[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 25 (Wednesday, March 9, 1994)]
[Senate]
[Page S]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: March 9, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

 
                         HONORING MICHAEL NOVAK

  Mr. DURENBERGER. Mr. President, I rise today to honor one of the most 
distinguished Catholic intellectuals of our generation. Michael Novak 
of the American Enterprise Institute was honored yesterday with the 
Templeton Prize for Progress in Religion--and this award was richly 
deserved.
  Michael Novak rose to prominence as a liberal theologian in the 
1960's. He sought to explain to Americans the deeper meaning of the 
openness to the world that was the hallmark of the Second Vatican 
Council. In the spirit of ``aggiornamento,'' or renewal, that was 
launched by Pope John XXIII, he sought to read the signs of the times 
in an effort to demonstrate the relevance of the eternal truths of 
religion in a time of rapid change.
  I believe that his more recent work--his efforts to outline a 
spirituality of liberal capitalism--are entirely of a piece with his 
earlier theological writings. Surely one of the greatest signs of the 
times in our century has been the achievement of American-style 
economic freedom in raising the material standard of living of millions 
of people the world over.
  In important works like ``The Spirit of Democratic Capitalism,'' 
Novak attempted to capture the essence of this achievement. He once 
remarked that the wrong turn taken by much political thought in this 
century was to search for the ``causes of poverty.'' Novak believes 
that we already have enough poverty in the world: ``What we have to 
look for is the causes of wealth.''
  The career of Michael Novak has increased the spiritual and material 
wealth of our country--and the world. I ask my colleagues to join me in 
congratulating him on the important honor he has just received.
  In this regard, I am delighted to point out that last year's 
distinguished recipient of the Templeton Prize, Charles Colson--founder 
of the prison fellowship ministry--is a good friend of mine. I am 
gratified by the recognition that the Templeton Prize confers on these 
outstanding individuals.
  I ask unanimous consent that today's Washington Post story about 
Michael Novak be included in the Record at the conclusion of my 
remarks.
  There being no objection, the article was ordered to be printed in 
the Record, as follows:

                [From the Washington Post, Mar. 9, 1994]

        Catholic Capitalist Novak Wins $1 Million Religion Prize

                          (By Gustav Niebuhr)

       Michael Novak, a neoconservative Roman Catholic theologian 
     best known for his spirited defense of American-style 
     capitalism, was awarded the world's most generous honor for 
     professional achievement yesterday, the Templeton Prize for 
     Progress in Religion, worth about $1 million.
       Novak, 60, a scholar at the American Enterprise Institute, 
     has sparked considerable controversy among Catholics who do 
     not share his economic views.
       In 1986, he helped guide a commission of Catholic lay 
     people who publicly challenged the U.S. Catholic bishops 
     after the latter criticized U.S. economic policies during the 
     Reagan years. The bishops' pastoral letter urged greater 
     social spending to help the poor, while the commission 
     rejected such government intervention.
       The prize Novak won was established in 1972 by Wall Street 
     investor John Templeton to honor religious figures as the 
     Nobel Prizes do scientists and writers. Templeton, a resident 
     of the Bahamas, required that the prize's value exceed that 
     of the Nobels. This year, it is worth 650,000 British pounds, 
     about $1 million.
       Last year the prize went to former Watergate figure Charles 
     Colson, founder of Prison Fellowship, which brings a 
     Christian message to prison inmates. Past recipients include 
     the Rev. Billy Graham and Mother Teresa.
       A self-described liberal and Vietnam War critic in the 
     1960's, Novak moved right thereafter, arguing that free 
     market capitalism provides the poor with greater economic 
     opportunity than socialism.
       The author of more than 20 books, Novak has described U.S. 
     capitalism as a ``three-sided system''--a free market 
     restrained by the moral force of Judeo-Christian values and 
     by demands of different political groups. His work won praise 
     from former British prime minister Margaret Thatcher, one of 
     this year's Templeton Prize judges.
       But the Rev. Jim Hug, executive director of the Center of 
     Concern, a nonprofit Catholic research group focusing on 
     peace and justice issues, said: ``What he fails to analyze 
     adequately is the [free market] economic system generates a 
     great deal of wealth and puts it in the hands of a few people 
     who then gain control of the political system and use it to 
     their needs.''
       Novak said he has gotten less criticism since the collapse 
     of socialism in Eastern Europe. ``It's surprising how many . 
     . . people say they agree with me,'' he said in a telephone 
     interview.
       He said he plans to use money from the prize to endow 
     scholarships in honor of his late parents. He said he would 
     also use some of the money to aid a Catholic college in 
     Bangladesh in honor of a younger brother, a priest who died 
     in a riot in that country 30 years ago.
       The Rev. J. Bryan Hehir, who has disagreed with some of 
     Novak's economic stands, priased him for the range of his 
     writing on religion and culture. ``Michael has written on a 
     multiplicity of topics,'' said Hehir, professor of religion 
     and society at Harvard Divinity School. ``I've read his 
     theology for years and benefited from it.''

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