Wow, I was just saying in one of the comboxes how I hoped that His Holiness B16 would put the smackdown on secularized American Catholic universities by yanking their "Catholic" designation.
Now it looks like that may happen sooner than later.
OO-RAH! I for one want to encourage the Pontiff to confiscate these school’s fake I.D.s as soon as possible.
Maybe this will help people to know who to believe when it comes to Catholic doctrine.
The article quotes Archbishop Michael Miller, the Vatican’s #2 education official (from a talk given at Notre Dame, no less);
The Pope has
argued "that it might be better for the Church not to expend its
resources trying to preserve institutions if their Catholic identity
has been seriously compromised," Miller said.
The Archbishop indicates that B16 may be doing some "evangelical pruning" in the coming months.
GET THE STORY.
I hope they check out my alma mater, the Jesuit-run University of Detroit Mercy, first.
I was wandering about their Web site earlier this week and was appalled at how UN-Catholic it is. (It was heading that way in the 1970s when I attended.) This page particularly disgusted me: http://www.udmercy.edu/womensstudies/news.php?id=1109444132748
U of D’s change in character caused my father, who was the university’s treasurer(and who earned his BBA and MBA there) to retire early (back in the 1980s).
‘thann
It seems to me to be a case of simple truth in advertising. If you don’t want to affirm what the Catholic Church teaches then don’t call yourself a “Catholic” school.
Of course a lot of the underlying complaints from the “Catholic” institutions will be about money. But to me the complaints will sound alot like a teenager who constantly curses his parents then demands they also give him the car keys.
Can someone tell me or suggest a list of criteria that helps us determine whether or not a Catholic University (or high school) for that matter is authentically Catholic? And how do you measure this?
I would assume one would start by making sure the Theology departments believe in the magisterium and teach authentic Catholic theology, but for the rest of the institution, what criteria do we use?
I don’t want to discount the importance of having good theology and philosophy departments, but we should keep in mind that they only reach a small number of students. I think most important for a university is that its Campus Ministry, Student Activities and Residence Life programs are in line with the Church. They’re the ones who really have influence over the tenor of students’ lives.
Think about it: a residential college has students as a captive audience. The kinds of things that it permits on its campus are going to be determinative of the flavor of the student culture.
Well…at one of the universities I attended, good ol’ Georgetown (L ’82), we had to fight just to restore the crucifixes to the classrooms. Seems as though this august Catholic institution didn’t want to offend non-Christians. Yesterday, they held an event touting ecumenism, attended by that earthly paragon Prince Charles, which apparently was little more than a festival of syncretism. I shudder to think about the state of the campus ministry.
At least the Law Center now has a fairly aggressive chapter of the Christian Lawyers Association-something that never would have happened in my time there.
frcharles,
I recall Pat Buchanan saying that Cardinal Arinze spoke out against homosexuality at the commencement ceremony a few years ago at Georgetown. He said that 70 professors signed up in protest. To me that signals rebellion against Rome.
Could it be that we “old time” Catholics have not kept up with the new theology hidden in the continued cloudy “scribble” theology of the various Vatican Congregations?
“but we should keep in mind that they only reach a small number of students.”
Actually, most Catholic colleges and universities that I am aware of require students to take at least a few (typically 4 each for Arts and Sciences majors, 2 each for some of the engineering and nursing students) theology and philosophy courses, and so most students are affected by the courses in these departments (this is the case for Holy Cross in Massachusetts, St. Anselm’s in New Hampshire, Boston College, CUA and Fordham (all schools my son visited before deciding on CUA for this year). So those departments are a good place to begin looking.
Residence Hall policies, Campus Ministry and Student Life are also important departments to assess.
Right – speaking from my own experience, at St. Joseph’s University in Philadelphia we had to take 2 Theology courses and 2 in Philosophy.
Can someone tell me or suggest a list of criteria that helps us determine whether or not a Catholic University (or high school) for that matter is authentically Catholic? And how do you measure this?
Start here.
This is also interesting and potentially useful.
Ruthann, thanks for the info. I had heard something to this effect – although, ironically, one of my high school classmates converted to Catholicism and is very devout as a result of her U-D education in the late ’80s.
