The pope and the universities

Published: Friday, May 23, 2008
The pope and the universities

Pope Benedict XVI had barely left the Catholic University of America on April 17 when the Catholic higher education establishment's spin machine shifted into high gear.

One university president said that what most impressed him about the papal address to Catholic educators was what it was not: a dressing-down. Still another president cooed that she felt "affirmed." An administrator at yet another institution said that, as the pope hadn't cited Ex Corde Ecclesia, John Paul II's concerns about Catholic identity were clearly old hat.

One got the distinct impression from the spin that a lot of people thought they'd dodged a bullet --- and were grateful they weren't going home to face irate alums and dubious donors. The "Benedict loves what we're doing" blah-blah has continued ever since.

The facts, to put it gently, suggest something rather more complicated. Consider these excerpts from the Holy Father's address:

"A university's or school's Catholic identity ... is a question of conviction --- do we really believe that only in the mystery of the Word made flesh does the mystery of man truly become clear? Are we ready to commit our entire self --- intellect and will, mind and heart --- to God? Do we accept the truth Christ reveals?"

[What percentage of this year's Catholic college and university graduates could honestly answer those questions with a convinced "Yes?" What percentage would even understand the first question?]

"While we have sought diligently to engage the intellect of our young, perhaps we have neglected the will. Subsequently we observe, with distress, the notion of freedom being distorted. Freedom is not an opting out. Freedom is an opting in --- a participation in Being itself. Hence authentic freedom can never be obtained by turning away from God."

[Might these sentences be printed, framed, and posted in co-ed dormitories on Catholic campuses?]

"We observe today a timidity in the face of the category of the good ... an assumption that every experience is of equal worth and a reluctance to admit imperfection and mistakes. And particularly disturbing is the reduction of the precious and delicate area of education in sexuality to management of 'risk,' bereft of any reference to the beauty of conjugal love."

[How many freshman orientation programs and student life offices on Catholic campuses would have to examine consciences here?]

"....I wish to affirm the great value of academic freedom.... Yet ... any appeal to the principle of academic freedom in order to justify positions that contradict the faith and the teaching of the Church would obstruct or even betray the university's identity and mission; a mission at the heart of the Church's [teaching mission] and not somehow ... independent of it."

[Will the theologians at prestige Catholic universities who affirm Humanae Vitae's teaching on the morally appropriate means of regulating fertility, the Catechism's teaching on the disordered character of homosexual acts, and the teaching of Ordinatio Sacerdotalis on the inadmissability of women to Holy Orders please raise their hands?]

The spin machine notwithstanding, Benedict XVI put serious challenges before the nation's leading Catholic educators. To resolve any doubts that the pope has a different idea of what befits a Catholic college or university than a lot of the Catholic higher education establishment, however, I propose a simple test.

Whether or not to produce Eve Ensler's "Vagina Monologues" --- a "play" that mocks the settled teaching of the Catholic Church --- has become a tedious annual ritual on many Catholic campuses. Prominent among them is Notre Dame: to the public mind, the flagship among U.S. Catholic institutions of higher education. There, the university's president, Father John Jenkins, CSC, has allowed Ensler's "play" on campus, acquiescing to the demands of some Notre Dame faculty while rejecting the counsel of other distinguished faculty members and the arguments of the local bishop.

In the patristic period, disputes within and among local churches were submitted to the Bishop of Rome for adjudication. So here's my proposal and my test-case: let Father Jenkins send Pope Benedict XVI a copy of Ensler's "play," asking the pope whether he considers this material appropriate for production or useful for discussion on a Catholic campus.

The answer, I predict, will not please the spin machine.

George Weigel is a senior fellow of the Ethics and Public Policy Center in Washington, D.C.

Ivory Tower Heretics Yawn Through Pope's Remarks

Note: It's a good thing they didn't use leather chairs or the sound of uneasy shifting would have been deafening as the pope addressed the heretics who run most of the US Catholic Colleges and Universities. The speech was very good but I'm afraid that by talking from a theological perspective he talked over most of their heads. These professional wafflers mostly are tuned into fund-raising and homosexuality these days, not matters of authentic witness.

Full Text From Cardinal Newman Society Website

Crises of Truth and Faith Linked, Says Pope
Addresses Representatives of Catholic Education

WASHINGTON, D.C., APRIL 17, 2008 (Zenit.org).- The modern "crisis of truth" is rooted in a "crisis of faith," Benedict XVI told a group of leaders and representatives of Catholic education.

