The New Conservative Roman Catholic Colleges
Wednesday, April 7, at 2 p.m., U.S. Eastern timeAt least a dozen conservative Roman Catholic colleges have been created or conceived in recent years in the United States. Is their unquestioning obedience to Vatican doctrine a strength or a weakness? Are they, as their supporters often claim, more faithful to the Catholic tradition than most established Catholic colleges? How can their success be measured?
The last few years have seen the creation of, or announcement of plans for, at least a dozen conservative Roman Catholic colleges in the United States. The colleges advertise their "faithfulness to the magisterium of the church" -- in other words, their unquestioning obedience to the doctrine of the Vatican.
The trend follows by a generation the liberalization of most other Catholic colleges, which in the aftermath of the Vatican II reforms adopted policies in hiring, admissions, course requirements, campus life, and other areas that placed them squarely in the academic mainstream.
Advocates of the new conservative colleges say the mainstream institutions have strayed from the truth. For their part, the mainstream colleges are peeved by what they perceive as the holier-than-thou attitude of the new conservatives.
Because the new colleges are all relatively small, it is difficult to judge whether they will play an influential role in Catholic higher education or will remain on the fringes.
Are their strongly held views a strength or a weakness? Are they, as their supporters often claim, more faithful to the Catholic tradition than most established Catholic colleges? Do such ideologically driven colleges serve their students well or ill when the students face the "real world" after they graduate? How can the success of the colleges be measured? What, if anything, could the colleges learn from the experiences of tradition-minded evangelical or fundamentalist colleges that have diverged from mainstream Protestant institutions in the United States?
» Who Is Catholic? (4/9/2004)
David O'Brien is the Loyola Professor of Roman Catholic Studies at the College of the Holy Cross, in Worcester, Mass. A historian, he has written six books on American Catholicism, including From the Heart of the American Church: Catholic Higher Education and American Culture. In 1989 he was awarded the Theodore M. Hesburgh Award for Distinguished Service to Catholic Higher Education by the Association of Catholic Colleges and Universities.
Burton Bollag (Moderator):
Hello, and welcome to Colloquy Live. I'm reporter Burton Bollag and I'll be moderating this discussion. Our guest is David O'Brien, the Loyola Professor of Roman Catholic Studies at the College of the Holy Cross, in Worcester, Mass. Let's begin --
Question from David J. Galalis, Boston College Law School, graduate of the College of the Holy Cross:
"Unquestioning obedience" is the loaded rhetorical phrase we hear most often in conversations like this. What does that really mean? Is there truly no room for discussion of church doctrine at "those other" Catholic colleges, or have we revealed our bias before the conversation has even begun?
David O'Brien:
Not my phrase but there is a kind of papal fundamentalism around which gives every Vatican pronouncement great authority including those that seem to foreclose further conversation -- where people are really serious there is simply another method at work where faith seeking understanding works out from a basis of faith to deepen and enrich understanding of doctrine by encounter with all branches of human experience, but the stance is less one of dialogue and exploration that an assertive, confident manifestation of formulas or symbols of faith that are experienced as certain.
Question from J. McDonald, Sitka, Alaska:
The Chronicle has stated that [the new] conservative Roman Catholic institutions strive to recreate the more-structured, insular higher education of the 1950s. This seems mildly pejorative. Does doctrinal fidelity necessarily lead to or require insularity or a large amount of strucure?
David O'Brien:
Of course doctrinal fidelity does not but people often seek a supportive subculture where beliefs are given life and reinforcement by friends, symbols, ways of behavior -- this is an especially strong impulse among Catholics who have always believed that faith should find expression in "cult culture and cultivation" -- the bright side is that done right such subcultures bear witness to important truths -- the dark side is when the subcultural impulse is blended with one or another form of cultural alienation as among nineteenth century Catholic aristocrats who hungered for restoration of the old Catholic regime or fascist nationalists who identified national and Catholic culture and fought for restoration against others perceived as alien like Jews and communists -- in milder fashion it leads to a denial of responsibility for public life as in a tabloid headline about a bishops report on sexual abuse in huge letters bishops blame society. But it need not be like that as many a monastery or Catholic Worker commune testifies.
