12 July, 2024
Dear Reader,
OUR NINTH COLLOQUIUM
Readers who remember that great TV series Yes Minister may recall Jim Hacker asking what a ‘colloquium’ was and being told by Bernard, I suppose, that it was just a pretentious upmarket word for ‘conference’. Ten years ago when the Dawson Centre was first kicking off we chose the more show-offish word for a reason: we wanted to convey the idea that our conferences were not just going to be gatherings of reasonably like-minded people, but real conversations. There weren’t to be several simultaneous streams or alternative sessions to choose between, because everyone was to be part of the whole. No keynote speakers, either, because all were deemed to have something important to say.
I’m writing this just three days after our ninth Colloquium on Saturday 6 July, when so many of the words spoken and ideas circulated are still ringing in my ears. The focus this year was on education: rediscovering an authentic Christian humanism. The opening speaker was Karl Schmude, co-founder of Campion College; the closing talk was from Steven Schwartz, former Vice-Chancellor of Macquarie University. Other presenters included a couple of teachers, Lucas McLennan (history) from a Victorian Catholic school, Natalie Kennedy (English) from a Queensland Christian school, and Richard Brown, the recently retired principal of Toowoomba Christian College. We also had a Rome priest, Fr Matthew Solomon, a Sydney academic lawyer, Anna Walsh (who specialises in ethical life issues) and Anna Krohn, Director of the recently re-activated Thomas More Centre. Archbishop Porteous also presented a paper on T S Eliot.
We are living in difficult times, but you don’t have to be a historian to know that there’s nothing new in that! All ages have faced problems and trials, some objectively worse than anything we have to deal with (thank God), but that awareness doesn’t make it easier for us to handle the sorts of things that have fallen to our lot: the dramatic, even catastrophic, falling away of Christian belief and practice that threatens the existence of civilisation as we have known it; and the weird contortions of human minds that have lost their moral direction and see no contradiction between a passion for saving animal lives and the heartless wasting of human ones.
I don’t think there have been any periods of history when the split between theory and practice has been wider. Sexual identity is the big-ticket item here, with an almost numberless range of options available to choose from that would have addled the brains of anyone living a generation ago. But there are some big runners-up as well: We profit from coal but are too precious to burn it ourselves. We abhor tobacco but our government depends on it for a huge slice of its revenue. We hate wasting energy, but every school child in the privileged West nowadays expects air-conditioning in the class room, a luxury almost unknown to their grandparents. To this we can add the dire consequences, in the last 15 years, of the universal availability of the smart phone: its threat to the mental health of children is beginning slowly to emerge and be recognised as a grave problem.
We didn’t solve any of these things at the Colloquium, but we did look deeply at many of them and discerned means and strategies for mending the world, a bit at a time. Most importantly, we drew strength from mutual support. Everything is so much easier when you’re not alone.
Here’s a nice piece on the world we live in by the surprisingly prophetic Rudyard Kipling:
‘As it will be in the future, so it was at the birth of Man,
There are only four things certain since Social Progress began:
The Dog returns to his Vomit, and the Sow returns to her Mire,
And the burnt Fool’s bandaged finger goes wobbling back to the Fire;
And after this is accomplished, and the brave new world begins
When all men are paid for existing and no man must pay for his sins,
As surely as Water will wet us, as surely as Fire will burn,
The Gods of the Copybook Headings will with terror and slaughter return!’
Sincere thanks to all who spoke and all who attended. All the talks will soon be available on our YouTube channel.
ROME SUMMER SCHOOL, 30 June to 15 July 2025
Sadly this proposed collaboration with Campion College has had to be called off because of the difficulty of finding suitable accommodation in Rome during a jubilee year. However, I and a few friends are planning a ‘Latin Reading Party’ in Sicily at the same time. If that could possibly interest you, do let me know.
With best wishes to all, as ever,
David Daintree
FOR FURTHER READING
MORE ON ‘CLASSICAL SCHOOLS’
Andrew Kern of the CIRCE Institute gave a brilliant address at last month’s Classical Education conference in Brisbane, organised by Logos Australis in conjunction with the Australian Classical Education Society and ourselves. He also spoke to the Ramsay Centre in Sydney – HERE IS THE FULL RECORDING.
The Chesterton Schools Network is growing fast not only in the USA but elsewhere. It’s another sign that ‘Classical Education’ is taking off, as part of a widespread movement in the Anglosphere particularly towards low-cost independent schools and home-schooling.
St Andrew’s Academy in Kentucky and Gregory the Great Academy in Pennsylvania are two interesting US schools, the latter much influenced in its foundation by the great educationalist John Senior.
Chavagnes International College in France is an important school with which we have had long and friendly relations.
Michaela Community School, Wembley, head teacher Katharine Birbalsingh
West London Free School, founded by Toby Young.
