spring 2010 bulletin of catholic higher education

8/14/2019 Spring 2010 Bulletin of Catholic Higher Education

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VOLUME 2 ISSUE 1SPRING 2010

The Bulletinof Catholic Higher Education

IN

SIDEExecutive Directors Note.....................2

Of Note........................................................3

Upcoming Events......................................4

Campus Life: Shaping Student

Culture, Households at Franciscan....5

Moral Theology on Campus:

An Interview with Dr. William May....7

Invitation: Summer Instituteof Catholic Thought.................................9

Catholic Identity in Action..................10

Latest fromThe Center..........................12

SPOTLIGHT: Health Insurance Mandates andthe Growing Threat to Catholic Identity

Arecent ederal rul-ing against BelmontAbbey College in NorthCarolina threatens gov-ernment encroachmenton the religious libertyo Catholic colleges and

universities nationwide.

Te ederal Equal Em-ployment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has ruledthat the small Catholic college discriminates against e-male employees by reusing to cover prescription contra-ceptives in its health insurance plan. An appeal is pend-

ing, but i it is denied, the EEOC will recommend courtremedies or employees who wish to sue the college.

As a Roman Catholic institution, Belmont Abbey Col-lege is not able to and will not oer nor subsidize medicalservices that contradict the clear teaching o the CatholicChurch, said Dr. William Tierelder, president o Bel-

mont Abbey College.

Contraceptive mandates have been a growing problem orCatholic institutions. Most states have imposed contra-ceptive mandates on employers, many like Caliornia re-using to exempt independent Catholic institutions. Last

year Wisconsin legislators passed a law requiring evendiocesan agencies to compromise the aith.

State contraceptive mandates may also aect student in-surance plans oered by Catholic colleges. Massachusettslaw, or instance, requires colleges to cover students con-

traceptives i prescription drugs are also covered.Te EEOC ruling against Belmont Abbey College nowbrings the issue to the ederal level. According to thecommissions published guidance on pregnancy discrimi-nation, the EEOC believes that contraceptive coverage ismandated by the 1978 Pregnancy Discrimination Actalaw which does not, by strict interpretation, consider dis-crimination against all women o childbearing potential.

Worse, neither the EEOC guidance nor the rulingagainst Belmont Abbey College give due consideration tothe First Amendment rights o Catholic employers. I itcomes to a court ght, the college is likely to rely on reli-gious reedom arguments and has retained the nonprotBecket Fund or Religious Liberty or its deense.

Catholic college leaders are aced with the question: Is it

continued, p. 11


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his is the time o year when many universitypresidents will announce theirresignation publicly. Usuallythis is in the wake o a processo discernment and discus-sion with board members anda ew trusted colleagues thathas occurred or many months

prior to a careully orches-trated public announcement.A presidential resignation also introduces a period omajor change or the individual and or the institution.And while a resigning president has many options andeven a newly ound sense o reedom, the changes or theinstitution are more demanding and stressul.

A change in leadership oers challenges to a Catho-lic university as well as some great opportunities. Teprimary challenge o course is to nd a new president.

Te major opportunity oered is to take stock o the

Catholic identity and determine whether it needs to bestrengthened. Tis is a time when a board o trusteesand a sponsoring religious community can discuss howthey want to see the uture o their institution develop.It may be a narrow window o opportunity, although re-quently an interim president is appointed or one year so

that a national search can be conducted without unduehaste. Tis is an excellent idea, because it also aords thechance to engage the entire academic community, thelocal bishop and the sponsoring religious community ina serious discussion o Catholic identity and the guide-lines and norms oEx corde Ecclesiae.

Unortunately, too oten a college or university ails totake ull advantage o this opportunity and ocuses too

quickly on nding suitable candidates or the presidency.Tat is understandable, given the pressures and immensetasks o a well conducted presidential search. Searchrms play an enormous role in identiying candidates,but sometimes play too prominent a part in discerning

what characteristics the new president should have, o-cusing on leadership and management skills, undraisingabilities and representing the institution to the generalpublic. Te opportunity to strengthen the Catholic iden-tity and aithulness to the Magisterium, to truly discernhow the college or university can be ully Catholic isthereby lost in the search process.

Although the president alone cannot solve all the prob-lems o an institution or bear sole responsibility or itsCatholic identity, he or she must be a leader, especiallyin the realm o Catholic identity. oday this takes presi-dents who have courage, are willing to make tough deci-sions with which some will disagree and have patienceand perseverance. Catholic colleges and universities un-dergoing presidential transitions deserve our help, en-couragement and our prayers that they gain a strongerunderstanding o their Catholic identity.

