From The Cardinal Newman Society (CNS) Blog comes this news release:
Earlier today, January 11, 2011, the federal government continued its assault on the religious liberty of Catholic institutions when the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) ruled that Manhattan College could not prevent faculty from unionizing on the basis that it is a religious institution. Despite acknowledging that the College is recognized as Catholic by the New York Archdiocese, the NLRB reviewed College statements and course content, finding “that the purpose of the College is secular and not the ‘propagation of a religious faith’.”
We have a very important moral tale here.
By way of a disclaimer I want to say that I know nothing of Manhattan College in New York and thus I do not direct my remarks specifically to the College. It may well be that the judges in this case was unfair. But, generally speaking, it’s pretty bad when Caesar (i.e. the State) has to tell a Catholic College it’s not Catholic. This of course is really more the role of a bishop, but it would seem that the bishops have largely avoided making such declarations. In this case a government agency gave the college the “come to Jesus” talk.
Another example – Again I am not sure if the “non-Catholic” assessment was fair to this college or not, since I know nothing of it. I am more aware of the situation of another Catholic college in the US, (not in DC), which had a similar problem years ago. The accrediting agency did its five year evaluation of this certain Catholic college and returned the verdict that while the academics were adequate, the Catholic identity advertised by the college was a sham. They gave only a provisional accreditation and required the “Catholic” college to do a self study about how to make it’s Catholic identity a true fact or to be prepared to drop claims to being Catholic. The college in question was, at the time, on Playboy’s top ten list of “party” schools. Drugs, alcohol and sexually transmitted diseases were epidemic. Jello-wrestling and R Rated movies were common in the Student Union. Just about every year students were killed in drunk driving incidents near the campus. The moral life of most students was, thus, in the sewer and campus ministry was ineffective at best. The theology department was also riddled with dissent. Sadly, it took a secular accreditation agency to blow the whistle and demand reform.
Yet another example – About seven years ago a Catholic Charities Agency California was informed by a California judge that they would have to provide contraceptives in their medical benefits plan for employees. He refused to accept a claim of religious exemption and ruled that there was nothing “Catholic” about this agency of Catholic Charities since they took primarily government money and gave it to the poor. Further, none of their literature mentioned Jesus Christ or sought to promote the Catholic Faith. Hence, they were secular, not Catholic, and thus had no claim to religious exemptions. Here too, I cannot say if the Judge was fair since I have no direct knowledge of Catholic Charities in the particular diocese in question.
It is of course possible to see these matters only in terms of religious liberty. But I want to suggest to you that we have some serious reflection as a Church to make. Perhaps a couple of Biblical examples will set the stage.
1. Abram – In the Book of Genesis we are taught how God chose Abram (later Abraham) and called him to set forth to a new land as the Patriarch of chosen people, (Gen 12). In great faith Abram set out and God led him to Canaan where he eventually settled in Bethel (a name which means “House of God”) (Gen 12:8). But there was a famine in the land and, instead of staying and trusting God, he left Bethel and went to Egypt (Gen 12:10), though God had said no such thing. Now Egypt is a symbol of the world and is distinct from Bethel which is a symbol of the “House of God.” And while in Egypt Abram prospered, but sinned mightily by prostituting his wife Sarai, placing her in Pharaoh’s harem so as to secure his own safety and prosperity (Gen 12:11-15).
Now Abram is chosen by God, he is God’s man and God gave him an inheritance. But Abram forsook his glory from heaven and preferred worldly glories and comforts. God would have to shame Abram back to his senses. The biblical text says:
But the LORD inflicted serious diseases on Pharaoh and his household because of Abram’s wife Sarai. So Pharaoh summoned Abram. “What have you done to me?” he said. “Why didn’t you tell me she was your wife? Why did you say, ‘She is my sister,’ so that I took her to be my wife? Now then, here is your wife. Take her and go!” (Gen 12:17-19)
So it took Pharaoh to compel Abram to leave Egypt (the world) and return to Bethel (House of God). Frankly it is a rather embarrassing moment in salvation history.