I’m looking for a Catholic college or university in the Detroit area where I can take philosophy classes. Has anyone heard good things about St. Mary’s College of Orchard Lake? I know it was sold to Madonna University by Tom Monaghan, but that’s about it. I’m pretty suspicious of Marygrove, although lots of teachers take classes on-line from it.
Kevin –
This link from the USCCB website entitled Guidelines Concerning the Academic Mandatum in Catholic Universities (Canon 812) may be helpful too. There’s also an article in the most recent issue of This Rock magazine by Catholic Answers, but it’s not on the CA website yet.
I agree that Theology, Philosophy, Student Life, etc… are important factors to consider, but there are other factors that are not measurable or able to evaluate. For me, it was the other students I met and how they had been raised. When I saw how much they knew about the Faith, it made me think that I had better learn more or stop calling myself Catholic. (I chose the former!) I went to a nominally Catholic university as a strictly cradle catholic who really didn’t care about faith at all. I found the Truth at college (and my husband) and still don’t know how other than by the grace of God. It wasn’t the professors or the Campus Ministry that I can assure you! They were working quite to the contrary! Thankfully, God was stronger.
If your Catholic college university (mine) has prayer groups where the campus ministers have everyone bless each other, I am guessing that would be counted against them?
For me, it was the other students I met and how they had been raised. When I saw how much they knew about the Faith, it made me think that I had better learn more or stop calling myself Catholic. (I chose the former!)
On a more hopeful note, I’ve also got lots of friends who became more Catholic as a result of interacting with people who were somewhat antagonistic to the Faith. Some other friends went through phases of heterodoxy and questionable practices and came out very devoted to Church teaching.
I myself went from being a non-practicing Protestant to a practicing Protestant to becoming Catholic at a non-Christian school. God always finds ways to lure people in 🙂
It would be great, of course, to have a very devoted atmosphere on campus. But there’s still hope for people who don’t have it.
“I myself went from being a non-practicing Protestant to a practicing Protestant to becoming Catholic at a non-Christian school. God always finds ways to lure people in :)”
Hey, that’s quite similar to my experience. ^_^
I was at a Catholic university for only one year, then switched to a public one. It was another 4 years before I made the decision to become Catholic, at the end of my final year (and it wasn’t something I even considered until that year). God had been working “silently” the whole time.
God is sneaky that way. ^_^
SWEET. Goodbye to my Alma Mater’s funding!!
PS. I’m not sure all the teachers have to agree with catholic teaching, or that every class should espouse it explicitly… it is good to be exposed to a variety of ideas. However, they shouldn’t be HOSTILE to it. The university I went to was actually hostile towards conservative/orthodox catholics and their beliefs/practices. I spent my entire undergrad experience being a closet-conservative because it was so biased and liberal. Any actual sense of catholicism was so watered down in their effort appeal to other groups.
I hear the new president of St. Francis in Ft. Wayne is cleaning up there, My parents know Fr. Spitzer at Gonzaga and say he’s working at cleaning up (clearly lots of problems still, but progress is being made!) University of Dallas has a new president as well, but they’ve never strayed much. There are other good Catholic schools in different parts of the country as well; St. THomas in Houston, Thomas Moore in VT, TAC in So cal. I’m very hopeful that the Holy Father will do a little clean-up and we’ll have even more choices for our kids.
The problem with some colleges that are faithful (St. Francis in Steubenville comes to mind) is that the academics are not very strong.
Why can’t the clean up in academics take place at the same time as student life??
52 of 219 Catholic colleges offer a gay pride group on campus. Duquesne may soon join the ranks as they are looking into the matter.
Many Catholic colleges show the deviant play, the Vagina Monologues to young mostly female audiences.
Why ?
Well, if you believe the lie, it is to prevent violence against women.
In reality, it promotes masturbation and lesbianism. Why do that ?
Because it is ALL about subverting Catholic values and separating young Catholics from their faith.
And how is that best accomplished?
Get them involved in some sexual sin, and the idea of God, prayer or Hell just evaporates from their minds.
