Robert Sirico

The Rev.
Robert Sirico
Priest of Grand Rapids, Michigan
Diocese Grand Rapids
Orders
Ordination 1989
Personal details
Born (1951-06-23) June 23, 1951
New York City, New York, United States
Nationality American
Denomination Roman Catholic
Occupation President of the Acton Institute
Profession Priest, author, co-founder and president of the Acton Institute
Alma mater The Catholic University of America

Robert A. Sirico (born 23 June 1951) is an American Roman Catholic priest, gay rights activist, and the founder of the Acton Institute. He is a political and cultural commentator.

He is the younger brother of The Sopranos actor Tony Sirico.

Biography

Sirico was raised in a Catholic family in Brooklyn, New York, but by his early teenage years he had left the Church. He received an associate's degree from Los Angeles City College, studied at St. Mary's University College, London, and received a bachelor's degree in English from the University of Southern California.

On May 10, 1972, Sirico publicly declared his homosexuality [1] and subsequently joined and served as a Pentecostal preacher in the Metropolitan Community Church. Sirico promoted left-wing politics but after a time he began to realize he did not agree with the principles of socialism.[2][3]

A deeper study of the human person led to his return to the Catholic Church in 1977, and later the writings of St. Augustine and the biography of Blessed John Henry Newman moved him to consider the priesthood. He received an M.Div. from The Catholic University of America in 1987 and was ordained a Paulist priest in 1989. He was assigned to the Catholic Information Center in Grand Rapids, Michigan and soon thereafter founded the Acton Institute.[2][3][4]

Acton Institute

In 1990, in response to what he saw as an insufficient understanding of economics by religious leaders and the religious isolation of business leaders, Sirico founded the Acton Institute in Grand Rapids. With the motto "connecting good intentions with sound economics," the institute provides a vision of free market economics within a Judeo-Christian moral framework.[4] In Sirico's words:

The essential thing was my frustration when I was in seminary ... to hear homilies preached that inevitably insulted business people. I knew this was a serious error both theologically and pastorally. Theologically, because of the moral bankruptcy of socialism as an ideology. But pastorally because it alienated good people who were working and attempting to participate in the Christian mission.[5]

Shortly after the institute's founding Pope John Paul II published his encyclical Centesimus annus. Some, such as Greg Burke, have claimed that John Paul II gave support to Sirico's economic and moral vision by taking what Sirico calls a "preferential option for liberty," and asserting that economic freedom is essential for a moral society, and makes aid for the poor more effective.[4]

Public life

Gay rights activism

Sirico is the founder of the Metropolitan Community Church Youth Group for young gay men. In April 1973, Sirico and the MCC picketed the Seattle Police Department, claiming there was a "vendetta" by the Seattle Police Department against homosexuals. In October 1973, Sirico was arrested in Seattle for solicitation, reportedly singing "We Shall Overcome" with fellow protesters in jail until bailed.

He is the former director of the Los Angeles Gay Community Center. In 1976, police raided the center upon reports of a "slave market" where male prostitutes were auctioned.[6] Sirico stated the police misinterpreted the charity affair, where males were auctioned "just like high school slave auctions in which students are auctioned off to perform tasks such as carrying books to class".

Sirico is a proponent of gay marriage and has performed same-sex marriages.[7]

Political and social commentary

Sirico's writings have appeared in The New York Times,[8] The Wall Street Journal,[9] the Financial Times,[10] Forbes,[11] National Review,[12] The Washington Times,[13] First Things,[14] the National Catholic Register,[15] the National Catholic Reporter,[16] Crisis magazine,[17] and the Journal of Markets & Morality.[18] In his writing, he addresses such topics as the ethics of political and social freedom and the history of civil rights, international trade and finance, business ethics, and bioethics.[19]

Sirico lectures around the world on economics and morality—in North and South America, Central and Eastern Europe, and elsewhere.[20][21] He is also a frequent radio and television guest.[22][23]

In November 2009, Sirico signed the "Manhattan Declaration," an ecumenical statement issued by Christian leaders in defense of the sanctity of life, traditional marriage, and religious liberty.[24][25][26]

Appointments and honors

In 1990, Sirico was inducted into the Mont Pelerin Society. He served on the Michigan Civil Rights Commission from 1994 to 1998. The Franciscan University of Steubenville awarded Sirico an honorary doctoral degree in Christian Ethics in 1999. The Universidad Francisco Marroquín in 2001 granted him an honorary doctorate in social sciences.[27] He is a member of the American Academy of Religion.