David House, Ph.D.Dr. David House is Executive Director o Te Centeror the Advancement o Catholic Higher Education. Hemay be reached at 703/895-1493 or [email protected].

Executive Directors Note

The Bulletin of Catholic Higher Education is publishedquarterly by The Center for the Advancement of

Catholic Higher Education, a division of The CardinalNewman Society in support ofEx corde Ecclesiae. The

Centers mission is to advise and assist academic andreligious leaders in efforts to strengthen the Catholicidentity and academic quality of Catholic colleges and

universities in order to strengthen and renew Catholichigher education.

Submissions for inclusion and comments to the

editor should be sent to:

[email protected].


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Call for Papers

Te Society o Catholic Social Scientists has announceda call or papers or the organizations 2010 Annual Na-tional Meeting-Conerence. Te event will be held inOctober at Holy Cross College in South Bend, Ind. Pa-pers are being sought in numerous broad subject areas.Proposed paper topics and a written precis must be sentno later than June 1, 2010, or consideration. More in-ormation is available on the Societys website at Cath-olicSocialScientists.org or by contacting Dr. StephenKrason at [email protected].

Thomas Aquinas College Inaugurates New President

On February 13, Tomas Aquinas College (AC) inau-gurated Dr. Michael F. McLean as its ourth president.In the presence o His Emminence Roger Cardinal Ma-honey, Archbishop o Los Angeles, the Chairman o theBoard o Governors o AC charged Dr. McLean withhis new duties and invested him as president, bestowing

on him the presidents silver chain o oce. Dr. McLeanmade a proession o aith and took the Oath o Fidelity,making public his intention that both he and the college

would remain loyal to the Holy Father and aithul tothe teachings o the Catholic Church. Dr. McLean wasappointed to the aculty o AC in 1978 and has servedas a tutor, Assistant Dean or Student Aairs, Vice Pres-ident or Development, and Dean o the College.

St. Gregorys Launches Ofce Dedicated

to Enhancing Catholic Identity

St. Gregorys University (SGU) announced in Januarythe ormation o the Oce o Faith, Integration, De-

velopment, and Evangelization (FIDE). Te new oce will ocus on collaboration with campus oces, withparticular emphasis on recruitment o new studentsand connecting with Church oces and with variousexternal communities, with the goal o responding tothe U.S. bishops call to look at the signs o the timesand respond to the needs o the Church by meeting the

needs o students in the world today and inspiring gen-erations yet to come. SGUs vice president or missionand identity said that as a Catholic university, SGU hasa relationship to the Church that is essential to its insti-tutional identity, reerencingEx corde Ecclesiae. He saidthat FIDE will seek to enhance that relationship andpromote the witness o Christ, who is the Word madefesh, as it permeates all aspects o the university. Uni-

versity ocials said that the new initiative is in direct

response to the Holy Sees call or renewed delity to theRoman Catholic character o its more than 400 collegesand universities around the world.

UST Launches Pope John Paul II Forum

for the Church in the Modern World

Te University o St. Tomas (US) in Houston, ex.,announced recently the launch o the Pope John Paul IIForum or the Church in the Modern World. Te mis-sion o the Forum is to promote a broader and deeperunderstanding o the thought o Pope John Paul II andto acilitate its application to contemporary issues. Teactivities and resources o the Forum will ocus upon thegreat work and vision o Pope John Paul II and make itaccessible to the US community and the nation, accord-ing to a university release. Te Forum aims to provideopportunities or students, aculty and the communityat large to avail themselves o John Paul IIs expansiverange o speeches and writings. Te work o the Forumincludes public lectures, workshops or aculty develop-ment, and conerences. Archbishop Charles Chaput oDenver spoke at a recent Forum event on the topic o

Te Vocation o Christians in American Public Lie.

Providence College Re-Elects President

Passionate for Catholic Mission

Providence College (PC), in Rhode Island, announcedrecently that Rev. Brian J. Shanley, O.P., has been re-elected as College president or a second, ve-year termset to begin this July. Rev. D. Dominic Izzo, O.P., prior

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Of Note


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provincial o the Dominican Province o St. Joseph andchairman o the Providence College Corporation, said,[Father Shanley] is passionate about the Catholic andDominican mission and providing students with a qual-ity liberal arts education. Fr. Shanley, who also teachesphilosophy at the College, has made strengthening theColleges distinctive Catholic and Dominican charactera ocus during his tenure as president. As his rst presi-dential action upon election in 2005, he established anew cabinet-level division o Mission & Ministry. Teoce guided a reorganization o the Campus Ministryand ounded the Center or Catholic and DominicanStudies.

