Catholic Universities: Tainted by the few
| "Students have a right to
the teaching of the church. Many theologians are
substituting their own beliefs for the teaching of the
church, depriving them of Catholic doctrines for which
they or their parents forked over a lot of money." --Rev. Giles Dimock, Franciscan University of Steubenville "These
are American universities, chartered in the various
states. Marquette operates under a charter from the State
of Wisconsin. The Catholic element is adjectival and
secondary." |
Since the Lux
Veritatis webpage started earlier this year, it has
included links to various Catholic universities in the
United States on its links page. As of today, those links
have been removed. I have received more than one comment from readers regarding the nature of these Catholic universities. Mostly, the comments are "you shouldn’t include X university on that page." Until now, I have argued that these universities are included because they claim an affiliation with the Catholic Church as opposed to any other church. My thought on Catholic schools can be summed up in the words of the Rev. Giles Dimock, chairman of the theology department at Franciscan University of Steubenville: "Students have a right to the teaching of the church. Many theologians are substituting their own beliefs for the teaching of the church, depriving them of Catholic doctrines for which they or their parents forked over a lot of money." Recent events have caused me to change my mind about the Catholic Universities link section on the Lux Veritatis webpage. In response to the pope’s declaration regarding dissenters this week, many theologians at some of these Catholic universities have said they have no intention of following the pope’s decree. "I don’t intend to change anything," said Daniel Maguire, a professor at Marquette University and a self-proclaimed advocate of abortion rights. "A lot of theologians do their work with their heads lowered," said Richard McBrien, a professor at Notre Dame, who has publicly taken controversial positions on issues such as homosexuality, abortion and contraception. "Are they more likely to feel a chill [because of John Paul’s statement]. I can only speak for myself and the answer is No." Well, I’ve known all along that there are dissenters at Catholic universities. I also know that there are great men there, such as the Aquinas scholare Ralph McInerny at Notre Dame. But, some additional comments from Mr. Maguire convinced me it was time to do something different. "Places like Marquette are chartered, not by the Vatican but by the State of Wisconsin," he said. That prompted me to look back on some other issues. Mr. Maguire had made this type of comment before. Concerning the U.S. bishops’ response to the pope’s encyclical regarding Catholic colleges, Maguire said nearly the exact same thing, but he went a bit farther: "These are American universities, chartered in the various states. Marquette operates under a charter from the State of Wisconsin. The Catholic element is adjectival and secondary." (Italics mine). It would take far too much time to research every Catholic university in order to see whether this type of attitude prevails or not. Therefore, I feel it in the best interest of the Lux Veritatis page to eliminate the Catholic Universities links section. I realize that this decision unfairly punishes some universities, but I cannot see any other way at this time. Anyone who is interested in attending a Catholic university is urged to investigate for themselves the Catholic nature of individual schools. Most of all, demand to be taught the truth, not one man’s opinion. Chris Mosmeyer |
