Voices: Robert Kennedy

"The Murphy Institute is a strategic partnership between the Center for Catholic Studies and the School of Law. Writing in Ex corde ecclesiae, Pope John Paul II said that 'the objective of a Catholic university is to ensure ... a Christian presence in the university world confronting the great problems of society and culture.'

The purpose of the Murphy Institute is to help bring the 'Christian presence' that Pope John Paul II spoke of in Ex Corde Ecclesiae to legal education, to legal scholarship, and ultimately to lawmaking and public policy. The long Catholic reflection on human dignity, human society, and natural law adds a rich and coherent voice to the conversation about law and justice. In doing so, it expands the focus of the Center for Catholic Studies and supports in concrete ways the Catholic mission of the School of Law.

With this funding, the Murphy Institute will be able to enrich the curriculum of the School of Law by incorporating more elements of the Catholic intellectual tradition, as well as be able to enhance the university’s reputation as it provides leadership across the country in the project to restore a Catholic character to professional education."

– Robert Kennedy, Co-Director of the Murphy Institute, and Professor
of Business