The covering up was above the curtain. The way photographers and cameramen take pictures 'IHS" would not have been in a shot unless they wanted it to. How powerful the wide angle and zoom lenses are 'IHS" would not be a problem. When Laura Bush spoke at the very same spot “IHS” was not covered up. This administration manipulated the Catholic vote and got them. It is an insult to even ask to request it. Archbishop Whurl should use his power and influence through the Vatican to address and correct Georgetown and Notre Dame.Georgetown University is run by a board of trustees, not by the Society of Jesus. The Society owns the property, but not the school. They staff the school.
Under the Reagan administration the US Department of Education enacted regulations that said students who attended religious based schools that did not comply with federal law would not be eligible for federal funding. This affected many students who came from lower economic brackets, because they could not afford the tuition at private schools.
To help these students, religious communities surrendered ownership of Catholic colleges and universities to private boards that were incorporated as non profits. The agreement was that the boards would grant the religious a certain number of seats and votes, but the board would have control over policy and finances, with the religious voting, of course. The other part of this agreement was that the boards would protect the universities’ faith and preserve the charism of the religious who founded them. As a result, the religious do not have 100% control over the universities. They have a voice and vote.
The religious retain ownership of the property, but not the schools, much like someone who owns a mall, but not the stores in the mall.
As to covering the IHS behind the President, this is a normal request that is honored by all countries, including the Vatican when receiving heads of state. The only inscription of the IHS that will be covered is the one behind the President. There are 24 others in the hall, that will not be covered.
A similar request was made by the Vatican when the Holy Father visited the White House last year. The Seal of the United States could not be exhibited along with the Holy Father nor could the American flag.
This is done among the diplomatic corps to avoid conflicts with other nations with whom the visiting head of state has diplomatic relations. It avoids giving the impression of favortitism.
It is not a sacrilege, because no harm is done to the symbol and there is no denial of the faith. It is an accommodation that is made for a visiting head of state, just as the ones that the Vatican requires of other nations when the Pope visits, for example, the Star of David may not be exhibited when the Pope visits Israel or the Crescent moon in a Muslim nation. If we recall, when the Pope visited the synagogue in New York, his chair was deliberately placed to the side of the sanctuary to avoid having the tabernacle behind him. It was he who made the request to see the tabernacle.
As to obedience to the local bishops, there is a misunderstanding here. Only secular priests make a promise of obedience to the local bishop. Canon law and the rules and constitutions of religious life do not allow religious to promise obedience to any bishop. They make a vow of obedience to: 1) God, 2) the Holy Father, 3) their founder, their superior, and 4) to their brothers in community. The religious superior is an Ordinary equal to a bishop, even if he is a lay brother. He has the full obedience of all the religious in his community.
Religious who work in a diocese for the diocese, must obey the bishop in pastoral matters only. But religious who have houses and instutitons of their own in a diocese are not subject to the bishop in their houses and institututions. They are subject to the Vatican.
The Sacred Congregation on Christian Education is the body that gives colleges and universities the title Catholic, not the bishop, even if the bishop founds the university of his diocese. The approval for the use of the word Catholic has to come from the Congregation on Education.
The Congregation on Education, under Pope Pius XII agreed that all professors at Catholic universities and colleges had academic freedom and the right to present dissenting views, as long as these were not presented as the teaching of the Church and were not presented as valid options. They could be presented for the sake of enhancing the student’s knowledgte of what all sides think on an issue. But the position of the Church on these issues has to be taught at the university, though not necessarily by that professor. The professor cannot present his view as correct over that of the Church. This is where many have gotten into trouble. They have presented the dissenting view as the correct view, instead of presenting it as another position, rather than another option.
I was a dean of a college for many years and we dealt with this problem often.
I hope this information proves helpful to some.
Fraternally,
JR
This was a request of a head of state. I doubt very much that the Secretary of State at the Vatican will get involved. I neither agree no disagree. I understand diplomacy and how it works. Our Holy Father is very concerned about diplomatic relations between the Vatican and other religious and national groups. He’s not going to get involved in something that does not violate faith, morals, or canon law.
With all due respect, I think that you left out a very significant item in how we got from Catholic to secular Catholic universities. I believe GU signed off on the Land of Lakes agreement, long before Reagan, saying they would no longer bow to Rome and academic freedom trumped allegiance to church doctrine. Many groups, with the SJ’s a glaring example, have taken this to the extreme, being on the vanguard of reproductive freedom, gay rights and homosexual recruitment to the priesthood, all under the cloak of openness and academic exploration.Georgetown University is run by a board of trustees, not by the Society of Jesus. The Society owns the property, but not the school. They staff the school.