Bishop Olmsted Issues Pastoral Letter:

Serving Truth in the University

On the Feast o Our Lady o Guadalupe, December 12,Bishop Tomas J. Olmsted o the Phoenix Diocese is-sued a pastoral letter titled Serving ruth in the Uni-

versity. Te letter outlines Bishop Olmsteds visionor the role o the Catholic Church in university lie,and specically how the two Newman Centers in the

diocese are key to Catholic evangelization eorts. Teletter identies three elements essential to Catholic out-reach at universities: to be a visible witness or Christand the teachings o the Church, to preach and spreadthe Gospel, and to provide the sacraments and ongoingaith ormation. Serving ruth also mandates chastityeducation and mentions the duty o the priest chaplainto guard the dignity and beauty o the liturgy.

Christendom President Participates in Pontical

Council Assembly on Rights of Childhood

Dr. imothy ODonnell, president o Christendom Col-lege in Front Royal, VA, participated in the 18th PlenaryAssembly o the Pontical Council or the Family as an

ocial consultor. Te theme o the assembly, Rights oChildhood, was chosen because o the concurrent 20thanniversary o the U.N. Convention on the Rights o theChild. ODonnell joined cardinals, bishops and otherscholars to discuss important issues acing the Churchsuch as the question o the adoption o children by ho-mosexual couples.

Upcoming EventsApril 2010

4/24 Society o Catholic Social Scientists mini-Con-erence: Our Society, Sexuality, Psychology, and Ca-tholicism: Dening the Problem and Seeking Solu-tions, Southern Catholic College, Dawsonville, Ga.FMI: contact Sandra McKay at [email protected] or

visit CatholicSocialScientists.org.

June 2010

6/7 - 6/10 Summer Institute or Catholic SocialTought, Washington, DC. Sponsored by the Society oCatholic Social Scientists and CACHE. FMI: Cathol-icHigherEd.org or contact Fr. Paul Sullins, (202) 319-5445, [email protected].

6/14 - 6/19 Bishops Summer Meeting, St. Petersburg,Fla. FMI: USCCB.org.

6/10-6/13 Portsmouth Institute Conerence on New-man and the Intellectual radition, Portsmouth Ab-bey, Portsmouth, R.I. FMI: contact Cindy Waterman [email protected] or visit Portsmou-thInstitute.org.

September 2010

9/24 - 9/26 Te 33rd Annual Convention o the Fel-lowship o Catholic Scholars will take place in themother diocese o the United States, the Archdiocese oBaltimore. Te theme or this meeting is Catholicismin America. FMI: CatholicScholars.org.

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ake a collegiate social ra-ternity or sorority withall its social activity, ritual, andhigh ideals o camaraderie,mutual support and account-ability. Now place Jesus Christat the center as its guidingprinciple, primary role mod-el, and most intimate leader.

What do you have? A Fran-ciscan University household.

Households are the most proound reason to go toFranciscan University, an alumnus commented recently.He had been a member o the Conquer Trough LoveHousehold. I was damaged goods when I arrived atFranciscan. Nine seniors reached out to a reshman andconquered my heart, and showed me that Christ is thereal conqueror. Tey really turned me around.

Conquer Trough Love is only one o dozens o house-

holds that have shaped the student culture at FranciscanUniversity o Steubenville over the last 30-plus years.Households are Spirit-empowered, Christ-led groups ostudents who nd they have a common desire to do the

will o the Father according to a particular charism.

Households burst onto the scene in 1975 as an initiativeo Father Michael Scanlan, OR, who had been namedpresident in 1974. Te Universitythen the College oSteubenvillewas suering rom the cultural upheavalthat rocked so much o society. Te school was in dan-ger o closing; Father Scanlan was hired because he be-

lieved it could be saved. He dove into the work, gettingto know students personally. He was deeply troubledto nd students who lived in a dorm room or a yearand never spoke withor even ound out the namesotheir next-door neighbors. A study came out thatreported that the loneliest people in the nation were col-lege reshmen. In prayer he heard God challenge him tochange the culture. Te institution had to draw closer toChristadministration, aculty and especially students.

Wide-ranging reorms at all levels were needed.

