Ideological and theological fissures in the U.S. Catholic higher
educational landscape are in clear view when discussion of the Cardinal
Newman Society takes place.
For its part, the organization -- based in Manassas, Va. -- defines its
mission as helping "renew and strengthen Catholic identity in Catholic
higher education" and pounding home adherence to Pope John Paul II's
1990 apostolic constitution on Catholic colleges and universities, Ex Corde Ecclesiae.
However, the Association of Catholic Colleges and Universities, the
Association of Jesuit Colleges and Universities, and individual college
and university presidents criticize -- at times harshly -- the society.
For example, Jesuit Fr. Gregory F. Lucey, president of the Association
of Jesuit Colleges and Universities, declares that the Cardinal Newman
Society "has not and continues not to have any official standing within
the Catholic Church, nor within the academic community" and that it
"lacks the integrity to be a credible resource on Catholic higher
education."
The founder, president and CEO of the society, Patrick J. Reilly,
counters that "the shared concerns of thousands of faithful Catholic
families … rightfully deserve a voice in Catholic education," and that
the society provides that.
The youngest U.S. Catholic college president backs Reilly on that
front. Fr. James P. Shea, 37, at the University of Mary in Bismarck,
N.D., remarked, "One needn't be a tenured academic to care deeply about
Catholic identity and fidelity to mission in the church's institutions
of higher learning. It's probably a sign of health and renewal in the
church that students and families would so much value Catholic higher
education that they would seek assistance from printed or online guides
to Catholic colleges, including the one published by the Cardinal Newman
Society."
Shea points out that there "are many people of different convictions
who are keenly interested in Catholic identity. On one hand, I think
it's important to treat the question with appropriate nuance. On the
other hand, these are days in which transparency and accountability are
very important for higher education."
It is unlikely that Jesuit Fr. Stephen V. Sundborg, chair of the
Association of Jesuit Colleges and Universities' board, would argue
against transparency and accountability, but he certainly would not
invite the Cardinal Newman Society as an arbiter. The association's
board is made up of the 28 presidents of Jesuit colleges and
universities, just more than 10 percent of the more than 262 Catholic
institutions of higher education in the U.S.
In a statement provided to NCR, Sundborg said, "We do not view
the Cardinal Newman Society as a credible representative of the mission
and practice of Catholic higher education in the United States. Each of
us as president of a Jesuit college and university is aware of the
communications, inquiries, and pressure tactics of [the Cardinal Newman
Society], but we do not pay attention to them, give them credence, and
they do not influence our decisions or policies."
The Cardinal Newman Society is well-known for its role in controversies
over speakers and course offerings on Catholic campuses. Catholic
college and university leaders who have come within the group's
crosshairs describe "blast communication" tactics that include waves of
protest emails, letters and calls to bishops and college officials.
Jesuit Fr. Stephen Privett, president of the University of San
Francisco, asks, "The real mystery is who in Rome listens to them and
why?"
Cardinal Raymond L. Burke is one answer. Burke, who heads the Vatican's
Supreme Tribunal of the Apostolic Signatura, is the "ecclesiastical
advisor" to the society's Center for the Advancement of Catholic Higher
Education, recently relocated to Mount St. Mary's University in
Emmitsburg, Md.
Multiple emails to Burke at his Vatican office were unacknowledged.
According to a Newman Society news release, Burke was a primary
consultant -- along with other "Church officials, college leaders, canon
law experts and theologians" -- in preparation of a "special report"
released in July and written by Reilly and Charlotte Hays, the
organization's director of campus news and publications.
Titled "A Mandate for Fidelity: Pope Benedict Urges Compliance with
Theologians' Mandate," the narrative calls for Catholic colleges and
universities to require any professor of Catholic theology to obtain a mandatum as a condition of employment and to make public which professors have one and which do not.