Under the Reagan administration the US Department of Education enacted regulations that said students who attended religious based schools that did not comply with federal law would not be eligible for federal funding. This affected many students who came from lower economic brackets, because they could not afford the tuition at private schools.
To help these students, religious communities surrendered ownership of Catholic colleges and universities to private boards that were incorporated as non profits. The agreement was that the boards would grant the religious a certain number of seats and votes, but the board would have control over policy and finances, with the religious voting, of course. The other part of this agreement was that the boards would protect the universities’ faith and preserve the charism of the religious who founded them. As a result, the religious do not have 100% control over the universities. They have a voice and vote.
The religious retain ownership of the property, but not the schools, much like someone who owns a mall, but not the stores in the mall.
As to covering the IHS behind the President, this is a normal request that is honored by all countries, including the Vatican when receiving heads of state. The only inscription of the IHS that will be covered is the one behind the President. There are 24 others in the hall, that will not be covered.
A similar request was made by the Vatican when the Holy Father visited the White House last year. The Seal of the United States could not be exhibited along with the Holy Father nor could the American flag.
This is done among the diplomatic corps to avoid conflicts with other nations with whom the visiting head of state has diplomatic relations. It avoids giving the impression of favortitism.
It is not a sacrilege, because no harm is done to the symbol and there is no denial of the faith. It is an accommodation that is made for a visiting head of state, just as the ones that the Vatican requires of other nations when the Pope visits, for example, the Star of David may not be exhibited when the Pope visits Israel or the Crescent moon in a Muslim nation. If we recall, when the Pope visited the synagogue in New York, his chair was deliberately placed to the side of the sanctuary to avoid having the tabernacle behind him. It was he who made the request to see the tabernacle.
As to obedience to the local bishops, there is a misunderstanding here. Only secular priests make a promise of obedience to the local bishop. Canon law and the rules and constitutions of religious life do not allow religious to promise obedience to any bishop. They make a vow of obedience to: 1) God, 2) the Holy Father, 3) their founder, their superior, and 4) to their brothers in community. The religious superior is an Ordinary equal to a bishop, even if he is a lay brother. He has the full obedience of all the religious in his community.
Religious who work in a diocese for the diocese, must obey the bishop in pastoral matters only. But religious who have houses and instutitons of their own in a diocese are not subject to the bishop in their houses and institututions. They are subject to the Vatican.
The Sacred Congregation on Christian Education is the body that gives colleges and universities the title Catholic, not the bishop, even if the bishop founds the university of his diocese. The approval for the use of the word Catholic has to come from the Congregation on Education.
The Congregation on Education, under Pope Pius XII agreed that all professors at Catholic universities and colleges had academic freedom and the right to present dissenting views, as long as these were not presented as the teaching of the Church and were not presented as valid options. They could be presented for the sake of enhancing the student’s knowledgte of what all sides think on an issue. But the position of the Church on these issues has to be taught at the university, though not necessarily by that professor. The professor cannot present his view as correct over that of the Church. This is where many have gotten into trouble. They have presented the dissenting view as the correct view, instead of presenting it as another position, rather than another option.
I was a dean of a college for many years and we dealt with this problem often.
I hope this information proves helpful to some.
Fraternally,
JR
You are begging the question: the President is not a foreign sovereign: he is chief magistrate of the United States. In our system he is but one step above the governor of a state.This was a request of a head of state. I doubt very much that the Secretary of State at the Vatican will get involved. I neither agree no disagree. I understand diplomacy and how it works. Our Holy Father is very concerned about diplomatic relations between the Vatican and other religious and national groups. He’s not going to get involved in something that does not violate faith, morals, or canon law.
Sometimes we have to put ourselves in his shoes and look at the big picture that he has to face. Does he raise an objection to something thaty is not a sin and risk a clash with a president with whom he has more serious issues to debate: i.e. life issues or does he let it pass as a diplomatic gesture and play his diplomatic card to engage the President and the American government on life issues without jeopardizing the status of American Catholics?
There are too many cards on the table and right now they don’t favor our cause. The Church has to proceed with great care.
