When Pope Benedict XVI addressed Catholic educators at The Catholic University of America last Thursday, he did more than insist on orthodoxy in Catholic schools and colleges—he laid out a vision for Catholic education that spiritually transforms its students, the Church and the world.
For the Pope, this means not just fidelity to Catholic teaching, but “that each and every aspect of your learning communities reverberates within the ecclesial life of faith.”
He called for faithful Catholic instruction for all students, rejection of moral relativism, academic freedom that is reverent of Catholic teaching and morality, witness to the “unity of truth” in all disciplines, and a commitment to Catholic teaching both inside and outside the classroom. He reminded educators that “first and foremost” they should provide students “a place to encounter the living God who in Jesus Christ reveals his transforming love and truth.”
So how does this get translated into practical change for Catholic colleges and universities, assuming leaders who share the Holy Father’s vision and courage? A few thoughts, proceeding from particular concerns that have caused the Vatican much angst about Catholic identity:
Moral relativism: Pope Benedict perceives that “the ‘crisis of truth’ that exists in society is rooted in a ‘crisis of faith.’” The solution to moral relativism begins with the conviction of faith, most importantly among Catholic theology professors.
For many colleges and universities, this calls for replacing many officials, faculty and staff with others who share Pope Benedict’s vision—starting from the top, and replacing tenured professors over the long term. It requires trustees who will support “hiring for mission” even when challenged by disgruntled professors and interfering secularists like the American Association of University Professors.
Publicly disclosing which faculty members have the mandatum—a formal recognition from the local bishop that a theologian intends to teach authentic Catholic doctrine—would help students choose genuine Catholic theology courses.
Disintegrated curriculum: Restoring rigorous core requirements that were once the hallmark of Catholic higher education would teach what Pope Benedict calls the “unity of truth.” In particular, Pope Benedict says that Catholic colleges and universities “have the duty and privilege to ensure that students receive instruction in Catholic doctrine and practice.” The best Catholic colleges graduate students with an understanding of the Catholic intellectual tradition including theology, ethics and philosophy—and a healthy dose of the liberal arts.
Intellectual anarchy: Pope Benedict calls on Catholic colleges and universities to reject limitless academic freedom—now sacrosanct within most of American academia—explaining that “any appeal to the principle of academic freedom in order to justify positions that contradict the faith and the teaching of the Church would obstruct or even betray the university’s identity and mission.”
This means insisting that professors limit their teaching and public advocacy to areas of their own expertise, without wading in to moral issues that are properly reserved to the theological disciplines. It also means that academic freedom does not justify a Catholic college or university endorsing or simply providing resources and facilities to advance views contrary to Catholic teaching—consider the debates over The Vagina Monologues and political rallies for pro-abortion politicians on Catholic campuses.
Moral decline on campus: Pope Benedict calls for fidelity to Catholic teaching “both inside and outside the classroom.” He also laments the common approach to sexuality that emphasizes “management of ‘risk,’ bereft of any reference to the beauty of conjugal love.” Catholic college officials can build a Christian campus culture by reclaiming responsibility for helping students’ spiritual and personal development and consistently encouraging chastity.
Pope Benedict on Thursday put forward an exciting challenge to Catholic educators. It was a challenge eagerly anticipated by faithful Catholic families yearning for the renewal of Catholic higher education.
Father Paul Locatelli, the recently named worldwide secretary of Jesuit higher education, has said that Pope Benedict “has high expectations of universities, sometimes higher than we can deliver.” Catholic families look to leaders who truly can deliver to make the Holy Father’s vision a reality.
Patrick J. Reilly is president of The Cardinal Newman Society at its national office in Manassas, Virginia.
