[NYer]

"He is a true educator, so he has a passionate interest in education," Father Henry, who said he has regular conversations with Vatican officials, said of Pope Benedict. "He's looking at Western Europe, and he's looking at the United States, and he's not seeing a vibrant faith among the intelligentsia, among the elites of our culture. And I think he's probably going to attribute that to maybe Catholic universities needing to put more emphasis on their primary identity."

The president of the Cardinal Newman Society, Patrick Reilly, said Fordham University in New York, his alma mater, is one institution that he hopes will be forced to change by Pope Benedict's address, describing the university as a central offender in terms of violating its Catholic roots.

Fordham's director of communications, Bob Howe, described that charge as ridiculous, saying the university's relationship with Edward Cardinal Egan of the New York Archdiocese as strong and healthy. "There's no way that someone could look at Fordham and say that we are retreating from the Catholic identity," Mr. Howe said.

As for the pope's speech, Mr. Howe made just one prediction: "I don't think us being Catholic enough is the topic of the conversation. That may be what the Cardinal Newman Society would like it to be about. But I don't think they can say or anybody can say what it will be about yet."

If that is the messsage, it is an open question how much Pope Benedict will actually be able to change. Only Catholic University is controlled directly by the Vatican; other colleges have no such ties.

Mr. Reilly said a strong message could still have a powerful influence, affecting the kinds of Catholic universities parents and students choose to attend.

Mr. Maguire, however, said he expects little change.

"People will listen to him, and he'll go back home, and it won't make much difference," he said.

[wideawake]

he will enter the debate on the side of increasing so-called Catholicity

Even The Sun can't resist a little editorializing along with its "reportage."

[Straight Vermonter]

Woohoo!!! There could not be better news. Catholic schools and universities crank out atheists by the thousands.

[the invisib1e hand]

Thank God for the Church and the Pope.

[Salvation]

**Pope Benedict XVI will use his trip to America next month to present Catholic educators with a powerful challenge, one whose effects could ripple from Notre Dame, Ind., to Tarrytown, N.Y., prominent Vatican watchers are predicting.**

Hopefully Cardinal Mahony will also get the message.

[wintertime]

Good for him!

I attended Villanova University. It was a hotbed of Liberation Theology in the early 70s.

[vladimir998]

Notice the dig here?

“...the address will insert Pope Benedict into an ongoing debate... [about how Catholic] schools should assert their Catholic identities — even as Catholic enrollment declines.”

Oh, I see. Catholic identity is chasing away students? No, not by a mile. Even if some students left over the Catholic identity, the students who do attend will provide a better and larger Catholic generation of students in the years to come.

[baa39]

Part II of the Come to Jesus meeting for the Jesuits.

[veritas2002]

I challenge everyone to name one TRULY Catholic college or university. I’ll start...Christendom in Front Royal VA. You’re next

[annalex]

There is a hilarious, given the recent scandal news, mentioning of Eliot Spitzer in the article.