Mrs. Clinton and Mrs. Bush are not heads of state. There is more room for challenge, as was the case with Nancy Pelosi. If we want to make any progress with THIS White House, we can’t lock horns with it so early in its term by creating a direct confrontation between Pope and President.
The Holy Father already had to do damage control with the Muslims and with the Jews. I doubt that he wants to engage in damage control with the Americans.
Fraternally,
JR
I’m not even sure the Reagan administration did anything in this regard. BYU is totally run by the Mormon Church and their students still get student loans. I believe BYU also obtains federal grants for research.
Thanks for this post, very informative. Its always nice to get information from someone who is actually knowledgable on the topic.Georgetown University is run by a board of trustees, not by the Society of Jesus. The Society owns the property, but not the school. They staff the school.
Under the Reagan administration the US Department of Education enacted regulations that said students who attended religious based schools that did not comply with federal law would not be eligible for federal funding. This affected many students who came from lower economic brackets, because they could not afford the tuition at private schools.
To help these students, religious communities surrendered ownership of Catholic colleges and universities to private boards that were incorporated as non profits. The agreement was that the boards would grant the religious a certain number of seats and votes, but the board would have control over policy and finances, with the religious voting, of course. The other part of this agreement was that the boards would protect the universities’ faith and preserve the charism of the religious who founded them. As a result, the religious do not have 100% control over the universities. They have a voice and vote.
The religious retain ownership of the property, but not the schools, much like someone who owns a mall, but not the stores in the mall.
As to covering the IHS behind the President, this is a normal request that is honored by all countries, including the Vatican when receiving heads of state. The only inscription of the IHS that will be covered is the one behind the President. There are 24 others in the hall, that will not be covered.
A similar request was made by the Vatican when the Holy Father visited the White House last year. The Seal of the United States could not be exhibited along with the Holy Father nor could the American flag.
This is done among the diplomatic corps to avoid conflicts with other nations with whom the visiting head of state has diplomatic relations. It avoids giving the impression of favortitism.
It is not a sacrilege, because no harm is done to the symbol and there is no denial of the faith. It is an accommodation that is made for a visiting head of state, just as the ones that the Vatican requires of other nations when the Pope visits, for example, the Star of David may not be exhibited when the Pope visits Israel or the Crescent moon in a Muslim nation. If we recall, when the Pope visited the synagogue in New York, his chair was deliberately placed to the side of the sanctuary to avoid having the tabernacle behind him. It was he who made the request to see the tabernacle.
As to obedience to the local bishops, there is a misunderstanding here. Only secular priests make a promise of obedience to the local bishop. Canon law and the rules and constitutions of religious life do not allow religious to promise obedience to any bishop. They make a vow of obedience to: 1) God, 2) the Holy Father, 3) their founder, their superior, and 4) to their brothers in community. The religious superior is an Ordinary equal to a bishop, even if he is a lay brother. He has the full obedience of all the religious in his community.
Religious who work in a diocese for the diocese, must obey the bishop in pastoral matters only. But religious who have houses and instutitons of their own in a diocese are not subject to the bishop in their houses and institututions. They are subject to the Vatican.
The Sacred Congregation on Christian Education is the body that gives colleges and universities the title Catholic, not the bishop, even if the bishop founds the university of his diocese. The approval for the use of the word Catholic has to come from the Congregation on Education.
The Congregation on Education, under Pope Pius XII agreed that all professors at Catholic universities and colleges had academic freedom and the right to present dissenting views, as long as these were not presented as the teaching of the Church and were not presented as valid options. They could be presented for the sake of enhancing the student’s knowledgte of what all sides think on an issue. But the position of the Church on these issues has to be taught at the university, though not necessarily by that professor. The professor cannot present his view as correct over that of the Church. This is where many have gotten into trouble. They have presented the dissenting view as the correct view, instead of presenting it as another position, rather than another option.
I was a dean of a college for many years and we dealt with this problem often.
I hope this information proves helpful to some.
Fraternally,
JR
However, when it comes to covering up what is essentially something very identifiable with the Catholic Church, I would take strong exception to this position. While Mr. Obama is the President, he does not have the right to ask a religious institution, any religious institution, to cover up a chief emblem of the Faith. His authority only extends so far and he should be respectful of the Church and her beliefs. As Catholics, we should be proud to proclaim Jesus Christ crucified, as St. Paul exhorts us to do. IHS means Jesus savior or man. This is an undeniable fact that should not be covered. GU should be ashamed of itself for bowing down before the golden calf of relativism.
excellent!!!