Question from Karen, Thomas Aquinas College in southern California:
The article failed to mention Thomas Aquinas College, the Catholic college that launched the new breed of Catholic colleges more than 34 years ago. Perhaps the reason is that Thomas Aquinas College is unlike the others mentioned in the article because of its unique, four-year, fully integrated Catholic liberal education curriculum that consists exclusively of the Great Books, with no classroom lectures but rather only the Socratic method of dialog used in all of its classes and only original texts of the greatest thinkers who helped shape Western civilization. The nationally recognized success of this faithful, pioneer Catholic college and of its graduates -- after 34 years -- is a testimony to the success of such an endeavor!
p.s. Actually, a correction..the article does mention Thomas Aquinas College in passing, but not its unique character, nor its proven success--in its graduates (who now include som college presidents and civic, business and religious leaders) and in its unique Catholic curriculum... success which in itself answers the discussion questions asked.
David O'Brien:
There are of course many in mainstream Catholic higher ed who would like to see a stronger core curriculum focused on the great works of the western tradition -- even non Catholic faculty will occasionally express disappointment that Catholic students are not as familiar as they thought they would be with Augustin, Aquinas, Renaissance art and humanist and the rest. Some Catholic Studies programs at places like the University of St Thomas in St Paul, are addressing this problem -- But the problems that plague the canon -- its Eurocentrism, for example, or the absence of women's voices, are not manufactured -- they are problems that arise from ever changing human experience we all share -- intellectual solidarity would suggest that the problems of the culture are our problems, and we have to both listen to what others say and find authentic ways to dialogue with, and work with, others toward goals which promote full human flourishing. So if great books is posed against the more exploratory spirit of mainstream higher ed, its not an either/or but a both/and -- and there are signs of hope all around us.
Question from Joe at LSU:
Andrew Greeley at UND has amassed a pretty dismal statistical picture of the demographics of the Catholic Church. Do you think that the influence of the secular humanist relativists on "Catholic" college campuses has anything to do with this?
David O'Brien:
I would be surprised if Greeley is at Notre Dame -- and I would have to know which dismal statistics one is talking about -- usually Greeley is pretty upbeat -- church attendance is down but a lot of religious markers remain strong.
Question from David B. House, St. Joseph's College of Maine:
Why do you use the term "unquestioning obedience to Vatican doctrine..."? There is no such thing as "Vatican doctrine." I believe you mean "Roman Catholic doctrine" or "teachings of the Roman Catholic Church." Moreover, why use the word "unquestioning"? I think you are confusing "orthodoxy" with "unquestioning," which is inaccurate. By failing to get your facts straight from the outset, you have already compromised a serious discussion.
David O'Brien:
This is a bit more to do with the article than my own take on things but there is a tendency today toward a kind of creeping infallibility covering with "doctrine" a wide variety of moral questions (birth control, homosexuality) and internal church discipline (such as celibacy and the role of women) which are not doctrines and on which we need more not less public dialogue, in part because the actual experience of the Catholic people, and the wisdom of their pastors, must always be considered. There are many theologians who could clarify what is doctrine essential to the unity of our church and what is not.
Question from Gregory K Popcak, MSW. Pastoral Solutions Institute:
It saddens me that Catholic institutions on the left react so emotionally to the new conservative college movement. Instead of actually responding to the ideas these colleges represent, they patronizingly dismiss them as “holier than thou” or “neurotically pious” or “overprotective” and hint that they are anti-intellectual manifestations of Catholic fundamentalism (a'la comparisons to Bob Jones University) all words and sentiments that can be found in your original article on the movement.
It would seem to me that more liberal colleges--proud standard bearers of academic freedom and liberality of thought that they profess to be—would welcome these upstarts and, rather than engaging in ad hominem attacks, recognize that there is both a market and a need for such institutions to exist, and further, engage these institutions in healthy, respectful, academic debate. Dr. Hellwig’s comments in the article were especially disconcerting. After all, is she not charged with being a representative of all Catholic colleges? Does she only represent the ones that exhibit a certain ideology? If so, how does that encourage academic freedom and the Catholic intellectual tradition? My question then, is what are the liberal Catholic institutions so afraid of? And -- if we were to (as Fritz Perls put it) “play the projection” -- what does that fear say about them?
David O'Brien:
Of course Monica Hellwig wishes to help represent all Catholic institutions--she is concerned about individuals and organizations which establish their integrity or difference by bashing others, in this case often charging that specific colleges and universities are no longer Catholic, or that particular theologians and approaches to theology are not really catholic -- Father Fessio may have mellowed but he was once pretty strong in his criticism of the Jesuit colleges and universities and even of his own colleagues at the University of San Francisco--that said the writer shares my concern that we keep fighting the last generations battles of left and right when the religious landscape especially among the young has changed so dramatically. I am often moved by supposedly "conservative" students I meet who are not the local agents of the CDF but seekers in their own way, young and a bit innocent, who believe they have found something valuable about which they wish to speak out -- as long as all this is done, by all of us, in a spirit of dialogue, shared responsibility, mutual respect and charity, its a very good thing. By the way as a sometime left winger with thirty five years in these schools I have yet to find an institution of the left.
