Posted on 04/19/2015 7:44:31 PM PDT by Mrs. Don-o
Amid misleading reports and accusations of academic freedom violations, Cardinal Ricardo Ezzati Andrello of Santiago, Chile, sent a strong message last month in support of Catholic teaching and identity by effectively banning the dissident theologian Father Jorge Costadoat, S.J., from teaching theology at the Pontifical Catholic University of Chile (PCUC).
The Cardinal Newman Society spoke with Ryan Thomas, director of operations for Catholic News Agency and former South American bureau chief for its sister agency, ACI Prensa, to clear up conflicting reports and better understand the situation.
In a letter dated March 24, Cardinal Ezzati Andrello withdrew his stamp of approval for Fr.Costadoat, who is accused by critics of advocating communion for divorced and remarried Catholics, supporting homosexual relationships and promoting liberation theology. He has reportedly been under investigation by the Vatican, although no public ruling has ever been issued.
PCUC is an ecclesiastical university, and theology professors must be approved to teach in the name of the Church. This “canonical mission” is similar to the mandatum required by Canon Law for professors in Catholic universities that are not directly tied to the Vatican.
“This is justice,” said Cardinal Newman Society President Patrick Reilly, in reaction to Cardinal Ezzati Andrello’s announcement. “It violates the integrity of the discipline when theologians neglect or deny Catholic teaching, and Catholic colleges and universities participate in the scandal by presenting such theologians as teachers and experts. Students deserve better, the Church deserves better, and God deserves better.”
Cardinal Ezzati Andrello, who was appointed to the Congregation for Catholic Education by Pope Francis and also serves as the University’s chancellor, explained his reasons for not renewing Fr. Costadoat’s canonical mission in his March 24 letter. The decision was attributed to the professor’s failure to teach the requisites and authentic doctrine required in his classes.
“So the whole situation is very complex, but at the end of the day he was not teaching the requisites for the course,” Thomas told the Newman Society. “He was teaching Christology, but he wasn’t teaching the early ecumenical councils. He wasn’t teaching, for example, the Council of Ephesus, that Jesus is one person fully God and fully man. He was just not teaching basic things.”
But there are also doctrinal concerns, Thomas confirmed. “He’s a complicated guy in himself,” Thomas said about Fr. Costadoat. “He’s written in the most important Chilean newspaper, El Mercurio, against Humanae Vitae, [and] he’s argued publicly for divorced [and remarried Catholics] to receive communion.”
Three years ago, Cardinal Ezzati Andrello met with Fr. Costadoat to discuss dissident views that he was teaching. “Cardinal Ezzati had been very clear with Father Costadoat about what issues needed to be resolved and in what time frame. Sadly, Father Costadoat did not adhere to what was asked of him,” Thomas said. “I think it was done with a lot of charity. Cardinal Ezzati told him to reread Ex corde Ecclesiae, to meditate on it, and that he could reapply to teach theology next year.”
Cardinal Ezzati also offered his thoughts on the situation two weeks ago on Palm Sunday. The translation of the Cardinal’s quotes was provided by Thomas. "I obtained for Fr. Costadoat the necessary teaching authority that he did not have,” the Cardinal reportedly said. “I went out on a limb for him at the Congregation for Catholic Education and at the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. I obtained it for him and I gave him the canonical mission. Costadoat is not going to return to teaching classes for the necessary amount of time.”
Cardinal Ezzati Andrello’s letter dated April 5 to the University council explained the situation further:
In a Pontifical University, the theology faculty has its own statute, different from other faculties. They are under the direct responsibility of the Chancellor. The special status of the theology faculty is known to all teachers who have freely agreed to serve on it…
Upon assuming the Chancellery in 2011, I discovered that Professor J. Costadoat did not have the mandate to teach due to an issue of longstanding problems. Seeking, with good will, to normalize his situation, and as an act of confidence, at the beginning of 2012 and after a dialogue with him, I conceded to him the canonical mission for three years, under the commitment to overcome these issues.
Nevertheless, the problems continued... As it was shown to me and has been confirmed by writing, the professor did not adhere to the syllabus, nor did he give the majority of the fundamental content of the course, blurring the essence and obligating some students to study the material on their own. In my evaluation, this is the element that has the most weight and is essential.
“Not only is it my right, but also my responsibility, that in the department of theology, and from there, that the doctrine of the Church is taught and that the students are formed without confusion,” the Cardinal continued. “I respect those who do not share this decision, I understand your frustration. However, I have the certainty that the path chosen, while it is not easy, it’s where I conscientiously belong based on my responsibility as Chancellor.”
Reports from Rorate Caeli noted that the decision came after Fr. Costadoat “publicly reiterated his longtime support for communion for ‘remarried divorcees’ in a series of letters to Chile’s El Mercurio.” And prior to the letters to El Mercurio, Fr. Costadoat’s writing on liberation theology was reportedly under investigation by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.
After Cardinal Ezzati Andrello’s decision, El Mercurio printed an open letter from the University’s rector, Ignacio Sánchez, in which he stated that while Fr. Costadoat had not been fired and will remain as a researcher, he will be prevented from continuing as a professor of theology.
“If in our theology departments we are not teaching the basics of who Jesus Christ is to future priests, to students that really want a Catholic education, then we are doing them a disservice,” Thomas observed. “I also think that it’s a good moment for other professors in the University to renew that commitment, and this could serve as a reminder and example of how Catholic professors, and especially Catholic professors who are also priests, are to teach the faith.”
Fr. Costadoat and his supporters have not responded favorably to his chastisement. “‘What’s Catholic’ creates problems in the university environment,” Fr. Costadoat wrote. “When the mission of a university is confused with the demands of the Christian religion, it is the very catholicity of universities which ends up being discredited. …When the catholicity of a university is made to depend on its students’ and, above all, its professors’ religious affiliation or devotion, the university sickens.”
Critics have accused Cardinal Ezzati Andrello of violating academic freedom, but Fr. Costadoat seems to have been given clear instruction as to what was expected of him as a professor of theology.
“The support [for Fr. Costadoat] from within the University, the support even from the provincial of the Jesuits, cites other things and talks about other issues,” Thomas said. “It appears they are trying to make this about something else. At the end of the day Cardinal Ezzati´s message is simple: if you don’t teach the basic truths of who Jesus Christ is in a Christology class, [the University] is not going to renew you, not going to ask you to be a professor.”
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Just glad to document that there is still some discipline, enforced by the Bishop, Cardinal Ezzati Andrello, concerning who can and cannot teach theology in a Pontifical University.
I am shocked.
Shocked that it’s even being investigated......
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| "I am an American fighting man. I serve in the forces which guard my country and our way of life. I am prepared to give my life in their defense." |
>>And look at us now - lost in secularism, hedonism and resurgent paganism. <<
You could be saying the same thing about some of our Protestant churches as well.
Well, it’s a start!
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