Posted on 05/28/2002 4:55:30 PM PDT by marshmallow
NEW YORK - A deadline looms Saturday that could ignite a smoldering conflict over academic freedom between the Roman Catholic hierarchy and theologians at the nation's 235 Catholic colleges and universities.
The winners and losers won't be immediately clear, but in coming years jobs and the shape of Catholic higher learning may be at stake.
Acting on instructions from the Vatican (news - web sites), U.S. bishops have ordered Catholics who teach their faith's doctrine, morality, Scripture, law or history at Catholic schools to obtain a "mandatum" (mandate, in English) from the bishop of the diocese where the college is located.
The document, which the bishops agreed should be obtained by June 1 — this Saturday — attests the theologian teaches only authentic Catholicism.
While some, like the orthodox Cardinal Newman Society, have hailed the mandatum, opponents have derided the requirement as a "loyalty oath." Faculty have complained it tramples their academic freedom.
The penalties dissenters may face is uncertain.
Some bishops warned their colleagues last year they couldn't enforce the requirement. But schools could use the mandatum in rating faculty; it's already affected hiring on at least one campus.
By design, the process is secret; a private matter between each theologian and bishop. For that reason, no one knows how many mandatums have been granted.
Estimates of Catholics teaching religious subjects on church-affiliated campuses range from about 300 to more than 800 priests, nuns and lay professors.
"Everything will depend on the chemistry between a local bishop and the local institutions," said William Loewe, who teaches at The Catholic University of America and heads the College Theology Society. "That leads to a whole wide range of outcomes."
Pope John Paul (news - web sites) II called for certifying professors in a 1990 decree as a way to bolster the religious character of Catholic campuses worldwide, and the issue roiled American theologians in the late '90s.
Despite opposition from many professors and academic groups, the U.S. bishops' conference agreed to require the mandatum and put procedures in place last year. But the bishops gave themselves latitude.
Each bishop can word the mandatum as he likes. He can let theologians seek one, or issue them unasked. Even this week's deadline is not absolute.
More importantly for academics and institutions, the mandatum guidelines leave any related hiring and firing to the schools.
The Rev. Dan Pattee at the conservative Franciscan University of Steubenville in Ohio displays his mandatum in his office. All 12 of his fellow professors, most of them laity, got one, he said.
"I don't think the mandatum is asking us to do anything new," Pattee said. It's "just kind of formalizing things that Catholic theologians have already been doing for centuries." He wonders why anyone would refuse.
So does his school. Franciscan University requires new hires to get a mandatum and last year rejected a job candidate who declined.
This is what the Cardinal Newman Society wants all Catholic colleges to do, said Patrick Reilly, its president. The mandatum, he said, should serve as "the necessary accreditation to be a Catholic theologian."
That's not the common view, however. Many academics view the requirement with concern.
"I hope nobody's going to lose their job over it, but it is possible," said Monika Hellwig, executive director of the Association of Catholic Colleges and Universities and a theologian.
Wealthy, conservative Catholics could exert pressure on some campuses to fire dissenting professors, even when bishops do not, Hellwig said.
"That is where the threat comes from," Hellwig said. "Self-appointed censors who give the bishops a hard time and write to Rome behind their backs."
Terrence Tilley, dean of religious studies at the University of Dayton, predicted the mandate will diminish Catholic theologians' credibility in the eyes of some of their peers. Some professors will gravitate to secular institutions to teach, or turn away from the discipline altogether, he said.
Or the issue could fade away. That's the prediction of the Rev. Peter Phan, a Catholic University professor and president of the Catholic Theological Society of America.
Many U.S. bishops opposed the mandatum until the Vatican insisted on it, he said. He also noted the risk of lawsuits if a job is lost or tenure is denied for lack of a mandatum. Phan expects most bishops to say "to hell with it."
Sister Mary Ann Hinsdale, a Boston College theologian, agreed, noting the clergy sex-abuse scandal now rocking the church is absorbing the bishops' attention. "I don't think they're thinking about the mandatum," she said.
Hinsdale said Boston Cardinal Bernard Law told her faculty he wouldn't ask them to seek mandatums.
An archdiocesan spokesman said Law has yet to reply even to those who did request one. Said the Rev. Christopher Coyne: "It's still an open question."
While travelling in the Midwest recently on a speaking tour for various CUF Chapters, I was handed a copy of Monika Hellwig's "What Are They Saying About Death and Christian Hope?" (Paulist Press, 1978). The priest who handed me this slight paperback said that copies of this strange book had been sent to all the priests of the Archdiocese of Milwaukee by the Religious Education Department. Apparently, this is part of the theological up-dating required of priests of the Archdiocese by avant-garde religious educators itching to promote the latest theological novelties.
Matthew 5:3-12 --
Blessed are those who struggle with their spirit,
For theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are those who mourn,
For they shall be comforted.
Blessed are the meek,
For they shall inherit the earth.
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
For they shall be filled.
Blessed are the merciful,
For they shall obtain mercy.
Blessed are the pure in heart,
For they shall see God.
Blessed are the peacemakers,
For they shall be called sons of God.
Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake,
For theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you,
and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for My sake.
Rejoice and be exceedingly glad,
for great is your reward in heaven,
for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.
It's difficult to see how this wouldn't be considered a code of behavior. But it's equally difficult to see how the Catholic Church could hold itself to this code of behavior random collection of words.
-- Kiss of the Sith
I love the North American Martyrs, especially Jean de Brebeuf. He suffered terribly at the hands of the Iroquois. Would that I have the courage of this man!
A Prayer to the North American Martyrs
Dear Sts. Isaac Jogues, Jean De Brebeuf, Gabriel Lalemant, Charles Garnier, Anthony Daniel, Noel Chabanel, Rene Goupil, Jean LaLande, we beg of you -- pray for the priests of this vast country of ours, especially those priests and religious who are members of the Society of Jesus.
Through your fidelity to the Church and your Order, you brought the true faith of our Fathers to many Native Americans. Intercede for us now in the hour of our need. Ask Jesus to send to us living saints who are worthy to bear the torch of orthodoxy and once again bear witness to the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic faith that has been handed down to us unchanged for 2000 years. And pray for us, that this great evil that has infiltrated our hierarchy, be cast out and destroyed. AMEN!
Perhaps more Australian bishops might also consider the precedent set by at least one American bishop, Bishop John Myers of Peoria, Illinois, who during 1991 invited Dr Hellwig to "explain" her previously published views on women's ordination, before permitting her to speak in his diocese. She declined the invitation, effectively barring herself from the Peoria Diocese (Newsweek, August 5,1991).
I am going to the NJRTL dinner tonight where Archbishop Myers is the main speaker. It should be interesting.
How about turning their schools over to the Legionnaires? Wouldn't that be fun?
The way I understand ex corde ecclesia, the mandatum is to be issued by the local ordinary in whose territory any university is found. The practices and whatnot of the University may be under the jurisdiction of the orders, but the right to present oneself as a "Catholic theologian" is reserved for review by the local ordinary.
SD
Wow, that's a new one by me. So, does she think it's okay to kick poor people and steal their bread?
I didn't get the opportunity to shake his hand.
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