2. Another example is Jonah. Jonah was God’s chosen man and designated prophet to go to the east to Nineveh and proclaim a word of repentance to them. But Jonah fled to the west on a ship. A storm blew up that so threatened the ship that the experienced sailors began to pray to their gods. But the chosen man of the one, True God, Jonah remained asleep! Finally, after casting lots, the sailors discovered Jonah was the source of their problem and roused him from his sleep to rebuke him:
What have you done?” (They knew he was running away from the LORD, because he had already told them so). The sea was getting rougher and rougher. So they asked him, “What should we do to you to make the sea calm down for us?” “Pick me up and throw me into the sea,” he replied, “and it will become calm. I know that it is my fault that this great storm has come upon you.” Instead, the men did their best to row back to land. But they could not, for the sea grew even wilder than before. Then they cried out to the LORD, “Please, LORD, do not let us die for taking this man’s life. Do not hold us accountable for killing an innocent man, for you, LORD, have done as you pleased.” Then they took Jonah and threw him overboard, and the raging sea grew calm. At this the men greatly feared the LORD, and they offered a sacrifice to the LORD and made vows to him (Jonah 1:11ff)
And thus it was that pagan sailors were more repentant and moral than God’s chosen prophet. Another great embarrassment to be sure.
The fact is that the Church is to be a light to the world, but it sometimes happens that we fall short and God must allow the world itself to rebuke us. The Christian community is supposed to be self-correcting. It is an embarrassing truth that it sometimes takes Caesar to tell us to give to God what is God’s, to be more serious about our Christian walk, and to be true in our claims to be Catholic.
Another example – More widely known than the cases above, is the recent sexual abuse scandal. The actual abuse was terrible enough but was then compounded by the credible accusations of a lack of action evident in certain dioceses, which meant abuse in those places was often unaddressed and even, in some cases, covered up. It really took serious legal penalties to end the problem. The judicial branch of government (which had long been lenient in this matter as well) had to awaken the proper level of outrage. This is perhaps the most lasting disappointment on the part of many towards the Church in this matter.
From the Newman Society blog comes this advice for Catholic Colleges and universities:
It must be noted….that any available exemptions for religious institutions will not apply if a college that was founded as a religious institution has become largely secular. It is therefore vital that Catholic colleges and universities maintain their Catholic identity in all of their programs in order to best protect their religious character and mission.”
For decades since the infamous Land O’Lakes declaration, too many Catholic colleges and universities have straddled the line between Catholic and secular. While the Vatican and bishops have patiently encouraged the renewal of Catholic identity, state and federal regulators are increasingly demanding that Catholic colleges justify their claims to be religious. For all but a handful of faithful Catholic colleges, this is a difficult if not impossible task. … the Catholic Church’s Canon Law and the Apostolic Constitution Ex corde Ecclesiae lay out the requirements for a college to be considered Catholic…..it should be noted that a college that does not faithfully adhere to and apply the Catholic Church’s own law might find it difficult if not impossible to convince a secular court that it is a Catholic institution deserving protection.” [1]
It shouldn’t take Pharaoh to tell Abram to go back to Bethel. It shouldn’t take pagan sailors to rouse Jonah to obey God. And it shouldn’t take the Federal Government to tell Catholic Colleges to actually be Catholic. But if that’s what it takes, if God has to shame them into it, so be it . God has a history of drawing Israel to repentance by making use of the nations around them to provoke, shame, and punish them. As Scripture says,
The LORD’s portion is his people, Jacob his allotted inheritance….[Yet] you deserted the Rock, who fathered you; you forgot the God who gave you birth….[The Lord says], for they are a perverse generation, children who are unfaithful. They made me jealous by what is no god and angered me with their worthless idols. [So] I will make them envious by those who are not a people; I will make them angry by a nation that has no understanding. (Deut 32: varia)
Religious Liberty Threatened – To be clear, there are very serious threats today looming over religious liberty. An increasingly intrusive government and menacing new laws are seeking to unreasonably restrict the Church, and her work of evangelizing the culture. We ought to resist any such attempts to limit religious liberty in this age of highly selective “tolerance.” We have discussed such threats on the blog before.
But the moral lesson in these cases seems to be that we had better get our own house in order. Certain “Catholic” Colleges may go on for a while gleefully dissenting and ignoring Church mandates, but in the end they are going to be called to account by Caesar who will say, “Either give God what God is due, or stop pretending and pay the taxes that every other secular organization pays and observe the requirements every other secular entity does.” In other words, decide what you really are and do so quickly.
For the state to respect the rights of Catholics, Catholicism has to be intelligible. Hence these dissenters also endanger the religious freedoms of those who are faithful. Yes, we need to get our house in order.
One may argue that bishops could have been more forceful, Rome more demanding, or that the Catholic faithful should have voted with their feet long ago and stopped frequenting and supporting fake Catholic institutions . But in the end, God may well be allowing a secular authority, which has no understanding of things religious to insist upon truth-telling. In so doing it may well be that God is following an old pattern where Pharaoh had to give Abram a good swift kick in the pants, and where God used nations like Babylon and Assyria to purge and prune Israel.
