Episode 177: The Open Door with John Hittinger on Immigration and Immigration Policy (December 11, 2020)

This week on The Open Door, Jim Hanink, Mario Ramos-Reyes, Christopher Zehnder discuss immigration, with a special focus on “the right to stay.” Our welcome guest is John Hittinger, a professor of philosophy at the University of St. Thomas (Houston). Hittinger founded the Pope John Paul II Forum for the Church in the Modern World in 2005. He is the author of four books and has published articles and presented papers on topics including John Locke, Jacques Maritain, military ethics, liberal education, political philosophy, and the thought of John Paul II. We will ask Prof. Hittinger the following questions. Please feel free to add you own!1. You founded the Pope John Paul II Forum for the Church in the Modern World in 2005. Now you are directing the Saint John Paul II Institute. What are you are doing to promote Saint JP2?2. What do you foresee as some of the Forum’s future projects?3. Could you tell us about the Forum’s friends in Poland?4. Your range of interests is broad. What led you to write on immigration?5. Just what is “the right to stay”?6. Could you outline some of the central themes in St. John Paul II’s writing on immigration?7. How does Scripture direct our response to the immigrant and, more broadly, “the other”?8. What are the prospects for authentic dialogue on immigration policies?9. Politics today seems focused on power. Do you see any ways to refocus it on service?10. The Open Door supports the American Solidarity Party (ASP). This year’s presidential contest saw us quadruple our votes! What do you make of this “rivulet of the present” and “wave of the future,” especially its immigration policy?