Bishop Conley: 50 Years After Land O'Lakes, Catholic Universities Need Renewal

[mdgspencer]

catholicnewsagency.com/news/bishop-conley-50-years-after-land-olakes-catholic-education-needs-renewal-69665/

 In 1967 some leading Catholic universities in the United States stated a position for their schools that has had a devastating effect, an effect on Catholic universities, education and on every aspect of Catholic life, including Catholic laypeople, religious, priests and bishops, this bishop explains. “'The Land O’Lakes statement ... rejected the authority of the Church, and of her doctrinal teaching,' Bishop Conley said.... It prioritized the standards and culture of secular universities over the authentic mission of Catholic education. It was a statement of self-importance, and self-assertion.'”

"But there is still cause for hope: if dissenting universities can have a deep impact on Catholic and civic life, so can faithful schools. ‘The work being done to foster renewal in Catholic schools across the country will significantly impact the culture of the Church in the United States.’”

 

[reggieM]

God bless Bishop Conley. That is a very good statement from him.

He said that the Land O’Lakes statement “declared that Catholic universities would become independent from the hierarchy of the Church, from any obligation to orthodoxy, and from the authentic spirituality of the Church.”

That created tremendous damage in Catholic higher education for a long time, and we’re only just starting to recover from it.

 

[tawny]

God bless Bishop Conley. That is a very good statement from him.

That created tremendous damage in Catholic higher education for a long time, and we’re only just starting to recover from it.

 

[commenter]

God bless Bishop Conley. That is a very good statement from him.

That created tremendous damage in Catholic higher education for a long time, and we’re only just starting to recover from it.

I am not sure what evidence there is that we are recovering from it. I am aware of a few new (like Christendom) and rejuvenated (like Steubenville) colleges, but overall, I don’t see any recovery.

There really are 2 problems here, that require different solutions.

1. Catholic colleges have abandoned the Magisterium of the Church, and in effect embraced the “magisterium” of the secular culture, of secular education. The solution is to try as much as possible to reverse or slow down that decline. But it is mostly a losing struggle, we are doing very little “recovery”, just slowing down the decline.
2. We need to pull the Catholic label off colleges that are mostly secularized. It is a disservice to parents and students for dioceses and religious orders to continue to pretend an institution is Catholic when it is not. Parents and students are paying Catholic college tuition for what is really state college education. Faux Catholic schools pull resources and dilute credibility away from authentic ones.

 

[reggieM]

I am not sure what evidence there is that we are recovering from it. I am aware of a few new (like Christendom) and rejuvenated (like Steubenville) colleges, but overall, I don’t see any recovery.

It’s a good point. You have to go back to 1967 and look at the trajectory. I recall some very dark days - when there was no Christendom, no rejuvenated Steubenville, no University of Dallas, St. Thomas Aquinas, Ave Maria. So, today we have a handful. The orthodox Catholic movement in academia is still a small minority, so perhaps “recovering” is not the best term, but we have made some small progress.

1. Catholic colleges have abandoned the Magisterium of the Church, and in effect embraced the “magisterium” of the secular culture, of secular education. The solution is to try as much as possible to reverse or slow down that decline. But it is mostly a losing struggle, we are doing very little “recovery”, just slowing down the decline.

St. John Paul II knew about this problem and actually tried to address it with the document “Ex Corde Ecclesiae” requiring professors to sign a mandatum affirming orthodox belief.
A few colleges required it. I think some of those actually dropped the requirement since, and none have picked it up – so, a good idea, now virtually dead.

1. We need to pull the Catholic label off colleges that are mostly secularized. It is a disservice to parents and students for dioceses and religious orders to continue to pretend an institution is Catholic when it is not. Parents and students are paying Catholic college tuition for what is really state college education. Faux Catholic schools pull resources and dilute credibility away from authentic ones.

