by Fr. Charles Currie, SJ

Ex Corde Ecclesiae's challenge to the Catholic University

Ex Corde Ecclesiae" ("Born from the heart of the Church") is an apostolic constitution, an authoritative statement, issued by Pope John Paul II in 1990 that describes the nature and role of a Catholic university and what its Catholic identity entails.

Mention "Ex Corde Ecclesiae" today among Catholic college presidents, theologians, and other faculty and you may very well spark a reaction anywhere from fear and anger to "it's about time." Or perhaps you will see eyes glaze over with an "Oh no, not again" response. What is this all about, and why so many different reactions?

We need to go back at least fifty years for the origins of the frequently tense discussions held on what constitutes a Catholic university and how it should relate to bishops and to the Church at large. In 1949, the International Federation of Catholic Universities was established in the context of preliminary definitions of a Catholic university.

In 1965 the same group decided to develop a document on the distinctive character of a Catholic university in the context of the Vatican II document, The Church in the Modern World. Two years later, a group of American educators and Church officials met at Land O'Lakes, Wisconsin, to compose a famous (or infamous, depending on your point of view) Land O'Lakes Statement on the meaning of being both "university" (having autonomy and academic freedom) and "Catholic" (Catholicism "perceptibly present and effectively operative"). Critics of the statement often focus on the first and describe the statement as a declaration of independence from the Church, forgetting that there were bishops and Church officials among the signers.

This sometimes misunderstood and often maligned statement was the U.S. contribution to the preparation of the international document, The Catholic University in the Modern World (1972), which met with reluctant acceptance by Vatican officials. Uneasy about the insistence on autonomy, they would admit the document was "valid" but that it "needed improvement."

In the early eighties, Pope John Paul II initiated preparations for another document on the distinctive identity of Catholic universities. A long drafting process began that culminated in Ex Corde, a "general" document that was to be followed by particular implementation documents developed by regional conferences of U.S. bishops.

Presidents and leading Catholic educators praised the 1990 document as supportive of what they were trying to do and as an appropriate challenge for them to do better. A few observers at the time noted that there were details in the document that could create problems when implemented, but these were overshadowed by a generally positive and inspirational tone.

Author Fr. Charles Currie, SJ (left), president of the Association of Jesuit Colleges and Universities (AJCU), stands with U.S. Secretary of Education Richard Riley, recipient of AJCU's Achievement Award for Distinguished Public Service. Fr. Currie served terms as president of Wheeling Jesuit University in Wheeling, W.V. and Xavier University in Cincinnati, and has also served on the administration and faculties of St. Joseph's University in Philadelphia and Georgetown University in Washington, D.C.

Troubles surfaced when a first draft of norms to implement Ex Corde was circulated in 1993. It was withdrawn in the face of harsh and widespread criticism. A second draft was overwhelmingly approved by the bishops in 1996 by a vote of 224-6, warmly received by Catholic college presidents, but returned by Vatican officials to be made more "juridical," i.e., recognizing Canon Law more explicitly, especially the Canon Law requirement of a mandate (now mandatum, the "acknowledgment by Church authority officials that a Catholic theologian is a teacher within the full communion of the Catholic Church") for Catholic theologians.

In 1998 a more-juridical version was prepared for discussion, and in 1999, a very similar document was approved by the bishops by a vote of 223-31 and sent to Rome.

Vatican approval was granted in May 2000, with the understanding that various ambiguities would be resolved in the coming year. A small committee of five bishops and four consultants is working on remaining ambiguities concerning policies and procedures for granting or removing the mandatum. The norms will not take effect until May 2001.

Any discussion of Ex Corde must distinguish between the Apostolic Constitution and the norms developed to implement that document. As noted above, that original document establishes a very magnanimous agenda for Catholic universities and affirms the many good things they are doing. In his introduction, the pope writes: "[Catholic university communities] are for me a lively and promising sign of the fecundity of the Christian mind in the heart of every culture. They give me a well-founded hope for a new flowering of Christian culture in the rich and varied context of our changing times."

