Gu Professor Discounts Newman Guidelines

Connection

While most Catholic universities are concerned about the Vatican document Ex Corde Ecclesiae, Jesuit schools like Gonzaga University aren’t likely to pay attention to the guidelines issued by the Cardinal Newman Society.

“They’re a fringe, right-wing group,” said John Downey, a professor of religious studies at GU. “Most mainstream Catholics don’t pay attention to them.”

During a recent conference, the Cardinal Newman Society called for a number of measures including the banning of openly gay staff.

These practices aren’t Catholic at all, Downey said. “The Jesuits believe in dialoguing with people who are different rather than squashing them.

“(The Cardinal Newman Society) means well and doesn’t want to bargain our heritage. But do they really understand our heritage? It sounds like they don’t understand higher education or the pluralism of Catholicism.”

Instead of heeding the Newman guidelines, Gonzaga University will likely pay closer attention to how Ex Corde Ecclesiae unfolds.

The document, which means “From the Heart of the Church,” calls for Catholic schools to maintain closer relationships with local bishops and appoint committed Catholics to board positions.

Each bishop may interpret the guidelines in a different way, “so we’re in a wait-and-see situation right now,” said Ron Large, chair of Gonzaga’s Religious Studies Department. “It’s still an open question.”

Gonzaga is one of 220 Catholic higher education institutions in the country.

Some who work for those universities and colleges are anxious about the effects of Ex Corde Ecclesiae and fear that it many mean implementing a litmus test for those who teach theology in Catholic colleges and universities. This could result in a general loss of academic freedom, some theologians across the country say.

But that doesn’t have to be the case, Downey said.

For the most part, there isn’t a big tension between Catholic theologians and bishops, Downey said. In Spokane, for example, Spokane Bishop William Skylstad has been very supportive of GU’s religious studies program and has attended the department’s retreats, Downey said.

For Downey, Ex Corde isn’t in conflict with Catholic universities’ tradition of integrating faith and reason.

The Vatican document will “make sure the university is a place where intellectual life is valued and where we honor the Catholic tradition, study it and live it,” Downey said.

Based on most interpretations of Ex Corde, the document also applies only to Catholic faculty who teach theology at Catholic institutions.

It doesn’t force other departments to hire a mostly Catholic staff. It’s difficult to imagine some departments such as engineering employing only Catholics, Downey said.

But hiring faculty and staff of a particular religious affiliation isn’t new at Whitworth College, which is affiliated with the Presbyterian Church.

Faculty and staff don’t have to be Presbyterian, said the school’s public information officer Greg Orwig, but they must profess a personal commitment to the Christian faith.

As part of the application process, potential employers must submit an essay of their Christian faith.

Whitworth is one of 100 members of the Council for Christian Colleges and Universities, all of whom hire only Christian faculty members and administrators.