As part of its mission to promote faithful Catholic higher education, The Cardinal Newman Society (CNS) is urging Catholic college officials and faculty to actively support two leading associations of Catholic scholars.

Joseph A. Esposito, director of CNS’s new research division, The Center for the Study of Catholic Higher Education, is in contact with the presidents of many of America’s vibrantly Catholic colleges and universities, encouraging the participation of their faculty in upcoming conferences of the Fellowship of Catholic Scholars (FCS) and the Society of Catholic Social Scientists (SCSS).

“The Fellowship of Catholic Scholars and the Society of Catholic Social Scientists both provide key contributions to the intellectual life of Catholicism in the United States,” Esposito said. “The Cardinal Newman Society heartily endorses their admirable work and encourages participation in their activities, not only from college faculty members but also Catholics of all walks of life who are committed to the intellectual life of the Church.”

Esposito, CNS President Patrick J. Reilly, and The Center’s deputy director Evangeline Jones are FCS associates and will participate in the Fellowship’s 31st annual convention in San Antonio, Tex., on September 26-28. The convention this year is titled “Conscience, Cooperation, and Complicity” and will feature top Catholic experts including Rev. Robert Araujo, S.J., of Boston College Law School, Dr. Edmund Pellegrino of the President’s Council on Bioethics, Rev. James Schall, S.J., of Georgetown University, and Msgr. Stuart Swetland of Mount St. Mary’s University.

The annual SCSS conference will be held at DeSales University in Allentown, Pa., on October 24-25. The conference, themed “Re-establishing All Things in Christ”, is the 16th such gathering of academics defending authentic Catholic social teaching.

The Center for the Study of Catholic Higher Education is working with the SCSS on a one-week workshop to help young academics at Catholic colleges achieve a better understanding of Catholic social teachings. The workshop, which will cover broad areas of Catholic writings as well as those specific to each social science discipline, is scheduled for spring 2009 in Washington, D.C.

CNS is also assisting SCSS as webmaster of its site for the annual Catholic Social Science Review (www.cssronline.org). The 2008 edition has just been completed and will soon be available to non-members for $20.