Bishops approve Ex Corde norms - bishops vote to oversee orthodoxy at US Catholic universities and colleges

National Catholic Reporter, Dec 3, 1999 by Pamela Schaeffer

Details about applying rules remain uncertain

Brushing aside pleas for delay and predictions of acrimony and dissent, U.S. Catholic bishops voted overwhelmingly Nov. 16 to set in motion a plan for certifying professors who teach Catholic theology. The norms, approved 223-31 at the bishops' annual meeting here, give bishops a mechanism for overseeing orthodoxy at the nation's approximately 235 Catholic colleges and universities, while leaving unanswered many questions about how the rules will be applied.

Details are to be worked out in coming months, with implementation to begin one year after the Vatican approves the plan. While Vatican approval is not guaranteed, it is expected, possibly within the next few months.

The provision for controls on theologians have been the most holy contested element of the norms, nearly a decade in the development, which aim to curb what critics describe as a trend toward secularization at many Catholic universities. The norms, now in their third draft, are required under provisions of Pope John Paul II's 1990 apostolic letter Ex Corde Ecclesiae ("From the Heart of the Church"). The pope's letter makes an eloquent appeal for preserving Catholic identity in higher education.

While waiting for Vatican approval, bishops are to begin dialogues with theologians aimed at developing a uniform procedure for requesting and granting certification, described in the norms as a mandatum, or mandate. The mandate is

called for in Canon 812 of the church's 1983 Code of Canon Law. The Vatican in 1996 rejected a previous draft of the implementation norms, though, like the present draft, it had been approved overwhelmingly by U.S. bishops. That draft, however, had sidestepped a specific application of Canon 812.

Bishop John J. Leibrecht, head of an ad hoc committee that has shepherded the norms through the various drafts, said procedural recommendations will come before the full body of bishops for a vote at a later date.

Among amendments approved by bishops before the Nov. 16 vote was a provision for bishops to withdraw the mandatum, or certification, that has been granted by a bishop of another diocese.

The vote on the norms pleased conservatives and dismayed many theologians, who fear the new rules could usher in an era of discord and repression related to what theologians teach and write. Pleas for delay in approving the document had come from theologians, university administrators and a few bishops speaking before the vote.

Mercy Sr. Margaret Farley, professor at Yale Divinity School and president of the Catholic Theological Society of America, said she'd talked to many theologians who were "very worried."

"Clearly some theologians who see their role as a kind of mission are pleased with this," she said. "However the great majority are dismayed and worried, wondering what the consequences of this will be. It will create a climate of suspicion not conducive to scholarly work or education," she said.

In a published statement, the society said, "Theologians recognize the concerns of bishops for genuinely Catholic theology and they share these concerns. However, efforts to control the work of theologians, as they are laid out in this document, are both unnecessary and potentially damaging to the best work of theology."

Daniel Maguire, professor of theology at Marquette University in Milwaukee, was critical of theologians and the Association of Catholic Colleges and Universities, which represents administrators, for what he said had been a weak voice in recent debates. "I think the Catholic theological community has been very pusillanimous in response to this draconian intrusion into the academe," he said. "When the camel announced it was about to put its nose under the tent, the Catholic Theological Society and the ACCU began to negotiate with the camel."

Maguire said he would not request a mandate when the time comes. "In my judgment, I have a mandate to teach and don't need one from anyone external to the academy," he said. "My mandate comes from my competence and my conscience."

At the bishops' meeting, the strongest spokesman against the document, Archbishop Rembert Weakland of Milwaukee, warned bishops that it would create a "pastoral disaster" and squelch the further dialogue bishops seek. Weakland said approval of the norms would make theologians defensive and mistrustful by putting their "reputations and livelihoods" on the line. Under the new rules, theologians would be subject not only to "whims of individual bishops," he said, but also to the suspicions of "vigilante groups." Weakland added, "There's a tremendous unrest in my heart" about the documents.

Cardinal John J. O'Connor of New York, though prevented by health problems from attending the meeting, sent a strong statement supporting the document and opposing delay.

In a telephone interview, Jesuit Fr. Joseph O'Hare, president of Fordham University in New York, said he is confident that most bishops will apply the norms "in a wise and sensitive way." Nevertheless, O'Hare said he is "disappointed" in the document. "I think it's more juridical than it needs to be," he said.