Catholic U. moves to tighten control over
religious studies faculty
By PAMELA SCHAEFFER
NCR Staff
Officials at The Catholic University
of America are moving to tighten control over the School of Religious Studies
by insisting that all faculty members have formal permission from the church to
teach.
Observers see the move as part of a broader effort to reassert the
religious identity of Catholic University in light of Ex Corde Ecclesiae, the
popes 1990 document on higher education. The universitys new
president, Vincentian Fr. David M. OConnell, gave early and enthusiastic
support to the most controversial provisions of Ex Corde, including the
requirement that theologians be licensed by bishops.
The proposed change in status would be part of a larger
reorganization of the School of Religious Studies in the works since 1997. It
would mean that all 51 faculty members in the school would need the
churchs nihil obstat, or clearance to teach.
Under the current organization of the School of Religious Studies,
roughly 23 faculty in theology and eight in canon law hold the status of
ecclesiastical or pontifical faculty, the formal title that accompanies the
nihil obstat. Theology and canon law are two of five departments in the school.
At least 23 tenured faculty members in the school do not have
ecclesiastical status.
Hierarchical scrutiny
The nihil obstat requires a tedious process that subjects
scholars writings to hierarchical scrutiny. Normally the
nihil obstat requires Vatican approval, but at Catholic University that
authority has been delegated to the bishops on the universitys board of
trustees. Many of those bishops are conservatives with close ties to Rome.
Most professors in the three nonecclesiastical departments --
particularly those in religion and religious education -- are strongly opposed
to ecclesiastical status, and some fear it, according to professors who spoke
on condition of anonymity.
The other nonecclesiastical departments are biblical studies and
church history.
Even the 23 faculty members with tenure are worried, sources said,
because according to university statutes tenure is granted by department. If
departments are abolished in the reorganization process, or if the entire
School of Religious Studies is abolished and reorganized under another name,
the tenure contracts of many faculty members -- including those who have
ecclesiastical status -- could be in jeopardy, sources said.
From the perspective of nonecclesiastical faculty, the problem is
illustrated by events of the past few years at other schools. At least five
prominent Jesuits have been barred in recent years from serving as
administrators or members of pontifical faculties at two Jesuit theology
schools (NCR, March 29, 1996, and Dec. 26, 1997).
Sources said professors anxieties have not been dispelled by
oral assurances from OConnell that the jobs of tenured professors will be
protected in the reorganization. People are more and more
skeptical, one professor said.
A recent memorandum from OConnell leaves little doubt that
the push toward both reorganization and an ecclesiastical faculty is on. An
ecclesiastical faculty that includes all who teach in the School of Religious
Studies, OConnell wrote, is the stated preference of the prefect of
the Congregation for Catholic Education for CUA, the chancellor of the
university, some members of the board of trustees, and my own preference.
Cardinal James A. Hickey of Washington is the universitys
chancellor. Cardinal Bernard Law of Boston is chairman of the board.
The Catholic University of America lives and operates
simultaneously in two worlds: that of American higher education and that of the
church, OConnell wrote. As everyone is well aware, I do not
believe these two worlds to be at odds with one another.
The memorandum, addressed to Fr. Stephen Happel, interim dean of
the School of Religious Studies, was dated Nov. 10.
Neither OConnell nor Hickey responded to a telephone inquiry
from NCR.
OConnell stressed in his memo that the
ecclesiastical status should not be the first or even primary focus
of faculty attention at this time. Because of the apparently negative or
neuralgic reaction that it generates in some faculty, emphasis on this aspect
will only hamper productive discussion of what the school itself should look
like from an organizational/structural perspective.
OConnell said he intended to abide by university guidelines,
including those in the faculty handbook, and engage in appropriate
consultation before making decisions. He said he hopes the process will
not be top-down, but that sooner rather than later he will be able
to review proposals presented by faculty members themselves.
A first step?
Some faculty members said they are puzzled about reasons for the
move to tighten controls. Is it a first step toward purging the school of
faculty members the administration doesnt like, or who arent
conservative enough? some wondered in interviews with NCR. Is it being driven
by the notion that faculty members arent doing their jobs well? one
faculty member wondered, adding, If it based on criticism, Id like
to know what it is and have the opportunity to reply.
Faculty members resolved in a meeting in late October to ask the
president to clarify reasons for the proposal that the School of Religious
Studies become an ecclesiastical school.
Some faculty have also wondered whether establishing an
ecclesiastical faculty, whose mandate comes from the Vatican, would be
different from requiring theologians to hold a mandate from a local bishop.
In the case of Catholic University, where the president has avowed
strong support for implementing Ex Corde Ecclesiae, and where a
theologians mandate currently would come from Hickey, a theological
conservative, Fr. Charles Curran thinks there would be little difference.
Curran was a tenured professor of moral theology when he was ousted from the
faculty at Catholic University in 1986. The Vatican declared that Currans
view on sexual ethics made him unsuitable as a Catholic theologian. He now
teaches at Southern Methodist University.
If it werent for Ex Corde this would be very
significant, Curran said. But because of Ex Corde, and because
Catholic University would be one place where we can be sure it will be put into
effect, the bottom line is the same, he said. You need a
mandate.
As a result of my case, Curran said, most senior
scholars in the United States are unwilling to teach at Catholic
University. Curran said he knows of several scholars who have refused
offers and one who refused to accept a medal in patristics. Quite
frankly, I think the theological reputation of Catholic University has gone
downhill, and this will be simply another nail in the casket, he
said.
Although dozens of schools around the world have pontifical
faculties, in the United States only a few do, most of them once primarily
engaged in training future priests. They include two Jesuit theology schools,
Weston School of Theology in Cambridge, Mass., and the Jesuit School of
Theology at Berkeley, Calif., as well as the Pontifical College Josephinum in
Columbus, Ohio, St. Mary of the Lake Seminary in Mundelein, Ill., and in
Washington, the Dominican House of Studies, the John Paul II Institute and The
Catholic University.
Structure lacks logic
Talk of reorganizing the School of Religious Studies predates
OConnells tenure as president, according to Fr. Raymond F. Collins,
former dean of the school. The present structure lacks internal logic, he said,
because professors from the same discipline might be associated with different
departments. For example, the department of biblical studies is one of five
departments in the school, but three biblicists are in the department of
theology, and two are in the department of religion and religious education, he
said.
Further, course offerings in various departments may in fact
reflect other disciplines. For example, the department of religion and
religious studies -- the department that oversees undergraduate education --
offers some courses whose content is actually theology, Collins said.
Several people -- bishops on the board of trustees and also
parents -- have asked, How come our [undergraduate] students cant
take theology? Collins said. In fact, they do. Last year we
did a survey of the 63 courses offered to undergraduates and found that the
course content of 46 was actually theology. But the courses were offered
under the umbrella of religion because of this historical quirk we
have, he said.
Academicians typically distinguish between the study of religion
from an empirical perspective and the discipline of theology -- which assumes
revelation and church tradition as points of departure.
Collins, a biblical scholar regarded as moderate to liberal, was
forced to step down as dean of the School of Religious Studies earlier this
year under contested circumstances (NCR, June 4).
Some faculty members said a small but powerful group of
neo-conservatives in the theology department favors reorganization
because they want access to undergraduates through courses they teach. Although
members of the graduate departments, including the theology department, do
teach undergraduates in the present structure, decisions about who may and may
not do so as well as decisions about course content are made by the generally
more liberal department of religion and religious education, according to
sources at the school.
National Catholic Reporter, December 17,
1999
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