No one was expecting something dramatically different from what the Pope said to Catholic educators this evening at the Catholic University of America:
–Education is integral to the mission of the Church to proclaim the Good News.
–A university or school’s Catholic identity is not simply a question of the number of Catholic students; it is a question of conviction.
–The Church believes that the truths of faith and of reason never contradict one another.
In short, Benedict believes that Catholic educational institutions must be genuinely Catholic. Not “in the Catholic tradition,” or “with a Catholic flavor.” Just plain Catholic, no sugar added.
Indeed, when he denounced the “assumption that every experience is of equal worth,” and “the reduction of the precious and delicate area of education in sexuality to management of ‘risk,’ bereft of any reference to the beauty of conjugal love,” he then asked, “How might Christian educators respond?”
The “V--Monologues”[ famosa peça de teatro o "monologo da vagina, ac] do not seem to fit with the answer the Pope has in mind: “These harmful developments — he said — point to the particular urgency of what we might call ‘intellectual charity.’ This type of charity calls the educator to recognize that the profound responsibility of leading the young to truth is nothing less than an act of love.”
Is Ratzinger, the former accomplished theology professor, opposing academic freedom at Catholic campuses? Not at all: “I wish to reaffirm the great value of academic freedom. In virtue of this freedom you are called to search for the truth wherever careful analysis of evidence leads you.”
But to those moving from “Catholic” to “in the Catholic tradition” or any other code word to mean a move toward post-Catholicism, the Pope warns 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.”
“Divergence from this vision weakens Catholic identity and, far from advancing freedom, inevitably leads to confusion, whether moral, intellectual or spiritual.”
I spoke to the president of a Catholic college right after the meeting. I think his off-the-record comments were right on the money: Pope Benedict is a “minimalist.” He is not going to drag any theologian by his or her feet into orthodoxy, nor will he thunder condemnations right and left to force post-Catholic universities to comply with the “mandatum.”
He will just let the good trees bear the good fruit.And if they are just a few… so be it.
Alejandro Bermudez
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Excellent commentary, Mr. Bermudez.What is at the crux of the matter is not reducing academic freedom at all, but rather preserving the authenticity of Catholic institutions. If these institutions wish freedom from Catholic dogma, then they should become free from the Catholic name.
— Posted by Paul Rimmer