The Pope affirmed this today at the Catholic University of America in the U.S. capital. He was welcomed to the campus by the university's president, Father David O'Connell, and warmly received by cheering students chanting "CUA loves the Pope."

"Education is integral to the mission of the Church to proclaim the Good News," the Holy Father affirmed.

But he acknowledged that some question the Church's involvement in education. "It is timely, then," the Pontiff said "to reflect on what is particular to our Catholic institutions. How do they contribute to the good of society through the Church's primary mission of evangelization?"

"All the Church's activities stem from her awareness that she is the bearer of a message which has its origin in God himself," the Holy Father explained. And he went on to say that "the one who seeks the truth becomes the one who lives by faith."

Thus, the Pontiff said, a school's Catholic identity is "a question of conviction -- do we really believe that only in the mystery of the Word made flesh does the mystery of man truly become clear? Are we ready to commit our entire self -- intellect and will, mind and heart -- to God? Do we accept the truth Christ reveals? Is the faith tangible in our universities and schools? Is it given fervent expression liturgically, sacramentally, through prayer, acts of charity, a concern for justice, and respect for God's creation? Only in this way do we really bear witness to the meaning of who we are and what we uphold."

"From this perspective one can recognize that the contemporary 'crisis of truth' is rooted in a 'crisis of faith,'" Benedict XVI continued. "Only through faith can we freely give our assent to God's testimony and acknowledge him as the transcendent guarantor of the truth he reveals."

Papal pondering

Though Catholic institutions should witness to the truth of Christ, Benedict XVI affirmed, it is also observable that people are reluctant to entrust themselves to God, he said.

"It is a complex phenomenon and one which I ponder continually," the Pope confessed. "While we have sought diligently to engage the intellect of our young, perhaps we have neglected the will. Subsequently we observe, with distress, the notion of freedom being distorted.

"Freedom is not an opting out. It is an opting in -- a participation in Being itself. Hence authentic freedom can never be attained by turning away from God. Such a choice would ultimately disregard the very truth we need in order to understand ourselves."

Catholic identity

The Holy Father said that Catholic identity "demands and inspires" more than the "orthodoxy of course content" -- "namely that each and every aspect of your learning communities reverberates within the ecclesial life of faith."

"Only in faith can truth become incarnate and reason truly human, capable of directing the will along the path of freedom," he said.

In this way, the Pontiff contended, "our institutions make a vital contribution to the mission of the Church and truly serve society. They become places in which God's active presence in human affairs is recognized and in which every young person discovers the joy of entering into Christ's 'being for others.'"

Serving truth

Benedict XVI further noted that the Church's contribution to the public forum is also questioned.

"It is important therefore to recall that the truths of faith and of reason never contradict one another," he explained. "In articulating revealed truth she serves all members of society by purifying reason, ensuring that it remains open to the consideration of ultimate truths. […] Far from undermining the tolerance of legitimate diversity, such a contribution illuminates the very truth which makes consensus attainable, and helps to keep public debate rational, honest and accountable."

The Pope thanked the representatives of Catholic education for their witness and professionalism -- which brought applause from the crowd.

The Bishop of Rome then lauded the value of academic freedom.

"In regard to faculty members at Catholic colleges universities," he said, "I wish to reaffirm the great value of academic freedom. In virtue of this freedom you are called to search for the truth wherever careful analysis of evidence leads you. Yet it is also the case that any appeal to the principle of academic freedom in order to justify positions that contradict the faith and the teaching of the Church would obstruct or even betray the university's identity and mission; a mission at the heart of the Church's 'munus docendi' and not somehow autonomous or independent of it.

The Pope received another round of applause when he made a "special appeal" to religious brothers, sisters and priests.

"Do not abandon the school apostolate; indeed, renew your commitment to schools especially those in poorer areas," he encouraged them. "In places where there are many hollow promises which lure young people away from the path of truth and genuine freedom, the consecrated person's witness to the evangelical counsels is an irreplaceable gift. I encourage the religious present to bring renewed enthusiasm to the promotion of vocations. Know that your witness to the ideal of consecration and mission among the young is a source of great inspiration in faith for them and their families."

At the end of the address, the Holy Father exchanged gifts with the president of the Catholic University of America. He then greeted and shook hands with some of those present.

When he left the building to head to an interreligious dialogue session nearby, he passed by the waiting popemobile to greet the cheering students waiting outside the door. Later, after taking his seat in the popemobile, he had the window rolled down and leaned out to continue waving and greeting the youth along the path.

