Father Spitzer hosts Healing the Culture: A Pro-Life Philosophy. Father Benedict’s most recent series is titled Hope in the Lord.

The day’s events begin at 8 a.m. and are scheduled to conclude by 3 p.m.

Registration is $35 per person, which includes lunch. Please register by Monday, Jan. 26.

Father Benedict’s two talks are titled “Have Christians Gotten Off the Track in America?” and “The Responsibility of Catholics to Uphold and Present the Moral Teachings of the Gospel.”

Father Spitzer will address “Catholic Engagement in the Restoration of Virtue, Principle-based Ethics, Objective Moral Teaching, and Conscience.”

Besides being EWTN television hosts, both priests have publishing backgrounds.

Father Benedict (right) is the author of over 20 books, as well as audiotape and videotape presentations on the Catholic faith. His works have included Eucharistic meditations, biographies, and The Cross at Ground Zero, thoughts and prayers on the tragedies of 9/11.

Other titles address sexual morality and personal conversion.

He has worked as a psychologist and spiritual director for nearly 30 years. He also serves as the diocesan postulator for the cause of canonization for the late Cardinal Terence Cooke of New York.

Father Spitzer has been president of Gonzaga University since 1998.

He was ordained a priest in 1983, and made final vows in the Society of Jesus in 1994.

Father Spitzer is a nationally-recognized speaker, particularly in the fields of leadership and business ethics.

In 2000 Ignatius Press published his book Healing the Culture: A Commonsense Philosophy of Happiness, Freedom, and the Life Issues.

He holds a doctorate in philosophy from The Catholic University of America; a degree in Scriptural theology from Weston School, Cambridge; another theology degree from the Gregorian University, Rome; a master’s degree in philosophy from St. Louis University; and a bachelor’s degree in public accounting and finance from Gonzaga.

Father Spitzer has been an associate professor of philosophy at both Seattle University and Georgetown University.