Bishop’s appointment to Ave Maria board indicates closer ties to university

The relationship between Ave Maria University and the Catholic Church took a major step forward this month.

The university named Diocese of Venice Bishop Frank Dewane to its board of trustees, the first official role for the senior local cleric at the eastern Collier County university.

Unlike 18 months ago, when an empty 100-foot church building symbolized a disconnect between them, now everyone is speaking the same language: Collaboration.

“It shows that we’re working collaboratively with the diocese,” university President Nick Healy said.

“I look forward to continuing to collaborate with the university, particularly with regard to the spiritual and pastoral realm, as the university grows,” Dewane said in a statement.

By adding Dewane to the board — even as a non-voting, ex officio member — Ave Maria is going beyond most Catholic universities. Healy said Dewane preferred a non-voting position.

Neither Catholic church law nor Ex Corde Ecclesiae, an important 1990 document issued by then-Pope John Paul II on Catholic higher education, requires Catholic universities to have bishops on their governing boards. Richard Yanikoski, president of the Association of Catholic Colleges and Universities, estimated bishops appear on a minority of Catholic university boards, perhaps as little as 20 percent.

But Ex Corde does say that bishops, “should be seen not as external agents but as participants in the life of the Catholic university.” A seat on the university’s board helps formalize that participation, Yanikoski said.

“I would anticipate that having the bishop as a member of the board would facilitate the kind of communication that Ex Corde calls for all Catholic universities to aspire to,” Yanikoski said.

Catholic universities with bishops on their boards said their presence increases dialogue between universities and the official church. Potential areas of disagreement are addressed earlier. Early discussions could mean fewer public controversies such as the discord between the University of Notre Dame and its bishop over the university giving President Barack Obama an honorary degree despite his support for legalized abortion.

Mount St. Mary’s University in Maryland has three bishops on its board, including the Most Rev. Edwin O’Brien of the Archdiocese of Baltimore, where the university is located. Mount St. Mary’s President Thomas Powell said O’Brien’s presence allows the university to better understand the church and O’Brien to better understand the university.

“I wouldn’t know why a Catholic university wouldn’t want a bishop on their board,” Powell said.

For Ave Maria, the situation is more complicated than many Catholic universities, primarily because Ave Maria is not a Catholic university.

Founded by Catholic laymen — as opposed to a diocese or Catholic religious order — the university’s Catholic status is in the hands of Dewane, who Catholic church law gives the authority to bestow “Catholic” recognition on the school. Similarly, separate Catholic church law made it Dewane’s decision to dedicate Ave Maria’s church, known as the Ave Maria Oratory, which he did in March 2008.

A former university board member expressed concern about the relationship between Ave Maria and the diocese when he resigned in February.

Then, and now, Dewane said he was taking Ave Maria’s request for “Catholic university” status under advisement.

“Issues such as stability, accreditation, the spiritual well-being of the faculty, staff and students and other matters have to be considered,” the diocese said in a statement. “This takes time and there is no precise timetable.”

Healy said in February he believed the university had met the requirements to be a Catholic university. His opinion remains the same.

“It does,” he said. “But I’m not the bishop. It’s a question better addressed to him.”

This lack of recognition doesn’t trouble Patrick Reilly, president of the Cardinal Newman Society, a Virginia-based conservative Catholic higher education organization. The society recommends Ave Maria as a faithful Catholic college in its college guide.

Reilly said Dewane’s appointment to the board shows that concerns about the relationship between the diocese and the university were “exaggerated.”

“We’re absolutely thrilled with the Catholic identity at Ave Maria,” Reilly said.

Both Dewane and Healy are indicating the bishop’s appointment to the board is a means toward developing a closer relationship.

“This marks the continuation of dialogue and further collaboration between the diocese and the university to find practical ways to implement Ex Corde Ecclesiae,” the diocese said in its statement.

Another appointment to the board also should help. The university added Cardinal Adam Maida, Archbishop Emeritus of the Archdiocese of Detroit, to the board as well. Maida, long an Ave Maria supporter, ordained Dewane to the priesthood more than 20 years ago.

For Ave Maria, the situation is more complicated than many Catholic universities, primarily because Ave Maria is not a Catholic university.
Founded by Catholic laymen — as opposed to a diocese or Catholic religious order — the university’s Catholic status is in the hands of [Diocese of Venice Bishop Frank] Dewane, who Catholic church law gives the authority to bestow “Catholic” recognition on the school. Similarly, separate Catholic church law made it Dewane’s decision to dedicate Ave Maria’s church, known as the Ave Maria Oratory, which he did in March 2008.
A former university board member expressed concern about the relationship between Ave Maria and the diocese when he resigned in February.

Then, and now, Dewane said he was taking Ave Maria’s request for “Catholic university” status under advisement.

Perhaps if they conferred an honorary degree on the current US President. Would that help with their diocesan recognition? How 'bout if they run the "Vagina Monologues" for a week or two? That might go some way to convincing the local diocese of the "stability, accreditation, the spiritual well-being of the faculty, staff and students".

What's the bet that the diocese is seriously concerned that it is harboring an orthodox, pro-papal, truly spiritual institution of higher learning within its boundaries and is perplexed about how to handle it?

Notre Dame, Georgetown and Boston College are "Catholic".

Ave Maria is not.

One more instance of the utter irrelevance of the term "Catholic" as it relates to institutions of higher education in this country.

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