In December 1974 Father Scanlan called a special cam-pus meeting to announce the creation o a new way oresidence living. He knew the great potential o small-group living to be a dynamo o cultural change romhis experiences in collegiate raternities. At St. FrancisMajor Seminary he had successully implemented smallgroups or prayer and sharing among seminarians while

rector.In households, students o the same sex would supportone another and help one another do the will o theFather according to their particular charism. Tis ar-rangement, he anticipated, would oster an atmosphereo Christian charity on the campus, drawing peopleinto one anothers lie in a spirit o caring concern. Fa-ther Scanlan knew he had only a short time to bringthe school back rom the brink, so ater a trial period inspring o 1975, membership in a household was mademandatory in all o 1975.

Te backlash to Father Scanlans reorms was immediate.Students demanded that the board o trustees re him.

Te board reused. Some students who couldnt accepthouseholds let, while others who desired to see this newthing work came on board.

Five tough but blessed years later, the membership re-quirement was lited and household lie continued onits own. oday the University has 47 households among

which the nearly 2,000 undergraduates can seek out acharism that draws them in.

And seek they dogenerally, a third o undergraduatestudents are in households at the beginning o the school

year, a number that grows to 60 percent by years end.

A new household orms when a group o three or morestudents nd they are motivated to grow in the love oGod according to a similar charism. Te Fishers o Men,or example, seek to answer Jesus call to evangelize withpure trust like the Apostles. Little Flowers Household

CAMPUS LIFE: Shaping Student Culture on

Campus, the Franciscan Household Model

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by Fr. David Morrier, TOR


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women look to St. Terese o Lisieux (the Little Flow-er) and her Little Way as an inspiration to love always.

Te students compose a covenant, which states and ex-pounds upon their charism. o aid the members in livingout the covenant, they draw up a list o commitmentsthings such as common prayer, regular meetings, serviceprojects, group activities, and attending Mass togetherregularly. Te ladies o Madonna o the Streets, or ex-ample, pray as a household outside an abortion mill oncea month.

Te household chooses one o its members to be theleader, called the coordinator, who receives training andserves as the principal contact with the University. Anon-student adultaculty, sta, alum, or other appro-priate individualserves as household advisor, provid-ing stability and mentoring.

A group ocially becomes a household when the Uni-versity approves its covenant. Te new household gets aroom in a residence hall wing as its own common room,

which they are ree to paint and decorate as they de-sire. Te coordinator and as many members as possiblelive in the rooms near their common room. A Mass atthe beginning o the school year and the HouseholdOlympics celebrate household lie. Households orm

intramural sports teams, evangelize on and o campus,take part in campus committees and activities, and runvending booths at campus events.

But households are not, and must not become, merelysocial clubsthose that do usually dwindle and becomeextinct. All household activities must be rooted in and

lead to a deeper relationship with the Lord. In an annualsel-evaluation, members examine whether they are liv-ing out their own covenant according to three goals: 1)

Evangelized individuals, or how committed memberso the household are to deepening their love o the Lord;2) Evangelized group evangelizing others, or how wellthe household, as a group, has ollowed Christ, empow-ered by the Spirit, according to their covenant; and 3)Group evangelizing world, or how well the household,as a group, has been salt and light to transorm the sur-rounding culture by Jesus saving love.

Tese goals capture the motivation behind the house-holds. Households exist to help students mature asChristians in body, mind, and spirit. Tey exist to orm

men and women who are able and eager to orm rela-tionships rooted in the ellowship o the Holy Spirit.Households oster an atmosphere where no student islet alone. Students learn to be their brother or sisterskeeper, and take on the cares and worries, joys and suc-cesses o their ellows.

At fourishing Franciscan University, the transorminglove o Christ turned a cultural crisis into a cultural con-

version. Now, neighbors know each others name, andupperclassmen seek out troubled underclassmen with acaring concern rooted in the love o Christ.

Father David Morrier, TOR, is the Coordinator of House-hold Life at Franciscan University of Steubenville. For more

information on households, or a copy of the Household Co-ordinator Handbook, please contact him at (740) 283-6335.

More information, including a short video, can also be foundin the campus life section of www.franciscan.edu.

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Editors Note: Dr. William E. May

is emeritus Michael J. McGivneyProfessor of Moral Theologyat the John Paul II Institute for

Studies on Marriage and theFamily at The Catholic Univer-

sity of America. He becameSenior Research Fellow of the

Culture of Life Foundation in2008. This interview was con-ducted by Evangeline Jones,

who previously served as the deputy director of The Center.

Dr. May, most Catholic colleges require between oneand three courses in theology or religious studies,

sometimes granting such a wide choice of coursesthat no Catholic theology is mandated. Should Catho-lic moral theology be a required area of study? Howshould it be approached?

