While manifestations of Catholic life at Notre Dame are abundant, is there a potentially fatal fault line that has opened out of public view?
Let's begin this discussion with the threshold question whether there is a serious threat to the Catholic identity of Notre Dame. I say there is. The School's Mission Statement tells us so.
That provision declares that the school's Catholic identity "depends upon" the "continuing presence" of a "predominant number of Catholic intellectuals." This means a solid majority, according to the author of the provision, then President Rev. Edward Malloy. Provost Burish reaffirmed this standard in the current issue of the Notre Dame Magazine. It's significant that this is also the minimum that Pope John Paul II prescribed in Ex Corde Ecclesiae, his explication of the nature of a Catholic University. This focus on faculty reflects the uniform conclusion of experts that the secularization of colleges and universities begins and ends with the faculty. (Resources)
Notre Dame is perilously close to failing the Mission Statement test, if it hasn't already.
The proportion of Catholics on the faculty has fallen precipitously from 85% in the 1970's to a bare majority of 53% today. Moreover, this 53% covers all faculty who at some time reported Church affiliation without regard to whether they were, or are, dissenting or merely nominal Catholics. But surely the term "Catholic intellectuals" in the Mission Statement refers to more than formal membership. In the current issue of the Notre Dame Magazine, Provost Burish describes the Catholics who should constitute the "majority" as those "who understand the nature of the religion, who can be living role models, who can talk with students about issues outside the classroom." If, then, an appropriate discount for nominal and dissenting Catholics is applied, there are not today a "predominant number" of "Catholic intellectuals" on the faculty.
And it is still more worrisome that, as the Provost and Dean Roche have both warned, given the high percentage of Catholics retiring, Catholics will soon be a numerical as well as a real minority unless there is a turnabout in hiring.
How much of a turnabout? Unprecedented, I think it safe to say. We've estimated that, simply to maintain the present technical, arithmetical Catholic majority, the recent 40% rate of hiring Catholics must increase to substantially over 60%. During a recent panel discussion at the University, Father Wilson Miscamble put the figure at 67% at least. Whatever the precise number, it seems clear that just edging above 50% won't do. This raises a number of questions:
What's more important, Catholic identity or pride of position in the U.S. News & World Report hierarchy?
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If the risk to Notre Dame's Catholic identity is so evident, why don't more seem concerned?
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Should those in governance ensure that the faculty's latitude in hiring will not trump the Mission Statement?
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Re: The Heart of the Matter
by
haikued2
on Sun 12 Aug 2007 02:09 PM EDT | Profile | Permanent Link
My experience as a father tells me that it is not a question of whether a Professor is a Catholic or not, but rather, whether the Professor is actively engaged in attempting to disuade students from their Catholic faith or belief in God, period. I had the same kind of experience in graduate school that my sons have had. Many Professors teach the subject matter at a high level of competency, but some, not all, are preaching anti-religion and, indeed, a leftist brand of secularism that comes with being a desciple of Marx. The importance of finding out which type you are hiring cannot be overstated. Truth, as history tells us, is not always consistent with what the Catholic Church teaches, even though it may not be inconsistent with the upper level theology sometimes subverted by the Church leaders in their attempt to control the members.
Re: Re: The Heart of the Matter
by
Joseph Caudle
on Sun 12 Aug 2007 02:51 PM EDT | Profile | Permanent Link
Haikued2, can you please explain this sentence: "Truth, as history tells us, is not always consistent with what the Catholic Church teaches, even though it may not be inconsistent with the upper level theology sometimes subverted by the Church leaders in their attempt to control the members." I'm not quite sure what the end of it means or what you are referring to in the beginning. Thank you.
Re: Re: The Heart of the Matter
by
Bill Dempsey
on Mon 13 Aug 2007 05:21 PM EDT | Profile | Permanent Link
No one would disagree, of course, that proselytizing atheist or agnostic or anti-Catholic professors can do great damage; but if it’s true that screening out this type is good enough because it doesn't matter "whether a Professor is a Catholic or not," Notre Dame is certainly off the mark in insisting that it does matter. The supposition is that committed and learned Catholic scholars can, and often do, make a difference. That was certainly my own experience. It would be interesting to hear from others.