Catholic or Consequences – Like it or not, the world demands of Catholics what they seldom demand of other denominations: that what it means to be a Catholic should be clear and that it be lived to deserve the title. The secular government may mean harm in this, but God can use it for good. (cf Gen 50:20)
What do you think? Remember, if this post feels edgy, I am doing that to provoke conversation.
Dear Msgr. Pope,
THANK YOU for saying what desperately needs to be said. Your posting is not edgy, it is the TRUTH. That more of your Brethren don’t proclaim this same truth, proclaim it loudly and often, has mystified me for years. May God bless you with health and fortitude so that you may continue to fight the good fight.
Thank you Msgr. Pope for writing on this issue and telling the truth! We can see where Catholic pandering to the secular culture at large has taken us. Christ did not expect to be popular with popular culture, neither should we, eh? I am afraid that intellectual pride has taken precedence over faithfulness. This is extremely sad but also angering as so often actual faithful Catholics have been demeaned in one way of another even by their own clergy! I am a revert of 18 years, having been out for 25, and coming back to a Church in disarray. I don’t really get it – that priests, bishops, theologians, and laity who no longer believe in the magisterium and true teachings of the Church try to undermine the Church instead of being honest and just leaving. I left the Church when I no longer believed, I did not expect the Church to convert to my way of thinking. It is clear to me that it is only by the grace of God and the workings of the Holy Spirit that the Church has maintained the integrity of its dogmas and doctrines…we humans are way to frail. We must pray for those who are so lost. We must also maintain our voice and speak out…what they do is dishonest, undermining, and extremely unjust to Catholics who struggle day in and day out to live their lives in faithfulness in the midst of a world that denigrates them. Please do keep speaking out and encouraging your fellow faithful priests and religious to do the same. I as one of the laity will pledge myself to do the same and to support faithful religious in every way I can. God bless.
Thank you, Msgr Pope, for so eloquently reminding our Catholic collleges that God expects them to not only teach about justice but also to act justly when seeking privilege for themselves.
Msgr. Pope’s observations are thought provoking and right on. Notwithstanding that I find it shocking that a government agency arrogates to itself the right to define what is religious This represents a serious assault on the First Amendment right to the free exercise of religion. Where is the ACLU when you really need it?
Thank you, Msgr.Pope, for your straightforward and very much needed words.Thank God for those colleges like Thomas Aquinas College and other Catholic colleges who remain faithful to the magesterium.
Very well said. This should help to strengthen the hand of those students who, as at Georgetown University, resisted the university administration’s weakness and pushed, instead, to witness for their faith by retaining (and in many cases restoring) crucifixes in the classrooms. This is the same university which acceded to President Obama’s demand that “IHS” be covered when he gave his address there. How utterly craven, especially when compared to the sacrifices of the Jesuit martyrs in North America! It really just makes one want to vomit.
Right on!
Caeser’s insistance on Catholic institutions to “prove” their catholicity is not out of any adherence to moral consistency….it’s what happens when metropolitan and state governments get desparate for tax dollars! In this case, staggering government debt can be a good thing…when it forces Caesar to come calling for his due. If it forces secular “catholic” institutions to adjust course (or make a 180), then this is good. God writes straight in crooked lines.
Thank you for your thoughtful post…it’s long overdue
Two good articles of note regarding the secularization of Catholic higher education:
The Fatal Blow – The Case of the Stinking Corpse
Fr. Martin (Marty) Moleski, S.J. (2008)
http://www.marquette.edu/library/archives/Conversations/No34_2008/no34_moleski.pdf
Roots of abandoning non-secular nature of Jesuit colleges and universities…1965 – St. Louis University
Who Owns Jesuit Colleges and Universities?
Vincent T. O’Keefe, S.J. (1992)
http://www.marquette.edu/library/archives/Conversations/No1_1992/No1_OKeefe.pdf
Thanks to all of you who have responded most recently to this article. There was a second wave of comments that came in after the Cardinal Newman Society placed the link on their site. So many comments have come in that it is impossible for me to answer them all. Just let me say I have read them and appreciate the support, the challenges and the clarifications you have provided. God bless you all.
I suppose I am naive in believing that those going to Catholic colleges want a Catholic Education.
If they are not receiving this, why aren’t they complaining? As a parent I would not pay the high
price for a Catholic college if it is no different that a public college. This is all very surprising to me.
Also, I feel ashamed that the motivation to restore Catholic identity to Catholic colleges is money.
I love my Catholic faith and would think that those who run these colleges would love this faith also!
