Please, Lord, may the next pope be a Catholic pope.
A little over a year ago, I spent a week living and studying at the Vatican as a guest lecturer at the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences, a university-style organization of scholars that explores ideas of interest to the Vatican. Last year, the academy addressed the philosophy of St. Thomas Aquinas on the 750th anniversary of his death.
This is not an esoteric subject. Aquinas taught that all rational people can discern right from wrong and good from evil by exercising free will and human reason, and they do not need the government to aid them in this endeavor.
This is generally known as natural law. My presentation was on the concept of natural rights, a derivation of natural law.
The Vatican, which is a fraction of the size of Central Park in New York City, has a fine guesthouse on the grounds called the Domus, which was my home for four days. It was also the permanent residence of Pope Francis.
On our first day there, my 24 colleagues and I were dining in the small Domus dining room when the pope came in and sat two tables away from us. It was surreal.
Here is the backstory.
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