Pope Tells American Colleges to Strengthen Catholic Identity

  • Thread starter Thread starter Catholic_Press
  • Start date Start date
Status
Not open for further replies.
Catholic_Press said:
More…
Click to expand...
From the link in Post 1.catholicnews.com/data/stories/cns/1201856.htm

"In every aspect of their education, students need to be encouraged to articulate a vision of the harmony of faith and reason capable of guiding a life-long pursuit of knowledge and virtue," the pope said.

The pope contrasted the Catholic ideal of education with a current trend toward academic overspecialization.

"Faith’s recognition of the essential unity of all knowledge provides a bulwark against the alienation and fragmentation which occurs when the use of reason is detached from the pursuit of truth and virtue," he said. “In this sense, Catholic institutions have a specific role to play in helping to overcome the crisis of universities today.”
In my humble opinion,

in order to “articulate a vision of the harmony of faith and reason” and to provide
** “**a bulwark against the alienation and fragmentation which occurs when the use of reason is detached from the pursuit of truth and virtue”, Catholic Apologetics in general needs to work harder in the areas where contemporary scientific research papers intersect with Catholic doctrine.
 
I’m so glad the Pope brought attention to the fact that MUCH MORE work needs to be done. This goes not only for the academics, but for the liturgical life of the students as well. I thought things were bad at the local secular university’s Newman Center, until I attended Mass at a nearby Catholic college…it was FAR worse. The priest improvised his way through the Mass, including the consecration! (“Whenever you get together like this, remember me” instead of “Do this in memory of me”). WHAT!!!

I also attended a daily Mass at a Catholic college where a basket was passed around from one student to another, and all present (except me, who was in shock) reached in and picked up their own host and consumed it.

The false teaching in the classroom exends outward to the chapel. Or vice versa.
 
grannymh said:
From the link in Post 1.catholicnews.com/data/stories/cns/1201856.htm

"In every aspect of their education, students need to be encouraged to articulate a vision of the harmony of faith and reason capable of guiding a life-long pursuit of knowledge and virtue," the pope said.

The pope contrasted the Catholic ideal of education with a current trend toward academic overspecialization.

"Faith’s recognition of the essential unity of all knowledge provides a bulwark against the alienation and fragmentation which occurs when the use of reason is detached from the pursuit of truth and virtue," he said. “In this sense, Catholic institutions have a specific role to play in helping to overcome the crisis of universities today.”
In my humble opinion,

in order to “articulate a vision of the harmony of faith and reason” and to provide
**"**a bulwark against the alienation and fragmentation which occurs when the use of reason is detached from the pursuit of truth and virtue", Catholic Apologetics in general needs to work harder in the areas where contemporary scientific research papers intersect with Catholic doctrine.
Click to expand...
Bold Lettering Mine.

Specifically?
 
Chieko Noguchi, director of communications for Washington’s Cardinal Donald W. Wuerl, said the cardinal had no comment on Georgetown’s announcement.
Click to expand...
That part is incredibly sad…
 
From granny’s Post 3.

In my humble opinion,

in order to “articulate a vision of the harmony of faith and reason” and to provide
**"**a bulwark against the alienation and fragmentation which occurs when the use of reason is detached from the pursuit of truth and virtue", Catholic Apologetics in general needs to work harder in the areas where contemporary scientific research papers intersect with Catholic doctrine.
Nimzovik said:
Bold Lettering Mine.

Specifically?
Click to expand...
The landmark paper “The Myth of Eve: Molecular Biology and Human Origins” by Francisco J. Ayala, published in Science, December 1995. This paper claimed the impossibility of two sole founders of humanity. Following this lead, contemporary research continues to use genetics to bolster the concept that humanity evolved from a fairly large population of breeding pairs and certainly not from two, real, sole, fully-complete humans. The concept that a population, over a long period of time, gave “birth” to anatomically correct humans is referred to as Polygenism. In this sense “Polygenism” means that not all humans descended from the same first parents.

Polygenism dramatically intersects with the Catholic doctrine of Monogenism. Monogenism means that all humanity descends from a single couple biblically known as Adam and Eve.

From the link in Post 1.
catholicnews.com/data/stories/cns/1201856.htm

“In every aspect of their education, students need to be encouraged to articulate a vision of the harmony of faith and reason capable of guiding a life-long pursuit of knowledge and virtue,” the pope said.
One way in which the harmony of faith and reason can be accomplished on the college apologetics level is to learn that both science and faith seek truth. Natural science observes truth in the material/physical world. Catholicism learns truth about the spiritual world through Divine Revelation.

In order for the truth of natural science to be in accord with the Catholic Deposit of Faith, two conditions must occur simultaneously. 1. Science must be conducted properly and 2. Catholic doctrine must be properly understood. When these two conditions are completely met, then truth is evident.

The linked news article reminded me of the prime-time sound bite – truth cannot contradict truth. The Pope referred to “Faith’s recognition of the essential unity of all knowledge…” This unity is due to the fact that the Creator is the source of all truth.

It is the freedom of Catholic institutions which allows the exploration of both the spiritual and the material/physical worlds. In my humble opinion, the Pope is calling Catholic institutions to exercise that freedom.
 
opus101 said:
I’m so glad the Pope brought attention to the fact that MUCH MORE work needs to be done. This goes not only for the academics, but for the liturgical life of the students as well. I thought things were bad at the local secular university’s Newman Center, until I attended Mass at a nearby Catholic college…it was FAR worse. The priest improvised his way through the Mass, including the consecration! (“Whenever you get together like this, remember me” instead of “Do this in memory of me”). WHAT!!!

I also attended a daily Mass at a Catholic college where a basket was passed around from one student to another, and all present (except me, who was in shock) reached in and picked up their own host and consumed it.

The false teaching in the classroom exends outward to the chapel. Or vice versa.
Click to expand...
this isn’t even about strengthening Catholic identity. This isn’t even Catholic.
 
If this was politics, then I would call it an unfunded mandate; expecting obedience without proper support. If it were parenting I would call it bad parenting. It is like yelling at your kid about cleaning up their room without ever working with them to develop the skills needed to do so. You can sometimes get temporary results, but it won’t help them when they leave the house. Worse, it is like yelling at one kid for having a messy room when another is doing drugs.

Fixing problems like this takes time, patience, and perspective, and perseverance . I see none of that here. Maybe he is doing that behind the scenes, I don’t know. I suspect that is not the case, though.
 
How can they strengthen their Catholic Identity when it’s no longer there?
 
For those who are interested, this is the 4th of 5 addresses the Pope will make to groups of U.S. bishops as they make their ad limina visits to Rome. Previously, the Pope has spoke:
I think it’s very indicative of what the Pope sees as the American Church’s most pressing issues of today.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top