Georgetown University Professor Says Pope Must Atone for the Sins of His Past

Sterotypical Georgetown Professor Pops Off at Pope

There will be so much hot air being blown in the Pope's direction this week that it will be difficult to pick and choose which ones to post. This professor, secure in the comfort of his cushy 21st century ivory tower feels he can judge the actions of an 18 year-old boy in Hitler's Nazi Germany who later became arguably the greatest Catholic theologian of our time.

It's not that astounding that such hubris comes from Georgetown. If you've never encountered a real Catholic moral leader, you might have trouble knowing what to think, say or write about one.

Further, if you can't be bothered to read the writings of such a man, you might be constrained to the fishbowl of dissent at Georgetown where group-think and attack have replaced theological discussion and examination.

Ratzinger was thankfully spared by Providence from the fate of a bullet in the back of his head and a mass grave in Auschwitz so that he could be a prophet of our times, one of the most challenging in Catholic history, a time when the Church's own institutions have turned on her.

But then, Providence, Church history and the papacy would be subjects not taught at Georgetown, as least not by faithful Catholics.

Persepective From CUA President Offered on pope's Visit

Note: I tend to agree with the Rev. in his response to the Washington Post story from a few days ago. The media loves to jump all over controversy and play up division. But the Pope is a shepherd, not a lion tamer. He will speak as a father and a pastor. He will encourage and praise and only lightly touch on concerns he may have. When he does, expect the headlines to be "Pope Admonishes College Presidents". But they'll hear the whole message and know what it means. The Vatican already said what needed to be said in Ex Corde Ecclesiae. It's up to the colleges to respond.

A Challenge From the Pope

I could not disagree more with those who predict a "stern message" and a "rebuke" when Pope Benedict XVI addresses Catholic university and college presidents and diocesan education leaders at Catholic University on April 17. The fact that the pope, as teacher of the faith, takes on the compromises advanced within contemporary culture, pushes hard against moral relativism, and seeks to present the intelligibility of the alliance between faith and reason in the quest for truth does not constitute an attack on the Catholic academy. They are the very things that Catholic universities and colleges, too, should be considering, precisely because they are Catholic.

The pope is presenting a challenge to all of us in Catholic higher education to be authentic and faithful to what we say we are and what we say we do. No one should fear such a challenge or paint the call to authenticity as some sort of public reprimand. It is the pope's role and responsibility to lift up Catholic principles as goals to be achieved and as elements of truth, identity and mission for all institutions within the church.

Positive messages do not often make headlines. Controversies -- real or imagined -- do. The suggestion that the pope is coming to the United States with a hammer for Catholic educational leaders is not only premature but also prejudicial. Instead of condemning Catholic universities and colleges for what may be perceived as failures -- and failures do exist -- the pope might very well thank Catholic educational institutions for being beacons of light in a society that sometimes prefers darkness.

VERY REV.
DAVID M. O'CONNELL
President
The Catholic University of America
Washington

The Catholic Brand

The Challenge of Controlling the Catholic Brand
Theophilis
March 15, 2008

(ITH) - The article below from the Washington Post describes the trepidation that Catholic college presidents feel about the upcoming visit by Pope Benedict XVI. They feel that his likely response to their "leadership" will be admonishment and lecturing about "Catholic" identity and dissent. And understandably so.

These college presidents have benefited greatly from using the Catholic brand. Powerful and wealthy alumni who identify themselves as Catholic continue to pump millions of dollars into Catholic college endowments and supply a stream of descendant applicants to their Alma Maters. Further, Catholic high schools continue to encourage graduates to attend Catholic colleges and many have scholarships available from those colleges geographically closest to them .

The college presidents though openly flaunt their dissent from Catholic teaching on faith and morals in the name of "academic freedom". Why? One answer may be the demographic reality that fewer young people identify themselves as churchgoing Catholics. Another may be that to "compete" for faculty and students these colleges feel they need to diversify into demographics having nothing to do with the Catholic faith and more to do with current trends or fads like feminism, homosexuality and secularism.

The response of the Church leadership, especially the Pope, has been to add requirements for these colleges and their presidents to prove they are worthy of the Catholic moniker. Is their response rational or one of futility and desperation?

I liken it to a corporation that wants to control its brand. For Coca Cola to be Coca Cola, it must have the same ingredients, appearance, packaging and advertising wherever and whenever it is made and distributed. If a consumer were to detect a distinct difference in taste from time to time or place to place, they would likely complain or change brands to something more reliable.

