Anyone trying to understand the Catholic college culture wars can start with last spring’s commencement address by Cardinal Francis Arinze at Georgetown University. Media coverage was guaranteed, since many list the Nigerian prelate as a top contender to succeed Pope John Paul II.
Four Years That May Harm the Soul
Who knew he would dare to mention sex and marriage?
“The family is under siege,” said Arinze. “It is opposed by an anti-life mentality as seen in contraception, abortion, infanticide and euthanasia. It is scorned and banalized by pornography, desecrated by fornication and adultery, mocked by homosexuality, sabotaged by irregular unions and cut in two by divorce.”
A theology professor walked out, as did some outraged students. Seventy faculty members signed a letter of protest. But traditional Catholics began asking a burning question: Why was it shocking for a cardinal to defend Catholic doctrines on a Catholic campus?
These fires are still smoldering as students return to America's 223 Catholic colleges and universities. The Arinze controversy also reinforced some controversial statistics suggesting that four years on most Catholic campuses may actually harm young Catholic souls.
“What we are seeing is a battle between orthodox Christian beliefs and the moral relativism that is becoming more powerful in many religious groups,” said Patrick Reilly, president of the Cardinal Newman Society, a fiercely pro-Vatican educational network.
“Catholic, Protestant, Jewish, you name it. This battle is going on in all denominations and, of course, in their schools.”
Distressing Figures
Reilly bulldogs Catholic trends. Thus, the Newman network and the conservative Catholic World Report paid University of California at Los Angeles researchers to isolate Catholic data in their 2001 Higher Education Research Institute survey. The new report focused on students who were freshmen in 1997 and seniors in 2001, documenting changes in beliefs and behavior.
The big question: Was the faith commitment shown in fundraising and recruiting materials reflected in the day-to-day reality in dorms and classrooms?
The data covered only 38 campuses and emphasized some of American Catholicism's most influential, progressive institutions, such as Notre Dame, Creighton, Gonzaga, St. John's, Loyola Marymount and Xavier. The results sparked fierce debate, especially about issues of sexuality and Catholic doctrine.
The survey found that 37.9 percent of Catholic freshmen at Catholic colleges said abortion should be legal, while as seniors, 51.7 percent said that. Also, 27.5 percent of Catholic freshmen believed premarital sex was acceptable for people who “really like each other.” As seniors, 48 percent took that view. As freshmen, 52.4 percent favored legal marriages for homosexuals. As seniors, 69.5 percent held this view.
As freshmen, two-thirds of the Catholic students said they frequently attended Mass and one-third did so occasionally. As seniors, 13 percent had stopped attending and nearly half attended occasionally. Nine percent left the church altogether.
“You would think that going to Catholic colleges such as these would strengthen your faith,” said Reilly. “That does not appear to be the case.”
“Stop Attacking Catholic Institutions”
The powers that be in Catholic higher education were infuriated, saying the report twisted the UCLA data and consistently chose the worst possible interpretations. Clearly, the Cardinal Newman Society is striving to create as much tension as possible between the Vatican and mainstream Catholic schools.
“You may have launched a process that is now out of control,” said Monika Hellwig, president of the Association of Catholic Colleges and Universities, in a letter to Reilly and copied to 11 bishops. “We ask you in a spirit of Catholic charity to stop attacking Catholic institutions, and most of all to be sure that you and your network of student informers not publish anything that is not demonstrably true, properly in context and balanced in presentation.”
This data was very limited, agreed Reilly. The way to move forward would be for these two groups to work together on an in-depth survey, visiting a larger sample of campuses — including openly conservative Catholic colleges and universities. But such a project would be difficult, said Reilly, due to clashing goals and worldviews.
“We know that what we are seeking is counter cultural,” he said. “Of course, what this pope is advocating is obviously counter cultural. What we want to see is not normal. At least, it's not what people on the street or even many people in your typical Catholic parish would call normal.”
Terry Mattingly teaches at Palm Atlantic University and is a senior fellow for journalism at the Council For Christian Colleges and Universities. He writes this weekly column for the Scripps Howard News Service.