Question from Rose VanHorn, Mercer County Community College:
How do today's liberal Catholic colleges think they can buck the trend of becoming completely secular, as protestant colleges including Yale and Harvard, have done during the past century? The only way to remain Catholic institutions is to remain true to orthodox Catholic doctrine. Parents who pay big money to send their children to what they think are Catholic colleges are being sadly duped.
David O'Brien:
This is a great question -- the answer would encompass all the mission and identity work on our diverse campuses over thirty five or forty years -- briefly the first answer in the late 60s early 70s was intention expressed in basic documents (charter, mission statement, by laws, letters of agreement accompanying separate incorporation), continuing presence of the sponsoring religious order, strong theology (previously confined to seminary and not taught to lay people), strong pastoral ministry and a great variety of collaborations with church projects -- over the years the numbers of religious declined so, too slowly, leaders began to think of formation of lay people for leadership, including trustees; I felt theology was not enough but needed Catholic scholarly presence across the community so we have Catholic Studies programs, hiring for mission projects, various forms of faculty and staff orientation and development and much more. Add to that a close, trusting relationship with bishops expressed in local communication and the national bishops and presidents committee which prevailed until shattered in part by right wing cadres in the 1990s. All this is for the sake of a church and of lay people who are no longer outsiders but are now insiders, sharing responsibility for the common life of our country -- at best this is a spirit of solidarity at odds with the subcultural restorationism of the new colleges -- they have the role of a kind of conscience, asking the rest of us if we are doing enough to fulfill our Catholic responsibilities.
Question from Bill, a Catholic seminary:
Will you please address "up front" that this debate is framed from a liberal perspective, considering the following points? For example, the label of "conservative" is rejected by those to whom you attribute it, who see themselves as Catholic and reject such political labels. Secondly, these schools which seek to offer an authentically Catholic contribution to modern society -- and retain explicit continuity with the doctrinal / moral tradition and ecclesial leadership -- are labeled as "ideologically driven" whereas the ones that conform more closely to the standards of secular modernity are presumably "neutral" and not idealogically driven. Thirdly, statements about "unquestioning obedience to Vatican doctrine," reflect a liberal bias, with "unquestioning" implying almost a fundamentalism that these schools would reject, and "Vatican doctrine," implying a chasm between the magisterium and Catholic teaching. Thanks for this colloquy and for discussing these points.
David O'Brien:
Bill -- Good letter -- I guess we all think we are authentically Catholic and the rest of the guys are partisan or ideologically driven -- Peter Steinfels and I both admire the late Cardinal Bernardin, who one bishop called "old down the middle Joe" and thought he well represented the center of our American church and we hoped to find such qualities in the leadership and administration of the universal church as well -- and we do in many instances but unfortunately in many cases the Vatican offices have adopted exactly the sectarian partisanship which divides the church by expanding the blanket of authority far beyond where it should be by any traditional teaching or experience of the church -- I agree that such people, such as those who speak for the Cardinal Newman Society, do not deserve the honorable label conservative.
Question from Donald M. Freeman, Professor Emeritus, the University of Evansville:
Are these "new Catholic" institutions better Republicans than they are Christians? Are these movements more about politics than faith?
David O'Brien:
You would have to visit them or survey their faculty and staff to judge that -- I have no reason to believe they are primarily political -- the desire for a more integral Catholicism is a long standing Catholic impulse evident in the Catholic Worker search for a new society in the shell of the old and in a great variety of Catholic culture movements over the last two centuries, most of them associated with the political right but hardly with the free market libertarianism of modern GOP politics.
Question from Joseph Pettit, retired from Georgetown University:
What do you believe are the key differences in philosophies of higher education between the older Catholic colleges and universities and the new ones? In what ways could Catholic colleges or universities most effectively assess their success or failure to achieve their mission as Catholic institutions of higher education so as to contribute to an on-going process of strengthening the achievement of that mission?
