[I got the rope]

I don’t see anything in this article that makes me believe that the Catholic Church is doing anything about this. Do you?

The university is still thumbing their noses at them.

[Mrs. Don-o]

I don't know all the legal ins and outs, but I'm quite sure the bishops doesn't "own" Misericordia or relate to it as a landlord to a tenant. It was founded by the Sisters of Mercy (RSM), and possibly belongs to the RSM's, or is incorporated under a Board of Directors which may or may not be dominated by RSM's.

What I'm getting at here, is that the bishop may have no legal authority at allover the University, and his only canonical authority would be to do just what he's doing now: to investigate their claim to he a "Catholic" University, examine the evidence,and then make a judgment as to whether they can still call themselves "Catholic" or not.

They could just go the way of, say, Manhattanville, and say, "Fine, so we're not Catholic anymore. Eh." They may be saying as much by their (so far) refusal to comply with the Bishops' simple requirement that they show how they are transmitting the Church's teachings. Evidently they are not.

Anyone who knows anything about the legal and canonical relationship between Bishop Martino and Mesericordia, please jump in here, because I am making assumptions here based on what I understand about some other Catholic universities (and they're not all set up the same way.)

If the Bishop wanted to get really bullish, he could excommunicate Catholics member of the Board if they persistenly defy him. If he wanted to go for a tactical- nuke, I believe he could expel all the the RSM's from the Diocese. But I don't think he'd do that: it would ignite rebellion in a multitude of parishes and schools where I suppose the RSM's still teach, and probably tear the Diocese apart.

What he's doing now --- preemptively going public with the whole mess--- is, in itself, highly provocative. To which I say, "Amen, and it's about time."

You have any suggestions about what he should do?