If, though, you are suggesting that there is nevertheless a serious question about the educational experience at Catholic universities as their faculties are constituted today, you have a point well worth examining. In the "Secularization" section of our website, we cite a comprehensive study of the effect of four years study in a number of Catholic universities including Notre Dame. http://www.projectsycamore.com/resources/UCLAStudy.pdf. The results are worrisome. For example, there was an increase of 12 percentage points in support for abortion, 19% for casual sex, and 16% for homosexual marriage. While the results were not disaggregated by school, there is reason to suppose that Notre Dame is not atypical. We asked the University for its data, were advised that our request was being considered, but heard no further for many months. I then wrote that we would think it reasonable to conclude that the Notre Dame data would be at least no better than the average. Even so, this study says nothing about the impact of committed Catholic professors in deepening the faith of the balance of the student body; and a study that we will discuss in an upcoming newsletter shows that having a solid majority of Catholic scholars does make a significant difference. The problem with a typical Catholic university today, including Notre Dame, is that those solid majorities have vanished or are close to it. Re: Re: Re: The Heart of the Matter
by
haikued2
on Mon 13 Aug 2007 08:09 PM EDT | Profile | Permanent Link
Question: Since the liberal arts are the most susceptable for retooling the young students' set of values and beliefs, has Notre Dame looked into what is being taught in philosophy, theatre arts, literature, etc. In talking with my own friends, years ago, they all said that in their English courses and their philosophy courses the Professors ridiculed their Christian beliefs and the teachings of their parents while extolling secular values, in a society that was teaching that everything is relative and whatever makes you feel good is OK, the word values is watered down from what having values mean to me. It produced the ME generation and a large cadre of academic types with a mission to spread the gospel of progressive secularism. Having non-Catholic scholars in those areas appears to me to be the major reason Catholic kids are sounding like lost sheep.
Re: The Heart of the Matter
by
patcv1984
on Sun 12 Aug 2007 03:08 PM EDT | Profile | Permanent Link
I agree that a majority of solid Catholic intellectuals on the faculty will do much to strengthen Notre Dame's Catholic identity. But when candidates are being interviewed for teaching positions, how can Notre Dame ensure that the candidates meet our "test" of being "solidly Catholic"? Fr. McBrien will say that he is a baptized Catholic priest, a Holy Cross priest no less. How do we identify the "Fr. McBrien types" and protest their hiring? The Alumni are not in charge of the search process, much less the interview and hiring processes. I like Dr. Scott Hahn. How do we get his type of faithful Catholic scholar to apply and then how do we get them a fair chance at being hired? I fear that our criteria for "solid Catholic intelllectuals" may be subjective. We know them when we see them. Same with the Fr. McBriens.
Re: Re: The Heart of the Matter
by
Bill Dempsey
on Tue 14 Aug 2007 10:45 AM EDT | Profile | Permanent Link
You are quite right in observing that "alumni are not in charge of the search process, much less the interview and hiring processes," nor in my view should they be. It is beyond both our competence and our proper jurisdiction, and I think it would undermine our standing to work constructively within our proper sphere were we to be seen as officious intermeddlers. But we have every right to be concerned about Notre Dame's Catholic identity and to examine responsibly those facts relevant to that question. Those in governance have supplied the criterion so far as faculty composition is concerned, and the evidence that Notre Dame is probably not meeting that criterion even now is compelling. We should not be put off by claims that it is impossible to determine whether a prospecive faculty member is a committed Catholic. Whatever the limitations of the interview process may be -- and any experienced interviewer can learn a great deal -- certainly that is not the only, or the most important, means of taking the measure of an applicant -- as any experienced hiring manager will testify. (Certainly no one would have any difficulty evaluating a Scott Hahn or a Father McBrien at relatively early stages in their careers.)