A minimum o our three-hour courses in theology (notreligion) should be required, and the proessors shouldall be persons who accept gladly Magisterial teaching.

Since so many undergrads have had very poor cateche-sis, the rst course should be a presentation o Catho-lic aith as a whole. Te Catechism of the Catholic Churchcould be used or at least the Compendium. Or perhapsan excellent Introduction to the Catholic Faith, mak-ing use o the CCC and Vatican II documents, couldbe oered. Tis course should cover the Nicene Creed,explaining clearly each o its articles, the Sacraments othe Church, and the nature o Christian moral lie as aliving out o our baptismal commitment to be aithulmembers o the divine amily.

Tere also should be a good course in biblical theology,another on the documents o Vatican Council II, andanother on Catholic moral lie oering in particularCatholic teaching on marriage and sexual morality andgiving good reasons to show that this teaching is true.

Tere could, and I think should be, cooperation be-tween the departments o theology and philosophy witha course devoted perhaps to the relationship between

aith and reason and team-taught by a philosopher and atheologian. Tey could also cooperate in teaching cours-es on the moral lie and bioethics.

What place does bioethics have in a Catholic college

curriculum?

It has a central place. It is in the area o bioethics thatthe contemporary dualistic anthropology that severs theperson (i.e., the experiencing subject) rom his or her

body which is regarded as a privileged instrument o theperson and part o the sub-personal world over whichthe person has been given dominion is operative insuch issues as contraception, abortion, euthanasia, in vi-tro ertilization, suicide and euthanasia, embryonic stemcell research, etc.

Most o those in the bioethics industry distinguish be-tween living human beings (e.g., human embryos, thesenile and vegetative, those severely mentally handi-capped, etc.) and persons. Tey grant, or instance,that human embryos are human beings, but they are not

persons with rights. Tus its okay to kill them. I theywere chimpanzeeorpanda embryos they would not darekill them to get their stem cells, because those speciesare endangered, and i they tried to kill them the PEAsociety would make it rough or them. On this see thebrilliant book castigating the bioethics establishment byLeon Kass, Life, Liberty, and the Defense of Dignity.

What is the signicance and likely impact ofDignitas

Personae for teaching bioethics and moral theology?

Dignitas Personae is not, in my judgment, quite as sig-

nicant as its predecessor Donum Vitae. o a large extentthe new document does not articulate the basic anthro-pological, theological, and ethical considerations centralto evaluating contemporary developments in bioethicsbut rather rearms quite strongly and appropriately theprinciples and values so magnicently set orth in Do-num Vitae.

Among the principal values o this new document arethe ollowing: its excellent treatment o some new orms

Teaching Moral Theology on a Catholic

Campus: An Interview with Dr. William May


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o articially generating human lie such as intracyto-plasmic sperm injection, its strong condemnation ocloning and the terrible indignity on human lie in-

ficted by the cryopreservation o human embryos. Ospecial signicance are the sections oDignitas Personaeconcerned with genetic therapy and its basic orms and

with the use o human biological material o illicit ori-gin. Some sections o the document allow or dierentinterpretations; in my opinion the teaching in DonumVitaewas in no way ambiguous, whereas this does seemto be the case o a ew places in Dignitas. Several seriousissues, such as gamete intraallopian tube transer andthe proper way to cope with ectopic pregnancy, hotlydebated by theologians loyal to the Magisterium, are notconsidered. One hopes that these and similar issues will

be addressed in the near uture.

What are the benets and limitations of courses in

professional ethics (legal ethics, business ethics,etc.)? How can Catholic moral teaching be incorpo-rated in these areas that often rely upon codes ofprofessional conduct developed from a relativistic

perspective?

I think its possible to nd courses in law and businesscompatible with and indeed contributing to Catholicmoral thought. I think o the Ave Maria School o Law,

Notre Dame Law School with Gerard V. Bradley andthe great John Finnis, and there are other places. OpusDei has a great business school at the Universidad deNavarra in Pamplona, Spain, and I think the Acton In-stitute and some other organizations are working hardin this area.

You have written that Vatican II called for a renewal oftheology as a whole, and of moral theology in particu-

lar, in part because many had lost sight of the intimatebonds uniting the truths of salvation to the moral life,and the unity of the moral and spiritual life. How was

this problem reected within the discipline of theology?