He also serves on the board of advisers for the Committee for a Constructive Tomorrow and the Civic Institute in Prague.[28][29]

Books

As author

As co-author

As editor

References

  1. ↑ Template:City publisher=Seattle Post-Intelligencer
  2. 1 2 Meehan, Chris (26 July 2003). "Building a House of Virtue". The Grand Rapids Press (Grand Rapids, MI).
  3. 1 2 Sullivan, Elizabeth (8 February 1993). "Rev. Robert A. Sirico: The Inside Track". Grand Rapids Business Journal (Grand Rapids, MI).
  4. 1 2 3 Burke, Greg (8 September 1991). "The Market & Liberty". National Catholic Register (North Haven, CT).
  5. ↑ Golder, Ed (8 November 1998). "Capitalism and Christ". The Grand Rapids Press (Port Grand Rapids, MI). pp. D1, D4.
  6. ↑ . Seattle Post-Intelligencer http://www.renewamerica.com/columns/engel/120412. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  7. ↑ . National Catholic Reporter http://ncronline.org/blogs/distinctly-catholic/fr-robert-sirico-gay-marriages-he-once-performed. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  8. ↑ Sirico, Robert A. (28 September 2000). "An Unjust Sacrifice". The New York Times. Retrieved 5 August 2011.
  9. ↑ Sirico, Robert A. (13 July 2009). "The Pope on 'Love in Truth'". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 5 August 2011.
  10. ↑ Sirico, Robert (9 August 1994). "Capitalism Must Seize the High Ground". The Financial Times (London, England).
  11. ↑ Sirico, Robert (25 August 1994). "Samaritan's Dilemma". Forbes (New York City: Forbes).
  12. ↑ "Boehner's Catholic Critics Rush to Protect Welfare State". National Review. Retrieved 5 August 2011.
  13. ↑ "Ethics and Layoffs". Washington Times. Retrieved 5 August 2011.
  14. ↑ Sirico, Robert (October 1996). "How Partisan Are the Bishops?". First Things (New York City: Institute on Religion and Public Life).
  15. ↑ Sirico, Robert (8 March 1998). "Should the IMF Bail out Asia?". National Catholic Register (Irondale, Alabama: EWTN).
  16. ↑ Sirico, Robert (24 September 1999). "Peace and trade, not sanctions, will change Iraq". National Catholic Reporter (Kansas City, Missouri).
  17. ↑ Sirico, Robert (February 2001). "The Strange Spiritual Journey of Garry Wills". Crisis (Washington, DC).
  18. ↑ "The Late-Scholastic and Austrian Link to Modern Catholic Economic Thought" (PDF). Journal of Markets & Morality 1 (2): 122–129. October 1998. Retrieved 10 August 2011.
  19. ↑ Sirico, Robert (11 July 2001). "No Compromise on Stem Cells". The Wall Street Journal.
  20. ↑ "Liberty, Economics, and the Clergy". Organization Trends (Washington, D.C.: Capital Research Center). July 1992.
  21. ↑ "Priest to lecture on free market in free society in Nassau next week". The Nassau Tribune (The Bahamas). 7 March 1991. p. 8.
  22. ↑ Nicholson, Jennifer (15 December 1990). "The economics of Christianity". The State (Columbia, SC). p. 3-D.
  23. ↑ "TV program to debut Dec. 2". The Michigan Catholic (Grand Rapids, MI). 17 November 1990.
  24. ↑ "List of Religious & Organizational Leaders Signatories". Manhattan Declaration.org. Retrieved 10 August 2011.
  25. ↑ Goodstein, Laurie (20 November 2009). "Christian Leaders Unite on Political Issues". The New York Times (New York City). Retrieved 10 August 2011.
  26. ↑ "Read the Declaration: A Call of Christian Conscience". Manhattan Declaration.org. Retrieved 10 August 2011.
  27. ↑ ""Staff Member: Rev. Robert A. Sirico." Acton Institute". Acton.org. Retrieved 2012-03-14.
  28. ↑ ""Board of Advisors." Civic Institute". Obcinst.cz. Retrieved 2012-03-14.
  29. ↑ "CFACT Board of Advisors". Cfact.org. 2009-07-08. Retrieved 2012-03-14.

External links

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