David O'Brien:
Excellent question and I would have to visit more of the small colleges to answer it well -- I have the impression from the literature that their philosophy of higher education is at its best close to that of the St Mary's great books colleges, advocates of which can be found on many Catholic colleges -- it is as if the group advocating a more or less traditional core curriculum as one would have found in most liberal arts colleges a century ago lost the debate at the faculty meeting and went out and started their own college -- thats great, its just not what others have chosen to do and the others are serious too -- measuring outcomes would be great, but we would probably find little agreement about what makes a well educated and well formed Catholic lay man or woman today -- the jesuits have a pretty clear picture of that, criteria are present in many of the Lilly Vocation projects on church-based campuses, and still others are evident in these small Catholic colleges tho they have more diversity I think than the article acknowledged.
Question from Patrick Jung, Milwaukee School of Engineering:
I am a history professor at a private, nonsectarian engineering university, but I received my doctoral degree at a Catholic institution (Marquette University, Milwaukee). I also worked at taught at Marquette, and I am a practicing Roman Catholic. I think what annoys most in academe is the idea that these "conservative" institutions will somehow inhibit intellectual freedom (despite the fact that no evidence is usually offered), and it usually revolves around a narrow band of issues like homosexuality and abortion. There is never any discussion of how letting in academics who pursue positions counter to church doctring make Catholic institutions of higher education much weaker. Also, I believe academic freedom is as much an institutional right as an individual right. The institution has the right to make certain doctrinal demands of the faculty. Faculty members who do not agree with church positions, in my humble opinion, have the freedom to walk out and teach at a public institution.
Thus my question: why is there so little discussion of faculty whose anti-Catholic positions weaken Catholic institutions?
David O'Brien:
This is not quite so simple -- AAUP academic freedom texts of course do allow for institutions to uphold specific beliefs as long as that is up front and just provisions are made for those who change their kind after tenure -- there are Protestant faith-based schools which ask for faith testimony and return to it often in the faculty development process -- some in Catholic higher education would recognize the value of faith based education in earlier years but believe that in higher education one is best formed intellectually and personally in the context of a diversity comparable to that which exists in society at large -- in another way that we explore our Catholic faith and responsibility best among and not apart from those others with whom we share responsibility for our communities and our world. That means that we have to be sure that we have among us scholars and teachers who know the Catholic tradition as well as others formed in other traditions. In each department we have people who excel in the sometimes positivist criteria of the discipline and we hope to have others who can open up questions about the meanings and values embodied in that discipline and its practice. As church people we benefit if there are places where the spirit is one of dialogue and we benefit when there are also available to us welcoming places where we can think and pray with those who share our faith -- perhaps the day will come when a student at marquette will go for a semester or a year to Anna Maria, and an Anna Maria student will come to engage world religions at Boston College.
Question from Kevin McCawley, Houston, Tx.:
How can a person call himself Catholic if he does not have an "unquestioning obedience to Vatican (meaning Catholic Church) doctrine"? How does the time period in which we live (which always seems to be the 'rally cry' for why the Church should change, to 'comply with' modern behaviors)suddenly make it alright to be disobedient toward papal teaching? Whatever happened to submitting yourself in obedience to the Church's judgment?
David O'Brien:
Of course all these matters change over time but it is only in very recent years, perhaps since the middle of the nineteenth century that individual Catholics submitted themselves to the Holy See -- the Popes spoke out more rarely, and almost never on moral as opposed to doctrinal questions. Since the nineteenth century movement toward papal centralization of governance as well as teaching we have had Popes like Pius XII and John Paul II who have something to say, usually valuable, on almost every subject. On his better days I am sure the Holy Father don't want us to think only with him but to think, really think, for ourselves, submitting ourselves to the Gospel, to the Holy Sprit and to the community whose life we share -- there the authority is pastoral. Provision of adequate pastoral care, and taking pastoral experience as basic to church life, is a far more important and pressing need than deciding who is the right kind of Catholic.
Question from Tara Hart, Seton Hall University doctoral student:
To what extent do you think the promulgation of Ex Corde has been a factor in the establishment of these new colleges? Do you believe that faculty and staff at exisiting Catholic institutions understand Ex Corde well enough?
David O'Brien:
Some of the schools predate Ex Corde. There are always two questions: Ex Corde itself, and the much debated canonical norms for its implementation, which was what most of the fight was about.
Ex Corde is not well known (beyond outline form and the later "mandate" question) among faculty outside theology or the sponsoring religious community and that is unfortunate. It points to a more respectful dialogic approach to contemporary culture than the somewhat preachy tone of some of the new colleges leaders, and it certainly points toward a far more passionate devotion to human rights, social justice and world peace than is evident in most of those colleges.
Question from Br. Benet, O.S.B., St. Gregory's University:
Small Catholic colleges in areas of the country where the majority of the people around them are Protestant are trying to survive. Wealthy Catholic benefactors seem not to want to help these colleges which have been around for over 100 years. Instead they support and build new colleges. Why can't they support us and help us to flourish?