Dissenting theologians who justied contraception us-ing an argument that later became known as propor-tionalism and whose anthropology reduced the humanbody itsel to part o the subhuman world over whichthe person has dominion, severed the bond betweenthe truths o salvation and the moral lie and the unityo the spiritual and moral lie. In act, Pope John PaulII called attention to the act that some contemporary

theologians had indeed done this (see Veritatis Splendor,no. 4, par. 3).

Tese theologians, among them Joseph Fuchs (who saidthat the teaching o the Church on moral questions isto be taken cum grano salis), Louis Janssens, RichardMcCormick, Bernard Haering and many others, were

very infuential. Teir students (e.g., Charles Curran)soon were teaching in seminaries around the world sothat by the 1970s when I was teaching at Te CatholicUniversity o America, the seminarians whom I taught(only ater they had received their course in undamentalmoral theology rom Father Curran) all maniested thehermeneutic o suspicion, i.e., they all seemed to thinkthat i the Church (the Magisterium) taught something

it was probably alse! It was not until the mid-1980s orso that this situation improved somewhat.

What do you foresee will be the future path for the

study of moral theology in Catholic colleges and uni-versities over the next couple of decades?

Several recent graduates o good centerse.g., the Pon-tical John Paul II Institute in the U.S. and other places,the Ponticia Universit Santa Croce in Rome [OpusDei], the Ponticia Ateneo Regina Apostolorum inRome [Legionaries o Christ], and other centers o this

kindprovide hope that the uture will improve. Morerecently we can include the Academia Alphonsiana inRome and the Catholic University o America underthe leadership o David OConnell, C.M., plus a newand terric group o Jesuit theologians loyal to the Mag-isterium (Kevin Flannery and Luis Ladaria at the Gre-gorian in Rome, John McDermott and others at SacredHeart Seminary, and others), plus new congregationssuch as the Institute o the Incarnate Word (oundedin Buenos Aires and with a house o ormation in theArchdiocese o Washington with some students at thePontical John Paul II Institute), and the seminaries op-

erated throughout the world by the Neocatecumate.

Moreover, there are solid Catholic colleges and univer-sitiesmost identied clearly in Te Newman Guide toChoosing a Catholic Collegeon this matter with the addi-tion o Providence College which now, under the presi-dency o Brian Shanley O.P., is a great place to add toplaces like Franciscan University o Steubenville, Uni-

versity o St. Tomas in Houston, etc.


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How do you think the religious, moral and ethical cli-mate on Catholic college campuses will look ten years

from now?

I hope that we will witness a true re-evangelization othe now thoroughly secular west including Europe andthe U.S. I pray we will. But much work and perhaps su-

ering persecution will rst be necessary. In the comingyears we may, as a result o various orces, lose our ree-dom to act in accordance with our religious convictions

and as a result suer nancial disaster, perhaps impris-onment, and perhaps martyrdom. But God is with usand we should not ear.

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You Are Invited to Participate in the

Summer Institute of Catholic Social ThoughtJUNE 7-11 ON THE CAMPUS OF THE CATHOLIC UNIVERSITY OF AMERICA

The aim of the Summer Catholic Social Thought (CST) Instituteco-sponsored by the Society of Catholic Social

Scientists and The Center for the Advancement of Catholic Higher Educationis to provide Catholic faculty andgraduate students in the social sciences and related disciplines a basic grounding and application of Catholic social

thought in order to help them to incorporate the academic social sciences into a Catholic worldview. To this end,

the Summer CST Institute provides an intensive, stimulating and practical weeklong introduction to Catholic Social

Thought, emphasizing both theory and application to specic academic disciplines in the arts and human sciences.

For more information please contact Father Paul Sullins, St. Ignatius of Loyola Fellow in Catholic Identity at

The Center for the Advancement of Catholic Higher Education, for more information. 202/319-5445 or e-mail

[email protected].

Download a brochure and application at CatholicSocialScientists.org

The week (Monday through Friday) is organized around four 90-minute sessions a day. Each session is about

half lecture and half discussion. In a typical week:

Mondays four sessions are devoted to thematic and historical overviews of CST, including the Compendium

of the Social Doctrine of the Church and Ex corde Ecclesiae. Tuesday deals with the history, development and

exemplars of Catholic social science.

The remainder of the week is devoted to applications to specic social science content areas, each taughtby an expert in the respective discipline. Disciplines typically covered are Psychology, Political Science, Law,

History, Sociology, Anthropology, Economics, and Business.