Catholic colleges, by using the brand name "Catholic" have broken the rules of sound brand management. "Catholic" at Franciscan University at Steubenville, OH means something very different from "Catholic" at Georgetown University. An unsuspecting parent or student performing a college search almost has to eliminate the idea of a Catholic college from the equation. Indeed, it may be easier to have a Catholic experience at the Catholic Center at secular Boston University than at "Catholic" Boston College just three miles up Commonwealth Avenue.

The Church hierarchy responding to this problem of inconsistent brand has tried to impose some order. The document Ex Corde Ecclesiae issued by the Vatican sought to standardize the brand with respect to theology departments and the delivery system, the professors.

Likewise, the USCCB document, Catholics in Political Life, also sought to create guidelines by which Catholic colleges would approach political activity on their campuses. The reaction by the college presidents was predictable. They ignored these documents and the authority of the Vatican and Episcopate and continued to manage their colleges as separate franchises.

The result has been confusion and disillusionment on the part of practicing Catholics seeking an authentically Catholic experience. Organizations like the Cardinal Newman Society and National Catholic Register have called attention to the problem and produced guides for students and parents to use when selecting a college. In both cases, the list of authentically Catholic colleges is a small minority. And the geographic dispersion means that a student may well have to travel many miles and out of state to attend one.

So now the Pope is visiting and has on the agenda the problem described in this article. He will likely exhort the colleges to come more in line with the truth as defined by the magisterium of the Church. Less likely are any concrete steps to exert pressure on the college presidents or religious orders.

Many will cry that the Pope and the bishops are overstepping their authority and that they are trying to restrict academic freedom. But in reality they are trying to control the Catholic brand because to do otherwise usually means a steep decline in customers.

Catholic College Leaders Expect Pope to Deliver Stern Message

By Jacqueline L. Salmon and Michelle Boorstein
Washington Post Staff Writers
Friday, March 14, 2008; A01

After years of Vatican frustration over what it views as the failure of many U.S. Catholic colleges to adhere to church teachings, school leaders are intently watching for a rebuke from Pope Benedict XVI during his Washington visit next month.

The pope requested the meeting with more than 200 top Catholic school officials from across the country. The gathering will come amid debate over teachings and campus activities that bishops have slammed as violating Catholic doctrine: a rally by pro-abortion rights Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Rodham Clinton at St. Mary's University in San Antonio; a Georgetown University theologian's questioning whether Jesus offers the only road to salvation; and a performance of "The Vagina Monologues" at the University of Notre Dame.

This will be the first papal address in the United States on Catholic education in more than 20 years, and some Vatican watchers predict that it will be the most enduring part of Benedict's visit. Before becoming pope, Benedict was known as "the enforcer" of church orthodoxy, and since taking office, he has said Catholic education must bow to Catholic "truth" and the "rule of life." Such comments have some educators keyed up.

"With people expecting his address on these issues, hopes and concerns are beginning to resurface," said Mathew Schmalz, a religious studies professor at the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, Mass., who has researched and lectured about Catholic identity in higher education.

The Rev. Timothy Broglio, archbishop of the U.S. military services, who served in Rome for a dozen years, said Benedict's speech will be direct. "It'll be very clear and distinct ideas," Broglio said. "... There will be no mistaking what he wants to say."

A drumbeat for greater orthodoxy in Catholic colleges has been heard since 1990, when Pope John Paul II issued a call for Catholic colleges and universities to refocus on their religious identity.

Now educators are waiting to see how tough Benedict, a former theology professor in Germany, will be at the April 17 lecture at Catholic University and how his message will be interpreted and carried out by the bishops after he leaves.

Church officials won't give details about the content of the speech, but conservative Catholics are predicting -- and hoping for -- shock waves from Benedict, who before becoming pope was associated with public reprimands of Catholic theologians and blocked appointments of university faculty members he thought were too liberal.

"This is something that's been simmering for so long that it's reached a boiling point," said Patrick Reilly, president of the Cardinal Newman Society, which works to promote orthodoxy in Catholic higher education. In its recommendations to students, the society says 20 of the 235 U.S. Catholic colleges and universities are sufficiently orthodox. Reilly said a number of bishops and Vatican officials say privately that the speech will "raise a lot of eyebrows."