A WOMAN FOR ALL SEASONS
Dr Joanna Howe campaigns against abortion. Her simple no-nonsense goal is ‘to make abortion unthinkable’. She is in trouble with her employer, the University of Adelaide (no surprises there) and asks for our support. Here is her website.
ON HAMAS AND ISRAEL
The Dawson Centre will tread with care in the matter of the current crisis in the Middle East, but here is the full text of the Hamas Covenant of 1988. Judge for yourself whether Hamas would be likely to support a proposal for a peace accord between the states of Israel and Palestine.
‘HATE SPEECH’ ATTRIBUTED TO ARCHBISHOP
Readers may recall that Archbishop Porteous recently sent a message to parents of Catholic school children reminding them of the obligations of both the schools and the students. He was widely reviled for ‘hate speech’. For the record, all parents who send their children to Catholic schools in Tasmania have accepted and signed the following declaration:
‘The school is conducted in accordance with the teachings, doctrines, beliefs, tenets and principles of the Catholic Church. You and the Student acknowledge and accept that the School has an obligation to teach the doctrines, beliefs, tenets and principles of the Catholic Church and will continue to support that obligation while the Student remains enrolled in Tasmanian Catholic schooling.’
Surely no further comment is necessary.
PERSECUTION OF CHRISTIANS
Open Doors is a Christian organisation that monitors the persecution of Christians across the world. It reported in January this year that 365 million Christians are subject to ‘high levels of persecution and discrimination’, and that one in seven Christians suffer persecution of one kind or another. 4,998 Christians were killed for faith-related reasons last year, Nigeria having the highest number of deaths.
MORE COMING EVENTS
BRISBANE CLASSICAL AND LIBERAL SCHOOLS FORUM
A one-day event to be held on 24 September. Registration is free. Register here.
DAWSON CENTRE SUMMER SCHOOLS, 6-17 JAN 2025
The Centre will again offer two language summer schools in consecutive weeks in January: Ecclesiastical and Medieval Latin and New Testament or ‘koine’ (common) Greek.
The Latin school is not designed to promote the Extraordinary Form of the Mass, but we recognise that Latin is still the official language of the Western Church and aim to offer guided instruction in reading important and much treasured works, both poetry and prose, not only sacred but secular as well. Latin is arguably the mother tongue of Europe. Its literature is immensely rich. Pope John XXIII wrote in 1962: ‘The employment of Latin has recently been contested in many quarters, and many are asking what the mind of the Apostolic See is in this matter. We have therefore decided to issue the timely directives contained in this document, so as to ensure that the ancient and uninterrupted use of Latin be maintained and, where necessary, restored. It is a matter of regret that so many people, unaccountably dazzled by the marvellous progress of science, are taking it upon themselves to oust or restrict the study of Latin and other kindred subjects…. Yet, in spite of the urgent need for science, Our own view is that the very contrary policy should be followed.’
There will also be an introduction to palaeography, including an opportunity to handle original medieval manuscripts. There will be a strong emphasis on the pronunciation of Latin in speech and music. The course is not suitable for absolute beginners: some prior knowledge of the language is necessary. That said, a committed person could, between now and January, achieve a sufficient standard by self-instruction to be up to scratch!
We can recommend many good modern primers that make that goal more accessible. Participants will never be embarrassed by their shaky Latin: the teaching method leaves the entire task of translation and exposition to the Lecturer. This approach has been useful to relative beginners as well as those who are more experienced.
On the other hand, the Greek course is intended for beginners who want to experience the excitement of reading parts of the Bible and early Christian literature in the original language. We shall read extracts from the Gospel and Epistles, as well as some important passages from the Septuagint (the ancient Greek version of the Old Testament), and some pieces from the early Fathers of the Church and the Liturgy of St John Chrysostom. Even though prior knowledge of Greek is not essential, beginners are advised to begin the course with a comfortable recognition knowledge of the Greek alphabet, otherwise learning even basic grammar and vocabulary will be frustrating and inefficient. We shall provide some materials to assist with that as soon as you enrol.
Both courses are intensive. There will be four lectures a day on each of the five days, three in the morning and one after lunch to free up the afternoons for private study. To enrol and for further information contact David Daintree dccdain@gmail.com.
The fee for each course is $350 (concessions available). All proceeds will go to the Christopher Dawson Centre.
In former years we offered a third summer school, an overview of Western Civilisation, also five days in duration, covering Literature, History, Philosophy, Theology and Art. It was great fun and attracted large numbers, but in January 2024 we sadly had to cancel due to poor enrolments. I suppose it was a late casualty of Covid, which certainly made people more reluctant to travel, but ‘the tyranny of distance’, and the fact that more and more good things are now being streamed online, all worked against it. That said, we would consider running it again next January if there were sufficient interest.