A final word with respect to Project Sycamore: While there is of course nothing to prevent an individual from expressing his or her views to the Administration about, say, the heterodoxy of a professor, as an organization we express no view as to the "brand" of Catholicism we would like to see in a teacher -- only that the person fall within the broad range of orthodoxy. Ideally, since we are talking about a university, my personal view is that the full range of Catholic thought should be represented in a balanced fashion.. Realistically, given the strongly liberal complexion dominating academe, I know that goal is an unlikely one. Some things a person just has to live with. Nay, a good many. Re: The Heart of the Matter
by
haikued2
on Sun 12 Aug 2007 06:41 PM EDT | Profile | Permanent Link
Scientific "Truth", as personified, perhaps, by Gallileo, but others as well, has been condemned by the Church as being not in accordance with their interpretation of Biblical stories or philosophies based on faith that their first assumptions are true. I believe that resistance to the evolution of the facts of our physical world is more a fear that the Church's explanations based on Biblical stories and the Church's interpretation of them, is a fear that the faith of the members will be shaken if they learn the truth.
Personnally, science has never threatened my faith in Our Creator or in the teachings of Jesus in the Gospels. Sometimes ideologues have to step back and look at what they are resisting. Acceptance of truth may mean adjusting teachings, not articles of true faith, but all the rules, laws, ideas and philosophical arguments to fit what is now known. To do otherwise makes religion appear to be nothing more than a business. Re: Re: The Heart of the Matter
by
Bill Dempsey
on Fri 17 Aug 2007 04:02 PM EDT | Profile | Permanent Link
I had hoped that the Church had atoned sufficiently for Gallileo by now. It has made plain that it has no quarrel with evolution except as its anti-religion proponents advance the non-scientific argument that it disproves the existence of a Creator; and no instance comes to mind in which the Church's view collides with science. Certainly the Church's view of the principles of Biblical exegesis excludes the sort of literalism that runs foursquare into science. With you, modern science troubles not one whit my faith.
Re: Re: Re: The Heart of the Matter
by
haikued2
on Fri 17 Aug 2007 08:00 PM EDT | Profile | Permanent Link
I agree with you, but I think the Church should do more to articulate their positions. Hopefully without entwining with the fundamentalists who work hard to find evidence that the bible stories are literally true in all detail. The secularists (in my humble opinion, advocates of the anti-religion, Atheism, which is as much a faith as the belief that there is a creator) advance theory as fact if it meets their agenda, and soundly reject theory that includes a creator. Just human humbug stuff, I guess, but it sure confuses the kids.
Re: The Heart of the Matter
There cannot be anything more fundamental to the future of our University than that its core Catholism be maintained and reinvigorated. For me and for everyone of my friends and classmates with whom I've discussed this issue, the nourishment and enhancement of our Catholic faith was the central value of our Notre Dame experience.
Re: Re: The Heart of the Matter
by
Marty Dybicz
on Wed 15 Aug 2007 02:41 PM EDT | Profile | Permanent Link
Here are questions that could be asked during the hiring process that could help separate the Scott Hahns from the Richard McBriens--in any academic discipline:
1) Do you agree with John Cardinal Newman that the Catholic Faith completes and perfects each academic discipline? How will you allow the Catholic Faith to complete and perfect your discipline in your courses? 2) Have you read "Ex Corde Ecclesiae"? How will you apply it to your teaching? 3) Have you read Pope John Paul II's "Fides et Ratio"and Pope Benedict XVI's Speech at Regensburg? How will you apply them to your teaching? Re: The Heart of the Matter
by
Tim Dempsey
on Wed 15 Aug 2007 08:27 PM EDT | Profile | Permanent Link
(For Charles J. Schubert, '52) I praise the Project and it's worthy goals. I have borrowed on my friendship with Dean Mark Roche of the Arts & Letters College to plead with him to bend every effort to bring solid Catholic faculty nominees aboard in an effort to improve the dismal 51% advantage currently held over lay faculty. And I assure one and all of my ongoing efforts to enlist classmates and friends into supporting the very worthy goals of Project Sycamore at Our Lady's University.
Re: The Heart of the Matter
by
Tim Dempsey
on Sat 18 Aug 2007 07:12 PM EDT | Profile | Permanent Link
(For Edward F. Foley, '52) As a longtime serving secretary of ND'52, I am well into my third decade of seeking out items that would be of interest to our classmates. For the past six years, Bishop D'Arcy (SB-Ft.W) has been trying to get the attention of the administration of ND to pay heed to his concern about the Catholic nature of our beloved university, and he has not had noticeable success. This followed a directive from Rome instructing all bishops of their responsibility in their diocese.