Yes, exactly. Also, there is what you call “we” and then there is what we would call “Catholic parents”. It’s two different groups. The parents who shell out the big bucks for faux Catholic schools – really don’t care! They want some kind of prestige or career path for the kids. The Faith is a secondary concern, at best. If the school has some Catholic frosting, that is good enough for them. That’s what keeps these schools alive when really they should have died off by now or just become totally secularized.
The “we” you speak about are the people who know that the Faith is the real treasure in life and that needs to be fostered in higher education - along with career goals, but not as a secondary or trivial thing.
I really don’t understand how the bishops could have allowed the Land O’Lakes thing. They surrendered their authority and their duty to preserve the Faith.
I guess there is the on-going fear of academia and being ridiculed for being “unenlightened” or “unsophisticated” – but are we going to sell our souls in order to be pleasing to the voices of the world?
It sure looks like it sometimes.

 

[commenter]

It’s a good point. You have to go back to 1967 and look at the trajectory. I recall some very dark days - when there was no Christendom, no rejuvenated Steubenville, no University of Dallas, St. Thomas Aquinas, Ave Maria. So, today we have a handful. The orthodox Catholic movement in academia is still a small minority, so perhaps “recovering” is not the best term, but we have made some small progress.

St. John Paul II knew about this problem and actually tried to address it with the document “Ex Corde Ecclesiae” requiring professors to sign a mandatum affirming orthodox belief.
A few colleges required it. I think some of those actually dropped the requirement since, and none have picked it up – so, a good idea, now virtually dead.

I really don’t understand how the bishops could have allowed the Land O’Lakes thing. They surrendered their authority and their duty to preserve the Faith.

No recovery is taking place. The handful of orthodox Catholic colleges remain solid. The the great majority, the unorthodox ones, are sliding further away. The only good thing is that a few secularized colleges - 2 in my diocese - are choosing on their own to identify as secular, apparently that is part of their marketing strategy. That seems like the only way a college (or high school) does get dropped from the diocesan directory.

The “Jesuit” college uses the Jesuit label all the time, and the “Franciscan” ones use the word Franciscan more than they ever did when they were really Franciscan. They still get lots of free publicity from the diocesan newspaper. Regardless of what happened in 1967, the dioceses today have a responsibility to the 8th Commandment. If they know some people regard certain institutions as Catholic that really are not, the diocese should publicly correct that erroneous assumption, rather than perpetuating it.

I am not saying the diocese should denounce the colleges. They should continue to reach out to provide campus ministry and affirm anything compatible to Catholicism on campus, the same way they do with State colleges. But pull that inaccurate Catholic label off.

 

[reggieM]

No recovery is taking place. The handful of orthodox Catholic colleges remain solid. The the great majority, the unorthodox ones, are sliding further away. The only good thing is that a few secularized colleges - 2 in my diocese - are choosing on their own to identify as secular, apparently that is part of their marketing strategy. That seems like the only way a college (or high school) does get dropped from the diocesan directory.

The “Jesuit” college uses the Jesuit label all the time, and the “Franciscan” ones use the word Franciscan more than they ever did when they were really Franciscan. They still get lots of free publicity from the diocesan newspaper. Regardless of what happened in 1967, the dioceses today have a responsibility to the 8th Commandment. If they know some people regard certain institutions as Catholic that really are not, the diocese should publicly correct that erroneous assumption, rather than perpetuating it.

I am not saying the diocese should denounce the colleges. They should continue to reach out to provide campus ministry and affirm anything compatible to Catholicism on campus, the same way they do with State colleges. But pull that inaccurate Catholic label off.

I agree with all of that. We had a little blip of improvement - the founding of Christendom and a few others, but the vast majority are simply bad and as you say, slipping further away.
I’d only slightly disagree about the denouncing. If a school wants to present itself as Catholic, but refuses to defend the teaching of the Faith in its integrity, then it should be denouced by the bishop (after he attempts to correct them).
I know some of these faux Catholic schools that attempt to get funding based on having a “Catholic tradition”. They will put a photo of a priest in their promotional literature, but Catholicism plays virtually no part in the academic or campus life.