New Turf Field Awaits Cardinals - St. Charles Preparatory School

This is a view of the crowd that filled the Student Commons
to share lunch and hear Archbishop Migliore
deliver this year’s Borromean Lecture. The group nearest
the camera from bottom left are -- Lori Overmyer,
Mairead Fyda, Andy Sonderman, (to his immediate
right) Dick Schneider (Aquinas ’57) and David L. Pemberton
Jr. ’79. The next row from left -- Father Bernie
Weldishofer, Michael L. Kletzly ’85, and his mother,
Patty Kletzly (an Advisory Board member), Father
Roman Ciotola, pastor of Our Lady Victory Parish, and
Mike Wolf (Aquinas ’62). Faculty member Doug Montgomery
is seen on the far left seated with St. Charles
students. The entire student body attended.
From left -- Monsignor David Funk, pastor of St. Agatha
Church, with parishoner William F. Sullivan ’79.
Father Michael J. Lumpe ’78, then pastor of Christ the
King Parish, with Archbishop Migliore
From left -- Marti (nee Dilenschneider) Doughty with
Bob Shay ’53 and wife, Mary (nee Dilenschneider).
The Distinctive Leader in Catholic Education
Integrity to truthiness
Papal Nuncio explores word
trends in Borromean Lecture
The Archbishop’s enticing lecture topic
was entitled: The Most Searched Words:
From Integrity to Truthiness. What’s
Next? In his presentation, the Archbishop
related that his lecture topic evolved from
one of the special annual reports produced
by the Dilenschneider Group, a prominent
public relations firm headquartered
in New York City. (It was through the
initiative and support of that company’s
founder and owner, Robert L. Dilenschneider,
that the Borromean Lectures
came about in the fall of 2000, and continue
each year. Dilenschneider is a 1961
St. Charles graduate.)
One of the reports that Migliore reviewed
was entilted “Noteworthy Trends
for 2007,” which identified two of the
most-searched words on the website of the
authoritative Merriam-Webster dictionary.
The words were integrity in 2005 and
truthiness in 2006.
In his presentation, the Archbishop
described how the trilogy of the principles
of integrity, truth, added with that of
fraternity, must each be given its proper
importance if they are to “give rise to
social and international relations that can
meet the challenges of today’s world.”
To describe this special relationship,
Migliore pointed to a prominent symbol of
the “Borromean Rings,”which appears on
the Borromeo family crest in the Walter
Student Commons. This trio of rings is
intertwined in such a way that removing
any of the rings would cause the entire
structure to fall apart. Scientists today
use the term “borromean” to describe
atomic nuclei that behave in a similar
way: if any one is removed, the rest of the
nucleus disintegrates.
The archbishop said that the term
truthiness is a satirical term coined and
popularized on the cable TV comedy
“news” show, The Colbert Report. It refers
to a condition or quality of preferring concepts
or facts one wishes to be true, rather
than concepts or facts that are known to
be true.
“It is used by those who claim to know
something intuitively, instinctively, with
no regard to evidence or logic, to intellectual
examination, or actual facts,” Migliore
said. He quoted Merriam-Webster
president John Morse as saying, “We’re
at a point where what constitutes truth is
a question on a lot of people’s minds, and
truth has come up for grabs.”
Migliore said, “It points out that our
society has a problem with the concept
of truth. And yet, truth and integrity,
once they are lived out by individuals and
societies, become virtues and can well be
considered two indispensable rings that
build, sustain and season with happiness
our contemporary society.”
The etymology of Integrity, the second
of the three concepts, the archbishop
noted, comes from the Latin adjective
integer (whole, complete) and comprises
the personal inner sense of “wholeness”
that derives from honesty and consistent
uprightness of character. “It is often
understood not only as a consistent and
coherent behavior, but as a mindset and
lifestyle aimed at the discovery of some
truth,” the archbishop said.
As for Fraternity, Migliore noted, it
serves as the third ring to form an inseparable
trilogy. “Fraternity is somehow
the missing link, the missing ring that
hinders us from discerning the truth and
achieving wholeness,” he explained. “It
may become 2007’s most searched word,”
the archbishop speculated.
“This wish I have for you today,” he
said, “that you may experience and establish
day after day more fraternity among
you. This will be the ring in the blazon of
this school, that paves the way for clarity
of mind to discern and understand the
truth. It will pave the way to reach the
sense of personal and social wholeness.”
Archbishop Migliore noted how his life
in the priesthood came about through his
admiration for a local priest’s wholistic
character, wisdom, and availability to
serve the poorest of the poor. “I said to
myself that I wanted to be like him. I did
not yet know at the time what it meant
to be a priest, but I wanted to be like that
pastor who put himself at the service of
all.”
Shortly after his ordination, Father
Migliore was called to his bishop’s office
and was informed that he was being sent
to Rome to begin specialized studies for
diplomatic representation of the Holy See
around the world. “I thought it was a bad
dream,” Migliore said. “I knew nothing
of this kind of work… I was afraid that
it was bureaucratic work, office work, in
which I would lose touch with the People
of God. My immediate response was that I
was unable to accept.”
But his Bishop convinced him by drawing
a comparison to Saint Peter. He
remarked, “From a man who barely knew
his own geography of Galilee and the skill
of fishing, Jesus made him a man capable
of confronting life in the capital of the
world. With that, I accepted my bishop’s
invitation having faith in his words and I
never regretted having said ‘yes.’”