McBrien: Ex Corde rules are ill-advised

Over 1,000 CTA conferees attended a major address by Notre Dame University theologian, Fr. Richard McBrien, on "Free Theological Inquiry in the Church." The topic was urgent: the U.S. Bishops were to vote just ten days later on new rules applying the Pope's "Ex Corde Ecclesiae" norms for Catholic higher education to the U.S. Church. Sure enough, despite McBrien's strong arguments against them, the bishops adopted them in a lopsided 223-31 vote.

McBrien didn't predict the outcome, but clearly was worried the bishops would cave in to Vatican pressure, since "all of the American cardinals except Roger Mahony of Los Angeles have been pushing hard for the new draft," which will do "serious harm to the effectiveness and reputation of the very institutions which have yielded the best educated Catholic laity in the history of the Church," the 235 Catholic colleges and universities in the U.S.

The decision is a stunning capitulation by the American hierarchy to Vatican control. The most controversial new rule requires a theologian to obtain a "mandate" from the local bishop in order to teach at any Catholic campus. Discipline-minded bishops, and ultimately the pope and Vatican, will thus have a means by which to limit dissent from church teachings. Only three years ago the U.S. bishops approved almost unanimously - 224 to 6 - a much more pastoral document. But the Vatican rejected it, and insisted on one with more juridical teeth. So the bishops formed a subcommittee of canon lawyers. McBrien pointedly noted that is was chaired by Cardinal Anthony Bevilacqua of Philadelphia, one of the tiny minority who had opposed the earlier draft.

Requiring theologians to get a canonical mandate from the local bishop will raise a host of troubling questions, said McBrien. On what basis will a bishop make his judgment? Will his reasons be made public so the community can evaluate them? If a mandate is denied, what happens to a theologian's employment and his/her standing in the Church? The denial "would be used by certain types of Catholics to put pressure on the university to restrict that theologian's teaching activities," McBrien predicted.

Bishop John Leibrecht of Springfield, Mo., chair of the drafting committee, told the press it will be rare for a bishop to reject a theologian, and if that happens there will be appeal procedures.

The story is far from over. The U.S. Church must wait for the Vatican to approve the new draft. Then procedures for implementation must be worked out. Meanwhile, McBrien said in the main part of his address, "Catholic theology is still faith seeking understanding." He argued forcefully that the Catholic character of his own Notre Dame and other colleges is deeply established, was never in jeopardy, and thrives on academic freedom. He quoted at length from Notre Dame's mission statement. A key passage states, "Notre Dame's character as a Catholic academic community presupposes that no genuine search for the truth is alien to the faith."