In a sense, Project Sycamore joins Bishop D'Arcy in this concern. This is a '52 project in that it is spearheaded by our Bill Dempsey. You will remember Bill as our top Dome Award winner and was cited in our yearbook as having the top GPA in our class and as an outstanding debater. He has put a fine board together including our president George Heidkamp, and at our 55th reunion they presented a seminar that geve many of us a better understanding of the project. Of vital interest is the low percentage of 53% Catholics on the faculty and the promotionof Vagina Monologues during Queer Week each February. Does sthis sort of thing belong on the campus of the university that we love I don't think so! Please get interested in Project Sycamore. It is a matter we could all embrace. Re: Re: The Heart of the Matter
by
haikued2
on Sun 19 Aug 2007 05:42 PM EDT | Profile | Permanent Link
Do you know if any of the other Bishops/Archbishops around the country addressed the issue with the administration? I know that I have been disappointed by the lack of courage displayed by many of the Bishops in addressing issues pertaining to their flocks and the education of the Catholic kids. Aren't shepherds supposed to protect the flock? Maybe we need more Bishops with the mentality of a Border Collie or a Welsh Cardigan Corgi. They will die to save their flock.
Re: Re: Re: The Heart of the Matter
by
Bill Dempsey
on Mon 20 Aug 2007 03:19 PM EDT | Profile | Permanent Link
An excellent question. While there is an increasing recognition that, as Father Piderit and Ms. Morey put it in their recent survey of Catholic college and university administrators ("Catholic Higher Education"), "There is a crisis looming in Cathodlic higher education," I'm not aware that the collective voices of the bishops have been raised -- nor for that matter that individual bishops have spoken publicly about the state of affairs on institutions within their diocese. To be sure, that doesn't mean that bishops haven't spoken privately to the Presidents of those institutions. The long and sometimes bitter struggle involving university presidents, American bishops, and the Vatican over Ex Corde Ecclesiae underscored the sensitivity of these issues, and a bishop might reasonably feel that he could accomplish more by quiet discussion than by public criticism. The bishops are not armed with any sanctions under Ex Corde except the thermonuclear option of declaring that an institution is no longer entitled to call itself "Catholic," and while that action has been taken on two or three occasions of which I'm aware, the case obviously has to be extreme for a bishop to abandon all hope. These considerations, though, are obviously of less weight in terms of a statement on behalf of the bishops collectively, which, for my part, I think is really demanded by the current state of affairs in Catholic education generally.
I should note that Notre Dame is blessed with its bishop. Bishop D'Arcy is, I believe, the only -- THE ONLY -- bishop to have publicly condemned the performance of The Vagina Monologues under the auspices of a Catholic institution. Here again, other bishops may have addressed the issue privately and successfully, but it's hard to understand the silence of the bishops in those 20 or so diocese where Catholic schools have approved student performances of this obscene work. Another aspect of this question is the refusal of bishops to make public the compliance of theology faculties with the Ex Corde Ecclesiae requirement that theology professors assure their bishops (by way of a mandatum) that they will follow Catholic doctrine in their teaching. If parents, then, in selecting a school, would like to know whether their daughter or son will be instructed in the Catholic faith or instead in dissent, they can't examine the mnost obvious source. The plea of confidentiality stands in the way, even though they don't seek names of individual professors. One would think the privilege against self-incrimination somehow got into the picture. Re: Re: Re: Re: The Heart of the Matter
by
haikued2
on Tue 21 Aug 2007 01:39 PM EDT | Profile | Permanent Link
Thank you for such a complete explanation of the situation regarding the Bishops vs the Universities. I am afraid that we have become a nation of one way freedoms. Secularists are free to clearly discriminate in their hiring practices in public and private universities, but schools founded on faith, Catholic, Jewish, Muslim, or whatever, seem to be bound by rules laid out by the ACLU. Well, maybe not the Muslims, who appear to be fully protected against criticism by anyone.
Anyway, the University of Notre Dame needs to actively protect itself from the incursion of secularist ideology through the hiring process. Make some rules, ask questions, and enforce the rules. If it means not being in the top 20 national universities in the US News and World Report survey, then so be it. The hiring process should be in the hands of Catholic members of the Administration, the Alumni Association (who have a stake in the outcome) and the faculty. It was founded 165 years ago as a Catholic institution and there is no reason for it to change its character to be politically correct. |
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