Dossier from Georgetown Canon Law Suit Released, Reveals Extensive Concerns

[JimG]

Many people may not be aware that in 2013, William Blatty, author of “The Exorcist,” filed a Canon Law petition against Georgetown University with respect to serious abuses of Catholic identity. He recently died, but the petition remains active in a Vatican dicastery, The Congregation for Catholic Education, which, in 2014, wrote in a letter to Blatty that “Your communications to this Dicastery in the matter of Georgetown University … constitutes a well-founded complaint…Our Congregation is taking the issue seriously and is cooperating with the Society of Jesus in this regard.”

The Cardinal Newman Society recently published more details of the complaint. See the article here.

 

[RCinMT]

Many people may not be aware that in 2013, William Blatty, author of “The Exorcist,” filed a Canon Law petition against Georgetown University with respect to serious abuses of Catholic identity. He recently died, but the petition remains active in a Vatican dicastery, The Congregation for Catholic Education, which, in 2014, wrote in a letter to Blatty that “Your communications to this Dicastery in the matter of Georgetown University … constitutes a well-founded complaint…Our Congregation is taking the issue seriously and is cooperating with the Society of Jesus in this regard.”

The Cardinal Newman Society recently published more details of the complaint. See the article here.

Wow. Just, wow. Where does one even begin? Perhaps it would be easier for the Church to just order Georgetown to cease referring to itself as a Catholic university and to demand that the Jesuits end any formal affiliation (if individual Jesuits wish to remain that is their choice and should not lead to any issues with their standing in my opinion).

What can the Church do about members of the clergy who are providing false witness at Georgetown?

 

[commenter]

Wow. Just, wow. Where does one even begin? Perhaps it would be easier for the Church to just order Georgetown to cease referring to itself as a Catholic university and to demand that the Jesuits end any formal affiliation (if individual Jesuits wish to remain that is their choice and should not lead to any issues with their standing in my opinion).
What can the Church do about members of the clergy who are providing false witness at Georgetown?

• Stop giving free publicity in Catholic diocesan papers and church bulletins; this is mainly in Washington area, but there might be some alumni societies in your area that get free publicity for their events.
• Stop promoting recruitment by Georgetown at Catholic high schools, fairs, etc. Remove any posters or catalogs from Catholic high school guidance office.

 

[KSU]

What else is new? About 30 or 40 years ago the Vatican realized that it had lost control of far more than one “Catholic” university to militant homosexuality and soialism. Ex corde Ecclesiae (1990) was Saint Pope John Paul II’s attempt to turn the tide.

Obviously, Ex corde Ecclesiae was and continues to be somewhat less than enthusiastically accepted by academia since U S Bishops attempted to implement the Holy Father’s wishes about 11 years later.

Academic Freedom trumps Catholicism, you know

 

[JimG]

What else is new? About 30 or 40 years ago the Vatican realized that it had lost control of far more than one “Catholic” university to militant homosexuality and soialism. Ex corde Ecclesiae (1990) was Saint Pope John Paul II’s attempt to turn the tide.

Obviously, Ex corde Ecclesiae was and continues to be somewhat less than enthusiastically accepted by academia since U S Bishops attempted to implement the Holy Father’s wishes about 11 years later.

Academic Freedom trumps Catholicism, you know

It’s true, Ex Corde Ecclesiae has been widely ignored by Catholic universities, with the result that one can’t really infer much anymore from the fact that a university calls itself Catholic. I have no doubt that Georgetown is a fine university academically. I think Mr. Blatty’s concern was that it continues to call itself Catholic.