Reply to a papal knight: We also took our 3rd and 4th children OUT of Catholic schools and are homeschooling, using a combination of Seton, Angelicum, Kolbe, and Mother of Divine Grace, along with some of our own. Yes, it is a lot of work, but we truly feel it is worth it. Our Catholic HS also had drug/sex problems, and the school dances did not discourage inappropriate behavior, like “grinding”, the theology program was the weakest of all subjects, they encouraged athletics above all else, and the books on the Literature list were indeed disgusting. You would think with all the books out there they could find some without cussing, sex, etc. And then there were the teachers with the Obama stickers… I finally couldn’t stand it any more, and was sorry I didn’t home school the others. They did, however, choose to attend REAL Catholic colleges: University of Dallas and John Paul the Great (San Diego).
In college search, there comes various rankings. The ranking is helpful to those who wants to know more about the school. The ranking is also a meaningful feedback to the school administrators how the school stands.
Do we have a “C-score” somewhere?
Msgr. Pope, With all due respect. Pray for the Consecration of Russia to the Immaculate Heart of Mary ( Jesus Mother )
As God had ordered at the Apparition of Fatima. For the Pope and all the Bishops of that time and through out these 9 decades ( 90 years ) and yet, not done. Who has lost the faith in God ? The Popes and the Bishops ? What have they got
to loose ? There Soles and those of many others ? Where have the Shepherds gone.
I thank God for all the blessing he has bestow upon me.
In Christ, God Bless.
Rudy H. Arambula
God Bless you Msgr. Pope, You do have the support of many………We all must keep praying!!! JHM
Pardon me for intruding and thank you for indulging a man in his late seventies. An excellent education is what an individual needs to prepare himself/herself for good paying employment upon graduation. The academic demands will require personal discipline if it is a difficult major (where the money is!). My wife went to an expensive all girls Catholic college that offered limited majors and excellent Catholic doctrine courses. Her major in education was a great help in training our five children , but would probably not have afforded her more then a modest income had she been on her own. She wanted to earn a business degree ,which wasn’t offered. She had graduated from a public high school . In both her case and mine, we attended Mass and received the sacraments in grade school and high school . Training in religion is primarily the responsibility of parents not of schools. Interestingly enough I graduated from the Naval Academy, a very secular school, and yet I was required to attend a church service of my choice on Sunday.
My point is that getting to know Jesus Christ is a personal not an academic responsibility. He saved my life in the military and He is my best friend. If you don’t like other’s ways of conducting their life, pray for them but don’t let their bohemian ways cloud your own goals.
John F. you are right that it is the parent’s responsibility to educate the child, especially religion, but I personally know people who sent their children to an inauthentic Catholic College and their children were brain-washed into thinking so much that the Catholic Church teaches is not-true, not good for people, that they should water down their beliefs to what feels good and never feel guilty or the need for confession or other sacraments, and that maybe God is just a theory. Pro-abortion groups are allowed on campus, including planned parenthood, plays like the Vagina Monologues, etc. I have heard people say their second child would NOT go to a Catholic college, after their first had become an atheist after attending University of San Diego. The goal of having Jesus as a best friend is wonderful, but who can do that if they are being told Jesus is a community organizer, and we owe people retribution for our father’s sins, and permanent, taxed welfare is part of our Christian beliefs? I would never say you can’t get a great education from a secular university, and that a person’s faith is a good thing to see in such a place, I’m just saying it is criminal for the Catholic Church to support a university that claims to be Catholic when in reality it is not, and instead of building up the Kingdom of God, it is tearing it down, student by student. http://www.johntwo24-25.net
Praise God for Msgr. Pope! I wish every bishop would read this and take to heart his message and act accordingly regarding universities which have lost their Catholic identity.
Thank you Monsignor Pope for your honest statements about any organization that calls itself Catholic but does not practice our Catholic Faith. I’m encouraged to see that the Cardinal Newman Society is publicizing institutions that are truly Catholic that promote and practice our faith. It would be good to see the CNS publish the minimum set of standards that an institution must have to call itself “Catholic”. That would apply to educational institutions as well as hospitals or any other organization that claims to be Catholic.
I am 100% in favor of taxing those instituitons that do not practice our faith at the same rate as secular institutions. They truly are no longer “Catholic”. Bob Ulicki – California
Interesting comments, but, please can we stop with the anecdotal evidence about Catholic colleges that aren’t really Catholic. Even the Msgr. fails to name names.
As a new to the faith convert, I would like to know exactly which colleges are Catholic in name only.
For the Catholic Colleges/Universities who DO follow the Magisterium of the Church, see the Cardinal Newman list that is published each year. All other “catholic colleges” do not pledge adherence to the Magisterium. Some schools have their theology teachers only sign; others have every professor on campus sign. My question is, why would a Catholic school NOT sign this. Even more, why should they have to? If they are NOT loyal to the Chuch/Pope, aren’t they protestants???? http://www.thenewmanguide.com/