The Institute venue is a short walk from the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception, the John Paul II

Cultural Center, and more than 50 Catholic religious houses, shrines, institutes, and apostolates. Numerous

apostolates and agencies related to Catholic social justice issues in Washington, D.C., are a short subway

trip away. Participants may also participate in daily Mass at the National Shrine or Lauds or Matins at one of

several nearby Franciscan or Dominican monasteries.

The Summer Institute is directed by the Rev. Dr. Paul Sullins, Professor of Sociology at The Catholic Univer-

sity of America, and editor ofCatholic Social Thought: American Responses to the Compendium (Rowman

and Littleeld, 2008). The tuition fee for an individual participant in the weeklong Summer Institute is $600. An

institution may sponsor up to two individuals for $1,000. These fees are subsidized through generous dona-tions to this project and do not represent the full cost of producing the week-long Summer Institute. A limitednumber of scholarships are available for individual enrollees as needed.


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College and Bishop WorkTogether: In the Classroom

In June, or the second year in a row, students in theGraduate and Proessional program at Saint JosephsCollege in Standish, Maine will nd that their proessoris a shepherdactually, their shepherd.

His Excellency Richard Malone, bishop o PortlandMaine will teach a two-week intensive course on the

teachings o the Second Vatican Council and their im-plications or the lie and mission o the Church.

Te course will examine some o the major themes othe Council, consider theological developments leadingup to Vatican II, and explore how the Councils teach-ing has been received and is being implemented in theUnited States.

In an introduction or students Bishop Malone writes:During our time together, we will explore some o thecentral and abiding doctrines o the Council, guided pri-

marily by the documents o the Council, and enrichedby scholarly insights and our own refections. We willgive special attention to the ongoing challenges acingthe Church in the implementation o the Councils vi-sion....

Catholic Identity FellowshipsSend Students on Missions

In February, Providence Colleges Oce o Mission andMinistry named ve students as recipients o the FatherPhilip A. Smith, O.P., Student Fellowships or Studyand Service Abroad.

Te Father Smith ellowships encourage students todeepen their understanding o the Catholic and Do-minican intellectual tradition and the philosophy oChristian service. Te students are enabled to partici-pate in summer study or service at both Catholic andDominican sites outside the United States. Plannedstudent mission trips or the summer vary rom work at

a Cultural Center in Nicaragua, to work with Domini-cans in Kenya, to research at Blackriars Hall at OxordUniversity ocused on the new atheism.

Notre Dame Considers Pro-Life Recommendations

Following the University o Notre Dames commence-ment honors to President Barack Obama last May, a ac-ulty-sta task orce was created to respond to concerns

about Notre Dames commitment to Catholic teachingon the sanctity o human lie. Te task orce issued pre-liminary recommendations in January, including: adop-tion o a university statement supporting Catholic pro-lie teaching and a pro-lie policy on charitable gits andinvestments; ensuring that the university community isaware o current policies to support pregnant students;sending the university president or his delegate to eachannual March or Lie in Washington, D.C., and in sim-ilar orms o pro-lie witness; supporting undergraduateresearch opportunities with pro-lie topics and support-ing educative eorts on campus, such as conerences,consultations, and courses; and encouraging student andalumni pro-lie activities.

Simply Catholic: Benedictine MarriesPro-Life, Social Justice Issues

Presentations on a conservative approach to social justiceand the Catholic Worker movement took center stageat Benedictine College in Atchison, Kan., during therst week o March. Te schools annual Social Justice

Week, now in its 22nd year, was designed to give student

groups related to social issues a chance to gain a ocus oncampus. Participating groups included the BenedictineCollege Hunger Coalition and Ravens Respect Lie.

Te week started with a presentation sponsored by Bene-dictines Ravens Respect Lie club. Later in the week,the colleges Hunger Coalition hosted a talk by MichaelBaxter, Assistant Proessor o Teology at the Universityo Notre Dame. Baxter is a noted expert on the Catholic

Worker Movement.

Catholic Identity in Action

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morally licit to compromise on insurance coverage orcontraceptives?

Dr. Marie Hilliard o the National Catholic BioethicsCenter doesnt think so. In a paper republished by TeCenter, titled Contraceptive Mandates and ImmoralCooperation, Hilliard argues that employer contribu-tions or contraceptive coverage indicate immediatematerial cooperation with an intrinsic evil. She also

warns o growing government intrusion i Catholic em-ployers consent to contraceptive mandates, includinguture mandates to cover assisted suicide and recognizesame-sex marriagesonly recently a problem aced bythe Archdiocese o Washington.