David O'Brien:
Great question -- why can't Catholic higher education work more as a system? John Tracy Ellis spoke out a half century ago against the competition that he saw among the major Catholic colleges and universities -- they still are pretty much on their own and cooperate very little with one another and often compete (as wit financial aid packages, not just basketball) -- small colleges in areas such as you describe could be in mutually beneficial partnerships with larger urban institutions but that would take a big change toward solidarity and shared responsibility and away form the recrimination we hear too often.
Question from Mary, parent of teens:
As a parent about to send my children to college, I wonder if you would care to address the fact that most teens do not even have a solid grasp of their Catholic faith. Hopefully in a Catholic college setting, or in a secular college with a good Catholic student ministry, they will be more strongly formed in their faith during the college years. Looking at the beliefs of world religions, as well as careful study of Catholic teachings, can both contribute to this formation. What they don't need is faculty at Catholic colleges telling them it is okay to "pick and choose" among the teachings of the Catholic Church.
David O'Brien:
I have campaigned for years that we think more about this whole question of the generational transmission of faith -- handing it on if you will -- it means a lot more sharing of responsibility across boundaries (pastoral care and education, catechetics and ministry, campus ministry and theology) -- students may be less literate but they are often more deeply spiritual and more enthusiastically apostolic. Getting the content of tradition and faith and wisdom in is a huge problem that in fact has confronted all our sister churches and the Jews in the United States seemingly forever -- we need to get more serious about the problem as it will not be solved in our usual categories.
Question from Charles Currie, S.J., Association of Jesuit Colleges and Universities:
We live in a very polarized Church and society. You use the term "creeping infalibility" that seems to affect both sides in Church and political discussions. What would be your favorite practical suggestions to lessen this polarization, so that the different sides could collaborate in addressing the complex issues of our time?
David O'Brien:
In the mid 1979s Cardinal John Dearden, Archbishops Peter Gerrety and John Roach and many others argued that if we could get really clear about our mission as an American church, we would have a work to do together that would seem so important that we would find ways to reduce divisions -- we would want everyone help so we would reach out to find ways to bring people together -- so I would ask why a lot more often than what about the church and I would keep asking what we are to do -- concretely this would mean focusing attention on our own Catholic Charities, Catholic Campaign for Human Development, Catholic Relief Services -- all of whom have projects for parishes and schools, want partnerships with colleges and universities and would draw us to connections with absolutely heroic efforts of fellow Catholics working for peace, for human rights and for social development in the world's toughest countries and neighborhoods. Next year make the CRS program for Africa -- with all its top flight materials--a project for your parish or school and you will become proud of the church, excited by its great potential, and maybe even enriched in your own life. If we ever find a way to hook the church's great social ministries to its pastoral ministries: we find God and our own best self in connecting with Gods spirit at work in history, ("where our heart's deepest longing meets the world's greatest need") we will have no internal problems that won't seem trivial -- as long as we don't find our mission we will continue to split among ourselves.
Question from Mo Woltering, Christendom College, Front Royal, VA:
I would say that one of the factors by which success can be measured is the number of vocations that are nurtured at a catholic college. Afterall, the Church needs educated young people to commit their lives to the Church so that Church can continue in America. These recently founded colleges that are explicitly committed to the Magisterium fo the Church far surpass the big catholic colleges in numbers of vocations. How would you rate the success of Catholic colleges? Endowment? Rankings? Median salary of graduates? Percentage of students to pursue graduate studies? BTW-The smaller college beat the large schools in percentage of students who go on to grad school.
David O'Brien:
As Mr. Pettit will tell you we need better research on these matters -- it depends in part on what you mean by vocation -- check out the many vocation programs funded these days by the lilly endowment, and plenty of evidence that people are willing to serve even tho they may not be attracted to priesthood or religious life -- but this is a good measure.
Question from Anthony Murphy, Ave Maria School of Law:
I would like some more information about Anna Maria, which you mentioned twice. I myself attended Ave Maria. Did you know that there is a famous latin prayer of the same name?
David O'Brien:
My confusion -- Anna Maria is a small college in nearby Paxton mass -- forgive the error.
David O'Brien:
I am afraid I have to wrap it up -- I would have loved to answer everyone's questions.
Burton Bollag (Moderator):
Unfortunately, that's all we have time for. Many thanks to Prof. David O'Brien for all the well-thought-out answers. And thanks to all who participated. Sorry we had more questions than there was time to answer.
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