(Liberal) Catholic Educators Uneasy About New Conservative University

PND News ^

[narses]

Catholic Educators Uneasy About New Conservative University

Many Catholic educators and administrators are uneasy about the plan of Tom Monaghan, founder of the Domino's Pizza chain, to build a new Roman Catholic university on a remote 750-acre site near the Florida Everglades, the New York Times reports. Monaghan, who has committed $200 million to the project, has said the school, Ave Maria University, will be far more conservative than most of the nation's Catholic colleges and universities. "For twenty-five years, I've felt the need for a school with more spirituality," Monaghan told the Times. "At some Catholic universities, students graduate with their religious faith more shaky than when they arrive.... Ave Maria is for students whose faith is central to their lives."

Plans for the school, the first new Roman Catholic university to be built in the U.S. in four decades, call for a Division I football team; three golf courses, including one for donors; majors as varied as theology and hotel management; and construction of a town, also called Ave Maria, built from scratch. But it's Monaghan's rigorously conservative vision for the school — a vision that has no room for coed dorms or gay-support groups — that worries many Catholic educators.

"Tom Monaghan has the agenda of a right-wing Republican, and he happens to confuse that with the teachings of the Catholic Church," commented Richard P. McBrien, a professor of theology at the University of Notre Dame. "I wish he had spent his money the way a really good Catholic would: helping the poor; helping inner-city schools, which are being suffocated through lack of money; helping the aged and infirm. Those are the teachings of Jesus Christ."

While the school has attracted support from such prominent Catholic conservatives as former Reagan education secretary William J. Bennett and Supreme Court nominee Robert Bork, representatives from many of the nation's 235 Catholic colleges and universities have bristled at Monaghan's criticism of Catholic education. "There has been concern among the colleges and their representatives, that [Monaghan and his partners] are so dismissive of the rest of us," said Monika Hellwig, president of the Association of Catholic Colleges and Universities. About a third of all students at Catholic colleges are not Catholic, and many highly regarded Catholic institutions such as Georgetown University, Notre Dame, and Boston College have become increasingly diverse and secular in pursuit of first-rate scholarship.

The school will be ready to accommodate two hundred students by September at a temporary campus in Naples, Florida. The permanent campus, which is expected to be completed in 2006, will be located northeast of Naples on land donated by the Barron Collier Companies. Monaghan, who sold the Domino's chain in 1998 for about $1 billion, and Barron Collier will each have a half interest in the development of the town to be built around the university.

Lewin, Tamar. “A Catholic College Will Rise in Florida.” New York Times 2/10/03.

Primary Subject: Religion Secondary Subject(s): Higher Education, Education Location(s): Florida, Naples

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[narses]

Ping.

[friendly]

Same liberal geniuses who thought it would be a great idea to let gays become priests in drovesa in the '70's and '80's.

[Siobhan]

"Tom Monaghan has the agenda of a right-wing Republican, and he happens to confuse that with the teachings of the Catholic Church," commented Richard P. McBrien, a professor of theology at the University of Notre Dame. "I wish he had spent his money the way a really good Catholic would: helping the poor; helping inner-city schools, which are being suffocated through lack of money; helping the aged and infirm. Those are the teachings of Jesus Christ."

Someone should send Richard P. McBrien to do missionary work in Somalia.

[narses]

Yep. Fr. McBrien calls the Words of Consecration "Hocus=Pocus"!

[narses]

With Cardinal Kasper as his acolyte.

[PoisedWoman]

Naples is a good place for conservative university. Residents in that area are politically conservative and will be happy to have a place to send their offspring.

[fellowpatriot]

"Tom Monaghan has the agenda of a right-wing Republican, and he happens to confuse that with the teachings of the Catholic Church," commented Richard P. McBrien, a professor of theology at the University of Notre Dame.

No, I don't think that Tom Monaghan is the one who's confused here.

[TradicalRC]

Its about time! My wife attended a Catholic college in Dubuque, IA where the nuns openly supported abortion and homosexuality. Perhaps, by the time my daughters are of age, I could send them to Ave Maria.

[Kuksool]

{Tom Monaghan has the agenda of a right-wing Republican, and he happens to confuse that with the teachings of the Catholic Church}

Talk about casting the first stone! Many Catholic liberals confuse the Gospels of Christ with the DNC Platform. Just ask Nancy Pelosoi.

[Alberta's Child]

"Tom Monaghan has the agenda of a right-wing Republican, and he happens to confuse that with the teachings of the Catholic Church," commented Richard P. McBrien, a professor of theology at the University of Notre Dame.

This is the best line of the whole article. May the good Lord forgive my stray tongue, but Mr. McBrien is a flaming @sshole. And if he has concerns about this university, then it must be a great idea.

I happen to know that Monaghan's goal in life is to die broke, and this effort is one of the ways he is going about it.

I do have a question about something raised in this article, though. I was not aware that Robert Bork is a Catholic -- I know his wife is, but I'm pretty sure he is not.

[Buckeye Bomber]

Yeah, what an idiot. Jesus never talked about feeding the poor or helping the elderly or anything like that. He wants us to have conservative schools where abortionists and liberals are stoned. [Do not take these statements as support of liberals or abortion, both of which are very bad.] I'm so glad someone finally decided to put their foot down and say "Enough of using Jesus's name to help the poor and educate humans in things other than the Bible!"

[narses]

I'd suggest you study Fr. McBrien's works and the work of the man he is criticizing.

[George W. Bush]

Uh-oh. An upstart conservative RC university with the money to make itself a first-rate institution. I like the part where the liberal RC colleges are nervous about the new one.

[Slyfox]

commented Richard P. McBrien..."I wish he had spent his money the way a really good Catholic would: helping the poor; helping inner-city schools, which are being suffocated through lack of money; helping the aged and infirm. Those are the teachings of Jesus Christ."

I am sure something was said about instructing the ignorant.

[Desdemona]

McBrien, take a hike.

[Arthur McGowan]

I do have a question about something raised in this article, though. I was not aware that Robert Bork is a Catholic -- I know his wife is, but I'm pretty sure he is not.

Correct.

[Arthur McGowan]

But stay tuned.

[Kryptonite]

More discussion posted here:

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/839557/posts

Who can help me with the html coding/linking I seem to have forgotten?

[dighton]

... educators and administrators ...

Which is a sign from heaven, "rubbish follows."