As pope, Benedict has not been as explicit about the limits of academic freedom as some had expected him to be, and some educators predicted that the talk next month will have a pastoral tone. However, they said, it will make clear that the pope thinks change is necessary.

"One thing the pope will emphasize is the importance for all [Catholic] schools to realize that they aren't independent contractors, they are part of the church," said the Rev. David M. O'Connell, Catholic University's president.

Catholic University is the only U.S. Catholic college founded by the nation's bishops, and it follows the Vatican line more closely than do many other schools. O'Connoll said Rome is concerned about the lack of Catholic faculty at Catholic universities and about rampant "moral relativism" -- the belief that there is no objective right or wrong -- on campuses.

Last fall, Worcester Bishop Robert J. McManus objected to a conference on teen pregnancy held on the campus of the College of the Holy Cross that included speakers from Planned Parenthood and NARAL.

And last month: San Antonio Archbishop Jose Gomez complained about the Clinton rally at St. Mary's University; St. Louis Archbishop Raymond Burke said St. Louis University basketball coach Rick Majerus should be disciplined for his comments in support of abortion rights and embryonic stem cell research; and Catholic bishops moved a theological seminar off Notre Dame's campus to protest an on-campus performance of the play "The Vagina Monologues."

Bishops have criticized Georgetown for hosting Hustler publisher Larry Flynt and allowing the establishment of a pro-abortion rights student club there. Conservative Catholics are complaining about plans to open a gay resource center soon at the school.

School presidents insist that truth-seeking is part of their institutional purpose.

"Every university is committed to the pursuit of truth," said Georgetown President John J. DeGioia, "and we want to ensure that there is the opportunity for both academic freedom and for the free exchange of ideas and opinions across all issues."

But David Gibson, the author of a Benedict biography, said the pope will ask, "If you're not going to be an authentically Catholic, orthodox institution, why should you exist?"

The lecture will be attended by presidents of most U.S. Catholic colleges and universities. All 195 diocesan education directors are also invited, although the Vatican's focus has been on countering relativism in higher education.

After liberalizing moves by the church in the 1960s and 1970s, Pope John Paul in 1990 issued Ex Corde Ecclesiae, presenting his views of what a Catholic university should be. In 1999, U.S. bishops voted to require theology professors to be certified as teaching in a truly "Catholic" manner.

Since then, there has been a vigorous exchange, with most educators on Catholic campuses agreeing that they want to keep a "Catholic" perspective but disagreeing about how pervasive that needs to be. Does it mean events and courses should always come down on the side of orthodox church teachings? Or can the church's position simply be articulated and discussed? What does academic freedom truly mean under Ex Corde?

Many conservatives have complained that colleges and universities don't take seriously the requirement that people teaching theology obtain a "mandatum," or certificate, from the local bishop indicating that the coursework was approved by the church.

Although Catholic colleges and universities were originally founded by religious orders or by laypeople working with bishops, their campuses have become more diverse, and that diversity affects their mission.

"Our schools are not made up of all Catholic students or Catholic faculty and administrators," said the Rev. Charles Currie, president of the Association of Jesuit Colleges and Universities, who has spoken out against the mandatum and quotas on non-Catholic board members and faculty members. "And so the institution has to be respectful of differences at the same time they're trying to foster a [Catholic] identity."

Some are skeptical that anything will change.

"Whatever he says, I think, for the most part, it will fall on deaf ears," said Derry Connolly, president of John Paul the Great Catholic University. "Universities are tough institutions to turn around, and faculty are very powerful. ... I don't think it will have much of an effect."

Pope Benedict to Address Catholic College Heads

He also will meet April 17 with [ ] with Catholic university presidents and diocesan educators at the Catholic University of America before continuing on to New York.

This Pope does not pull punches and is not likely to be in the dark about the condition of the major Catholic colleges and universities in the US. If so, these presidents can expect some kind and gentle upbraiding. The Catholicity of Catholic institutions has been dear to this Pope's heart.

So when he is briefed about some of the stories that are repeated in this blog, he can't help but speak out.The tacit support of abortion and homosexuality that occurs overtly on US Catholic college campuses must have drawn his attention in the brief time he has been Pope. Indeed he is reported to have had a hand in Ex Corde Ecclssiae, which the major colleges ignored, as they did the USCCB directive on Catholics in Political Life.

One would hope he would urge the college presidents to guide their institutions towards the Catholic faith. But don't get your hopes up. Even if he does, they'll do what they always do - smile, and wait for him to leave.