Fr. John M. McDermott, SJ

About Fr. John M. McDermott, SJ

Fr. John M. McDermott, SJ, currently teaches theology at Sacred Heart Major Seminary in Detroit. He previously taught at Fordham University, the Gregorian University (Rome), and the Pontifical College Josephinum. He was also invited professor at St. Joseph's Seminary (Yonkers) and Seton Hall University. He served on the International Theological Commission, various Roman commissions, and as consultor to the USCCB Doctrine Committee. He has published two books, edited two others, and produced more than 150 articles on philosophy, dogmatic theology, Scripture, history, and spirituality.

Some Unpolitical Thoughts in a Time of Crisis

The former mayor of Chicago and Obama political advisor, Rahm Emanuel, made himself noteworthy by recently reiterating his political principle, “You never want a serious crisis to go to waste. And what I mean by that is an opportunity to do … [Read more...]

Fr. Martin, Compassion, and Immigration

The world is full of violence wielded by revolutionaries struggling to overcome unjust structures of oppression in order to introduce a new world order and by conservatives upholding traditional values against forces of chaos and … [Read more...]

The Necessity of Confession and Its Seal

Any Catholic reading the report of Australia’s Royal Commission of Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse must be appalled by the multiple instances of child abuse in ecclesial institutions perpetrated by priests, religious, and l … [Read more...]

The Family: Expanded Sacrament

It has become a trite truism to say that the traditional family is under attack. The sources of the onslaught may be traced back at least to the 19th century’s exaltation of Romantic infatuation and its accompanying insistence that the s … [Read more...]

What Does Authority Have to Do with Religion?

“Authority” is generally used as a derogatory term in our world. Nazism gave the word a bad name as German officials, one after another, at the Nuremburg war trials sought to excuse themselves by claiming that they were just obeying a hig … [Read more...]

Why Study Latin and Greek?

Studying Greece and Rome both reveals the basis of Western culture, while providing the study of a culture’s internal coherence. I always suspected a massive plot behind the sudden demise of classical languages in Catholic schools and un … [Read more...]