The Personalism of John Paul II
Reading Group
November 2, 9, and 16
A three-week reading group through Crosby’s Personalism of John Paul II with Robert McNamara.
The group will meet over Zoom on Monday afternoons in November (November 2, 9, and 16, 2026) from 12:30 PM – 1:30 PM EDT.
About the Text
I wrote this little book twenty years ago as an introduction to the main themes in St. John Paul II’s personalism. I reissue it today in the conviction that his personalism is needed now no less than it was then. Many are the depersonalizing forces that beset us today. We continue to see in our time what St. John Paul called the “pulverization of the person.” And yet, at the same time, we continue to see signs of a growing personalist sensibility. Deep down most of us know that persons merit respect and should not be manipulated and commodified and demonized. Even when we are complicit in some such abuse of persons, we know better. Our better self revives when we are rebuked. And so we need to fan the flames of a certain sense for the person that has not been extinguished in the men and women of our time. We need to hear a prophetic voice that calls us back to the “truth about man” that is still felt in our conscience. John Paul II is just the voice we need to hear.
John F. Crosby
Format
The meeting will be conducted live in Zoom. Links for the session will be sent out ahead of time.
To allow for rich discussion, the group is limited in size to a maximum of 20 participants. Once the group is full, additional registrations will be placed on a waitlist.
All participants are expected to have a copy of the text and to come prepared to each session having done the weekly reading (15-45 pages per week). The weekly reading schedule will be e-mailed to you.
Moderator
Dr. Robert McNamara is lecturer in philosophy and head of philosophy department at St. Patrick’s Pontifical University, Ireland, adjunct professor of philosophy at Franciscan University of Steubenville, USA, while also tutoring periodically at the ITI Catholic University, Austria, and the Maryvale Institute, England. Robert is also an associate series editor of Edith Stein Studies, an associate scholar of the Hildebrand Project, a research fellow at the Institute for the Study of Man and Woman, and a founding member of the Aquinas Institute of Ireland (currently suspended). Having studied physics, computing, philosophy, and theology, Robert brings a multidisciplinary perspective to his work while exploring anthropological and metaphysical themes in ancient, medieval, and phenomenological thinkers, with a defined focus on philosophical personalism in the Christian tradition. He currently resides in Maynooth, Ireland, with his wife, Caroline, and their five children.
Costs
Reading groups are free to attend.
If you are able, we invite you to make a donation to help defray the costs of organizing (reading groups cost the Hildebrand Project ~$900 for a four-week group). We are committed to making reading groups accessible to all; therefore, participation is not contingent on a donation.
Your gift support this reading group, our publications, web resources, and other events, all of which contribute to bringing the vital, life-giving witness of personalist philosophy into new and uncertain times.
Level:
Suitable for beginner to intermediate: primarily discussion.
Readings:
Forthcoming
Time:
12:30 PM – 1:30 PM EDT
November 2 — 12:30 pm – 1:30 pm EDT