Oblates Host 2018 Scholars from McLean Center (MCSCV)

Originally Publublished on OMIUSAJPIC.ORG

Rev. George F. McLean, OMl (1929-2016), was the Founder of Catholic University of America’s (CUA) Center for the Study of Culture and Values, and the International Council for Research in Values and Philosophy (RVP, www.crvp.org). He taught philosophy at CUA from 1956-1993 but devoted his entire life to promoting dialogue and cooperation among different peoples, cultures and religions around the globe.

In 2017 to honor Fr. McLean the university officially inaugurated the CUA McLean Center for the Study of Culture and Values (MCSCV).Fr. McLean initiated an annual seminar in 1984 to invite scholars and philosophers from diverse cultures and civilizations to participate in five to ten week seminars in Washington, D.C. to discuss current and urgent philosophical issues. The program continues today with the 2018 seminar taking place from August 20-September 21 under the theme Power, Truth, and Trust: In Search of More Human Governance. Participants in this year’s program come from Belgium, China, India, Italy/Portugal, Poland, Philippines, Romania, Russia, Ukraine, and Vietnam.

To mark the 2nd anniversary of Fr. McLean’s death, on September 6 the Oblate Community in Washington, DC and participants from the McLean Center celebrated  a Memorial Mass in the residence’s chapel. This was followed by lunch and discussions on “governance and trust” led by Fr. Séamus Finn, OMI.

For more information about the Center visit http://www.crvp.org/McLean/McLean.html

Poem for the occasion contributed by: Professor Hu Yeping, Executive Director,  McLean Center for the Study of Culture and Values

Today sees the moment of yesterday
humbly walk into the goodbyes
full of gratified blessings, unutterable peace
continuing another dialogical conversation
among unseeable yet named souls
in a world of sole beings
housed by trees and stones, stars and rainbows
full of wordless silence, soundless smiles
forever and ever
in you, in me, in many
from yesterday to today
What a Day!

Hu Yeping
(Washington, DC, September 6, 2018)