Why your bishop didn’t read Aquinas

Notre Dame for many years kept texts on the Vatican's Index of Forbidden Books locked behind a metal grate, and students needed permission from the university President in order to access them.

While researching the history of Notre Dame’s Great Books program, I came across this bit of history from Fr. Nicholas Ayo, C.S.C.: “In 1950 it was the usual practice to use a textbook written by professors who presented a canned version of their understanding to be digested by the students. It was the professors, not the students, who read the great or…