CTSA issues statement urging reinstatement of theologian

National Catholic Reporter, June 30, 1995 by Thomas C. Fox

NEW YORK -- The 50th anniversary meeting of the Catholic Theological Society of America, punctuated with nostalgia and treatises on evil and hope, found itself earlier this month coming to the aid of one of its own.

The society issued a three-page statement that summarized the controversy surrounding the dismissal of Mercy Sr. Carmel McEnroy from her faculty position at St. Meinrad Seminary in St. Meinrad, Ind., and urged "that existing provisions for due process be followed in the case of Carmel McEnroy and that she be reinstated pending the outcome of that process."

The seminary, which trains priests for Catholic dioceses around the country, fired theologian McEnroy in April, citing her "public dissent" from church teaching on women's ordination.

The move followed a March visit to the seminary by a committee of U.S. Catholic bishops headed by Elden F. Curtiss, archbishop of Omaha, Neb., who, according to Meinrad faculty sources, demanded the firing.

St. Meinrad's Benedictine Archabbot Timothy Sweeney issued a letter April 26 ordering Benedictine Fr. Eugene Hensell, the president-rector of St. Meinrad School of Theology, to remove McEnroy.

Late last year her name appeared with hundreds of others under a statement titled "An Open Letter to Pope John Paul II," published as an advertisement in the National Catholic Reporter. The letter challenged the pope's declaration that the question of women's ordination is definitively closed.

Archbishop Daniel M. Buechlein of Indianapolis said the decision was "in accordance with the law of the church and the requirements of the program of priestly formation approved by the National Conference of Catholic Bishops in 1992."

At the CTSA annual business meeting -- initially closed to the media by the CTSA board, but opened after protests and a vote from the floor -- the membership accepted the statement of support for McEnroy by a nearly unanimous voice vote.

"The Catholic Theological Society of America views the peremptory dismissal of Dr. Carmel McEnroy with dismay," the document stated. "The absence of any process to deal with the charges against a tenured faculty member raises serious concern that after more than a decade of joint efforts by American bishops and scholars to formulate processes to insure fair treatment for Catholic scholars accused of doctrinal error, due process, even that guaranteed by contract, is often jettisoned."

The statement noted that it is plain from the actions taken against McEnroy "that the terms of her contract assuring her the process described in detail in the (Meinrad Seminary) Faculty Constitution were simply ignored."

The CTSA statement pointed to a lack of evidence to suggest that McEnroy had a history of dissent or of unsatisfactory work. To the contrary, it stated, McEnroy had received repeated praise for her work at St. Meinrad.

To corroborate the claim, the CTSA statement cited seminary correspondence dating back to 1983 including a letter from Buechlein, who was then president-rector of the seminary, praising McEnroy's work. The Buechlein letter stated that in "a very short time, you have become a valuable member of our faculty and have won the genuine respect of our students."

The resolution also cited a letter, dated May 18, 1992, from Hensell, who as president-rector informed McEnroy the board of trustees had approved his recommendation that she be given tenure. Said Hensell: "Your faculty review was very positive and clear recognition was given to the gifts you bring to the school especially in the area of your teaching."

In other matters, the CTSA published a list of its "firsts," highlighting five decades of it history. Among items included:

* First public utterance, 1946: a petition to the pope asking that the doctrine of Mary's assumption be defined as a dogma of divine faith.

* First European speaker, 1963: Bernard Haring.

* First women members, 1965: Elizabeth Jane Farians and Cathleen M. Going.

* First John Courtney Murray Award winner, 1972: Charles Curran.

* First woman president, 1977: Sr. Agnes Cunningham.

* First woman recipient of the John Courtney Award, 1984: Monika Hellwig.

The gathering elected Mary Ann Donovan of the Jesuit School of Theology at Berkeley, Calif., as its next vice president, defeating Fr. Matthew Lamb of Boston College. Donovan will become CTSA president in 1996.