This article is Part 1 of 2.The following is the first part of an address by founding fellow and retiring trustee of Campion College, Karl Schmude, which was presented as the St Edmund Campion Lecture at Campion College on June 19, 2025. In his “swan song” address, Karl reflects on the Catholic tradition in Australia and the place of Campion College in that tradition as a response to the cultural and spiritual decline of the 21st century. I would like to begin by calling to mind a statement that noted historian Manning Clark made when he was halfway through the writing of his monumental six-volume history of Australia. Clark delivered the ABC Boyer Lectures nearly half a century ... Please log in or subscribe for $12/month.