Later, he writes: "[a Catholic university] is a primary and privileged place for a fruitful dialogue between the Gospel and culture . . . A faith that places itself at the margin of what is human, of what is therefore culture, would be a faith unfaithful to the fullness of what the word of God manifests and reveals, a decapitated faith, worse still, a faith in the process of self-annihilation."

There are many similar inspirational passages, and in the ten years since the document was issued, many good and effective steps have been taken to foster this magnanimous vision for the Catholic university. I don't know of a single Catholic college president who does not enthusiastically endorse the basic document, even while being concerned about the norms that have been developed to implement that document. Many feel the norms can be counterproductive for the realization of the ideals of Ex Corde itself.

Particular areas of concern with the norms include the requirement of the mandatum for theologians; a majority of Catholics on faculties and boards "to the extent possible"; and the possibility of compromising institutional autonomy to the point of making the schools "pervasively sectarian" and therefore ineligible for public funding.

The approved norms have attempted to address these issues, but, pending the work of the committee charged with specifying policies and procedures for the mandatum, some concerns still remain. Again, concerns are focused on the norms, not Ex Corde itself.

Observers and practitioners of Catholic higher education are divided in their reactions. Some accept a pessimistic (and I would argue slanted) reading of the last 35 years and see Catholic colleges and universities as having lost or in serious danger of losing their Catholic identity. They readily endorse any steps, including the implementation norms, to reverse that perceived loss. They are impatient with presidents, theologians, and others whom they see as standing in the way of that necessary task when they point to difficulties with the norms.

Others would not agree with that pessimistic read, but neither do they see serious difficulties with the implementation norms, either in themselves or as they would be implemented with their particular bishop. They would argue: "Let's do it and move on."

Some are very concerned, especially about the mandatum requirement for Catholic theologians and the requirement of a majority of Catholics on faculties and boards of trustees. I have spoken with many men and women who have been hurt by the implications of each of these requirements.

The mandatum is seen as marginalizing theologians within the academy after their hard and effective work to be taken as seriously as any other discipline. There is pain and anger that theologians have been singled out as not worthy of trust despite many years of service to the Church. It is argued that theologians can hardly be effective partners in the dialogue sought by the pope if they lose credibility as independent scholars. And there is fear that some will be discouraged from pursuing Catholic theology, certainly a great loss to the Church.

The relation between the theologian and the bishop is complex. The Catholic theologian operates with peers in a climate of freedom of inquiry but also has an obligation and responsibility to students in a Catholic college to teach Catholic theology accurately and fairly. The bishop, in turn, has a responsibility to guard the deposit of faith and to see that it is effectively taught. The challenge is to develop a constructive relationship between the pastoral role of the bishop and the research and teaching roles of the theologian.

We can hope that the recently appointed committee of bishops and consultants can formulate policies and procedures for the mandatum that will remove most, if not all, of the difficulties, but it will be no easy task. The final stages of Ex Corde discussions unfortunately led to a diminishment in trust in the general relationship between bishops, educators, and theologians, although most relationships between individual colleges and local bishops remain good.

Another very important relationship that needs to be preserved is with trustees and faculty of other faith traditions. The requirement of a Catholic majority "to the extent possible" has had the unintended effect of hurting many of our colleagues who have been every bit as committed to the Catholic dimension of our schools as Catholics themselves. Clearly, a "critical mass" of men and women committed to fostering the Catholic identity of our institution is needed if that identity is to survive in any effective form, but there are countless examples of our colleagues of other faith traditions being an essential and valued part of that "critical mass."

There are other issues that we could discuss in a longer article, but let me close with an emphasis on the importance of not letting the negative aspects of Ex Corde discussions distract us from the essential task of the Catholic university today: to realize the promise of the Catholic intellectual tradition and the promise of a faith that does justice.

I just returned from a meeting of the International Federation of Catholic Universities where, in different languages and with different cultural nuances, challenges for the contemporary Catholic university were emphasized: to foster a vibrant Catholic intellectual tradition that speaks to the postmodern world, and to engage in the struggles of a world marred by poverty, violence, oppression, and injustice. This is the two-fold context for the holistic education we offer our students.

The agenda before us in Catholic higher education, then, is much bigger, much more challenging, than some of our Ex Corde discussions would suggest. In the weeks and months ahead we need to keep that in mind.