Ex Corde Ecclesiae
stipulates that Catholic college and university theology teachers
obtain a document from "competent ecclesiastical authority" -- normally
the local bishop -- that acknowledges he or she is "teaching within the
full communion of the Catholic Church," say 2001 guidelines adopted by
the U.S. bishops on the implementation of the papal instruction.
In essence, the Association of Catholic Colleges and Universities
(which represents 90 percent of those institutions), the Jesuit
association and others would inquire, "What makes you think you have the
authority to make such demands?"
The Cardinal Newman Society points to Pope Benedict XVI.
Addressing U.S. bishops from Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona and Wyoming during their ad limina visit to Rome last May, the pope emphasized compliance with Ex Corde in the appointment of theology instructors at U.S. Catholic colleges and universities.
The pope told the bishops the mandatum was important because
"of confusion created by instances of apparent dissidence between some
representatives of Catholic institutions and the church's pastoral
leadership."
"It is not surprising that Pope Benedict has said that the mandatum
is 'especially' important to the 'reaffirmation' of Catholic identity
in Catholic colleges and universities," Reilly wrote in an email to NCR.
"Theology professors have rights that should be respected, but so do
Catholic families. And Catholic institutions have the obligation to
teach in fidelity to Catholic doctrine. We hear from Catholic parents
and students who consider it a matter of simple justice that their sons
and daughters be able to know which of their theology professors have
the mandatum and teach in full communion with the Church."
Higher education officials as well as bishops have taken differing views of the mandatum. Mary Lyons, president of the University of San Diego, pointed to "confusion" surrounding the mandatum, and added, "Some felt it inappropriate to treat our theology faculty as if they were clerics in need of 'faculties.' "
Others express concern about potential infringement on academic freedom
and quote the Cardinal Newman Society's namesake in the process: "I
shall drink to the pope, if you please, still, to conscience first, and
to the pope afterwards."
Some see the agreement between the teacher and bishop as a private
matter. Others such as Burke and Archbishop-emeritus of Omaha Elden
Curtiss press that the mandatum is a public statement.
Also consulted in the preparation of "A Mandate for Fidelity," Curtiss
comes down on the side of ordinaries being willing to release the names
of collegial theology teachers within their sees who do or do not
possess a mandatum.
"People need to know if someone is teaching authentic Catholic
doctrine," he said. "If a person purports to be teaching Catholic
theology, then he needs a mandatum. If he's teaching something else, then name it."
Saying the Cardinal Newman Society can be "strident" at times, Curtiss
nonetheless said, "From my point of view I am glad there is an
organization that keeps focusing on Ex Corde and especially the mandatum. They are hardcore orthodox people who … have tried to keep college and universities honest in terms of Catholic identity."
The bishops' 2001 guidelines state that "the mandatum is an obligation of the professor, not of the university."
That document also instructs that "theologians who have received
a mandatum are not catechists; they teach in their own name in virtue of
their baptism and their academic and professional competence, not in
the name of the bishop or of the Church's magisterium."
A news release quotes Burke as describing the mandatum as "a
public declaration, in writing" and that "people have a right to know so
that if you, for instance, are at a Catholic university or parents are
sending their children to a Catholic university, they know that the
professors who are teaching theological disciplines … are teaching in
communion with the Church."
Reilly underscored that the Cardinal Newman Society launched its Center
for the Advancement of Catholic Higher Education to enhance just that.
"The center is not distinct from the Cardinal Newman Society. It is a
division that represents a key aspect of our work to help renew and
strengthen Catholic identity in Catholic higher education," Reilly
explained. "We launched the center prior to Pope Benedict XVI's visit to
the United States in 2008, specifically to support those colleges and
universities that are committed to living out the Holy Father's vision
of faithful education. The center focuses on facilitating collaboration
among college officials to strengthen Catholic colleges and
universities."
Asked what Vatican offices or officials the Cardinal Newman Society
might consult, Reilly said, "We consult hundreds of various people,
including college presidents, trustees, faculty members, administrators,
priests, sisters and bishops -- yes, some of them in Rome."