Editor's Welcome: Newsman Studies Journal

The Fall 2016 Issue of the Newman Studies Journal begins with Professor Katherine Tillman's tribute to Fr. Marvin R. O'Connell, who died on 19 August 2016. While we mourn his loss to us, we celebrate his life and work as a Newman scholar, and recall the ways in which he has enriched our field of study. We have reprinted in this issue the article he published in the 2004 inaugural issue of the Newman Studies Journal, "Newman and the Irish Bishops." I hope you find solace in reading this and recalling Fr. O'Connell's profound influence on all who were touched by his personal influence and published work.

Professor John Crosby delivered a well received lecture at the July 2016 Newman Association of America Conference, entitled, "The Personalism of John Henry Newman, Interpreted through the Personalism of Karol Wojtyla." He has graciously agreed to its publication in this issue of the Newman Studies Journal. This philosophical examination of Newman's personalism, examined through the lens of Karol Wojtyla (Pope Saint John Paul II), explores the contemporary relevance of Newman's thought in contemporary Roman Catholic discourse.

Dr. Javier Sánchez-Cañizares's article, "Cognitive Inhibition and the Conscious Assent to Truth: A Newmanian Perspective," will be an unusually inter-disciplinary piece for some readers. The author seeks to engage contemporary studies in cognitive processing with Newman's understanding of our experience of assent to truth. My hope is that Dr. Sánchez-Cañizares's work will challenge readers to press beyond conventional categories of Newman scholarship and consider other ways in which Newman's thought might fruitfully engage contemporary intellectual discourse.

In contrast, the last two articles of this issue seek to use Newman's words to explore two matters of great concern to enthusiastic readers of Newman: Catholic education and consolation in bereavement. Fr. Peter Stravinskas's article employs the words of Newman and those of Pope Francis to illustrate the value of Catholic education and its potential to shape the interior life and actions of those who receive it. Fr. Peter Conley's article explores through Newman's letters his approach to consoling mourners in times of bereavement. His reflections seem apposite in an issue marking the passing of a beloved colleague. Two reviews conclude this issue. Dr. Giulia Marotta examines Michele Marchetto's study on Newman's personalism, John Henry Newman: Identità, alterità, persona (2016). Fr. John Ford considers a recent PhD dissertation by Dr. Luis Mauricio Albornoz Olivares, on Newman sermons, entitled John Henry Newman y la condición antropológica como fundamento para la teología de la credibilidad: Estudio crítico de los sermones Anglicanos, 1824-1843. These two reviews remind us that Newman scholarship is advancing beyond the linguistic borders of English language scholarship, and there is much to learn from scholars who publish on Newman in other languages.