Te Center has also turned to an expert in Catholicinsurance plans to recommend how colleges and otherCatholic employers might work around state mandates.In a Center paper titled Crating Employee HealthPlans or Catholic Institutions, Dean Burri, owner andCEO o Burri and Company, assures Catholic employ-

ers that they have options to help protect health plans.Te paper oers advice on sel-unded, ederally regu-lated plans that avoid state mandates and comments ontactics such as splitting o drug coverage rom healthplans and pooling with other employers to reduce insur-ance costs.

For many institutions, employee health insurance is thesecond largest expense ater payroll, Burri notes. Yetmost will spend less time on their health plan than mun-dane purchases such as computers or telephone plans.Given the increasing dangers to Catholic institutions

because o ederal and state regulation o employee ben-ets, it is critical or Catholic institutions to take a reshlook at their health insurance decisions.

Ultimately, however, no plan is ully immune romgovernment intrusionespecially i the EEOC rulingagainst Belmont Abbey College standsunless Catho-lic leaders deend their rights.

In a third Center paper, Implications o Mandatory In-

surance Coverage o Contraceptives or Catholic Col-leges and Universities, the attorneys o Te Becket Fundor Religious Liberty explain that Catholic institutionscan challenge government mandates based on state con-stitutional language, the First Amendment, ederal andstate Religious Freedom Restoration Acts and variousanti-discrimination statutes.

But Te Becket Fund also issues a clear warning: Tese

protections are subject to the requirement that claims besincere, or bona de. Courts are competent to judgewhether a religious belie is sincerely held, and in-sincere religious belies enjoy neither constitutional norstatutory protection.

In the context o Catholic colleges and universities, rstacting inconsistently with the schools religious identityand then later claiming a religious exemption (ater alawsuit has been led) is unlikely to succeed, the at-torneys caution.

Threats to Catholic Identity, continued...

11

Resources for Catholic Leaders

o access the ollowing papers in the Studies inCatholic Higher Education series, published by

Te Center or the Advancement o Catholic HigherEducation, see CatholicHigherEd.org.

Contraceptive Mandates and Immoral Coopera-tion, by Marie . Hilliard, JCL, Ph.D., R.N., Nation-al Catholic Bioethics Center

Crafting Employee Health Plans for Catholic In-stitutions, by Dean Burri, CEO, Burri & Company

Implications of Mandatory Insurance Coverage ofContraceptives for Catholic Colleges and Universi-ties, by Te Becket Fund or Religious Liberty


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Latest from The Center

Considering Catholic Honors and Platforms

by Patrick J. Reilly

Te selection o individuals and organizations or Catho-lic honors and platorms has been a matter o some con-troversy or many years. Bishops and Catholic entitieshave responded with concern and even ormal policies tohelp prevent conusion and scandal. Notre Dames 2009commencement honors or President Obama generated

widespread interest in practical solutions to maintainCatholic identity and respect or Catholic teaching atCatholic institutions. Tis paper is intended to assistthose who are developing diocesan or other policies onCatholic honors, by discussing key issues and the poli-

cies and statements o bishops and the Vatican.

Enhancing a Catholic Intellectual Culture

by Rev. Paul Sullins, Ph.D.

Rejecting secular and Protestant norms and ideals, Cath-olic universities today must assert a distinctive Catholicintellectual culture eaturing the unity o aith and rea-son, the acceptance o magisterial teaching and an activecritique o culture. Such a Catholic intellectual culture

will oster Catholic intellectuals and dispose students tothe truth, and has the potential to preserve and restoreelements o reason and humanity that are being lost in

Western civilization. Specic institutional strategies orpromoting a distinctive Catholic intellectual culture arediscussed and institutional strategies or promoting a

Catholic intellectual culture are suggested.

Studies in Catholic Higher Education

Log on to CatholicHigherEd.org for access to all Center publications

Books, Periodicals and Essays

How toKeep YourUniversityCatholic

Revised Third Editionby Rev. Leonard A. Kennedy, C.S.B.

New Prefaceby Rev. Msgr. Stuart Swetland

Te Enduring Natureof the Catholic University

Commemorating the Anniversary of Pope Benedict XVIsAddress to Catholic Educators on April 17, 2008

A collection of essays on the renewal of Catholic higher education by

Most Rev. David Ricken, Rev. Msgr. Stuart Swetland, Very Rev. J. Augustine DiNoia,

Rev. Joseph Koterski, Very Rev. David OConnell, and Dr. John Hittinger

with a foreword by The Hon. Kenneth Whitehead

spring 2010 bulletin of catholic higher education

Documents