Another Jesuit is blocked by Vatican - William J. Rewak becomes one of the prominent Jesuits who have been denied high-ranking positions with American theology schools - Brief Article

National Catholic Reporter, Dec 26, 1997 by Pamela Schaeffer

Jesuit Fr. William J. Rewak, serving since September as president of Jesuit schol of Theology in Berkeley, Calif., was quietly packing for a sabbatical last week after being notified that Vatican approval for his appointment had been denied, NCR has learned.

Rewak, highly regarded as a capable Jesuit administrator, joins at least four other prominent Jesuits turned down by the Vatican in recent years for high-ranking positions at U.S. theology schools. Vatican approval for presidents is needed at only a few U.S. theology schools that are authorized to grant pontifical degrees.

The rigorous Vatican process, praised by doctrinal purists but regarded by some critics as a witch hunt, has prevented a number of Jesuits regarded as exceptionally bright and capable from assuming administrative posts -- and increasingly, sources said, for even becoming candidates for such posts.

The denial came from the Vatican Congregation on Education to Fr. Hans Kovenbach, superior general of the Society of Jesus in Rome. No public announcement has been made. Rewak, 64, said he had been surprised by the turndown. "I knew some things I'd said in the past might not be looked on with favor, but I considered them somewhat mild and certainly not heretical" he said. He declined to be specific.

Jesus Fr. John Privett, head of the California province, said he had been "shocked" by the news, passed on by Kolvenbach in a letter last month. "We didn't expect there would be any problem," Privett said. "He's not a theologian. He's a professor of English. He writes poetry," not theology, he said.

Privett said the Vatican had cited "issues about married clergy, ordination of women and the teaching of theology. I think some of those issues were discussed in a talk that was later published in Santa Clara University alumni magazine around 1978 or 1979," he said. "My question is, where did they get that?

"We underestimated what constitutes a hindrance to getting a nihil obstat," he said. "We have a little egg on our face."

Rewak formerly served as president for eight years of Spring Hill College in Mobile, Ala., and before that as president of the University of Santa Clara in California for 12 years. Neither school grants a pontifical degree.

Jesuit Fr. Thomas Smolich, a California Jesuit who heads the Berkeley school's board, said Rewak and board members, virtually certain Rewak would be approved, had taken advantage of propitious timing to elect him president and ask him to assume the post while awaiting Vatican approval.

"We knew we had found a great candidate and were hopeful he would get the nihil obstat" (translated `there are no obstacles')," Smolich said.

U.S. have tried in recent years to keep Vatican rejections of their members from becoming public. NCR reported March 19, 1996, that at least four March 19, 1996, that at least four other Jesuits have been denied the nihil obstat in recent years.

The issue came to light when Fr. Edward Glynn, provincial superior for the Society of Jesus in Maryland, was barred from becoming president of the Jesuit-owned Weston School of Theology in Cambridge, Mass, despite strong support from the school's faculty and boards.

Other Jesuits barred in recent years from serving as administrators or members of pontifical faculties at Weston or Berkeley were Frs. Michael Buckley and David Hollenbach, both former theological advisers to U.S. bishops, and Fr. John Baldovin, a professor at Berkeley.

Privett said he feels "particularly bad" about Rewak's rejection because "I kind of leaned on him to give this a try. He had retired from Spring Hill, was getting ready to start a sabbatical, and I told him. `We really need your administrative expertise.' In the few months he was there, he did a terrific job. Morale was wonderful," Privett said.

Some have speculated that Jesuit Fr. Joseph Fessio, founder of Ignatius Press at the University of San Francisco and a noted conservative, is behind the problems at Berkeley. Fessio said, however, that he is not. "People are blaming me, but I didn't even know the position was open at Berkeley," he said. "Berkeley is only eight to 10 miles away from here, but it's a universe away from my concerns," he said.

Rewak said he plans to take his aborted sabbatical. Baldovin has been named interim president.

Rewak was to succeed Jesuit Fr. Howland Sanks who resigned to return to teaching after a short term as president.