Its either prayer or masturbation, one will drive out the other.
eventually, when people allow their passions to control their reason, they give into libido dominandi (the domination of lust)which is how revolutions are created. The appetite of passion takes over the basis upon which all healthy societies are built, ( that is Catholic morals ) are gone and chaos ensues.
It is also a very effective tactic to control other people.
Look at what happened when Israeli forces took over Ramallah on March 30,2002. They began broadcasting pornography on all palestinian TV stations. 24 hours a day. and they imposed a curfew. Now why do that ?
If you can blind your opponent, in other words, distract them. Then your opponent is no real opponent.
and in society today, to keep people distracted from becoming involved politically, we see the proliferation of such distractions as PORN, gambling and drug use. Others might argue sports addictions are one more means of distracting people from both religion and the political process.
How did Samson lose his power. He let lust dominate his attention. And ended up a slave in gaza, grinding blindly away at the wheel.
a good lesson for catholics .
Recognize Porn, gambling, and drugs are weapons that social engineers use in order to control you politically.
NeoConSpy,
In 1984, porn was used to control the “proles”
You’re right porn is used to control and distract the populace.
Pruning is always an excellent way to make room for more growth. Personally, I think the Church should get back into hospitals in a big way.
Think how comforting it would be to go a Catholic hospital knowing that your contributions were not going to go into the pocket of some abortion-referring doctor. Or how nice it would be to be admitted into a hospital where doctors would not even consider euthanasia. Or to know that your physician has the moral backbone to not take kickbacks from the legal pushers in our society: the pharmaceutical companies. To be treated as a whole human being instead of the sum of your physical parts.
What a wonderful peace of mind that would bring!
Monasteries used to provide free medical care before the Deformation. Thanks to Mother Theresa’s Sisters of Charity, in some places this is still true. I think the time is right for the Church to visit the idea of medical care on a much larger and socially impacting scale. Not necessarily free, but compassionate and devoutly prolife.
I think such an institution would attract far more than just Catholics.
Wouldn’t it be wiser for Pope Benedict to start the pruning from the monasteries and convents and work his way over to the schools?
I was raised in a strictly secular household, where religion was seen as stupid and churches were seen as a joke. Believe me, until the universities that make a mockery of church teaching are forced to either shape up or ship out, you’ll be reinforcing that sort of stereotype. Beyond that, before the internet came along, where could those of us raised outside religion get our information on what Catholicism is all about? The network news? Even now, if a person goes looking for what it means to be Catholic, do you really want them assuming that certain colleges are presenting a true picture on their websites and in their press releases? What else can they assume, if they haven’t looked very long or very widely?
“The problem with some colleges that are faithful (St. Francis in Steubenville comes to mind) is that the academics are not very strong.”
Hippo- Franciscan University, in Steubenville, is not weak on academics, this is an unfortunate stereotype. As an alumnus of that University, and now a graduate student at a more wordly and prestigious university, I can tell you that I am far more prepared for grad studies than most of my classmates. Our small university in eastern Ohio boasts among its alumni graduate students at Harvard, Yale, and Oxford; a United States Congressman; bishops; and more missionaries, doctors, nurses, and professors than can be reasonably tracked.
The “good Catholic schools are weak on academics myth” is exactly that.
JD my statement about Steubenville is based on information from a friend of mine who has taught there for close to 15 years, as well as my brother in law who got his masters degree there.
I believe their core curriculum is a little weaker than that of, say, University of Dallas or TAC, though it’s been a long while since I looked at it so I don’t remember specifics and they may have strengthened it since then.
Amen to the get-back-into-hospitals recommendation! I would say that the matter is one of unique urgency: if the Church doesn’t get involved soon, medical opinion will be so far gone that Catholics won’t be able to be doctors or nurses anymore without having to make a choice between their consciences and the ethical codes of their professions. It would also give the Church newfound legitimacy in the policitcal sphere, when speaking on matters of bioethics.
My college is actually one of those such schools declared “no longer Catholic”
http://www.catholicculture.org/docs/doc_view.cfm?recnum=4674