In contrast to Franciscan University of Steubenville and its “judgmental” students (according to Boston College theology prof Stephen Pope; see this blog entry for more), we have Boston College defending itself against charges that its faculty has a clear disconnect from Catholic moral principles and advocates what is sinful.
The Cardinal Newman Society specifically named three BC professorsaris. Are you going to call them fascists now?
BC’s spokesman defended the professors:
“Boston College’s Catholicity is unquestionable. We are firmly committed to our Jesuit Catholic mission and heritage,” he said. “And accordingly, our faculty members openly engage issues of the day especially those concerning the intersection of faith and culture.”
Blah, blah, blah. Same meaningless drivel, different day. It’s the same old song we hear everytime anyone at a Catholic college spouts heresy, blasphemy, or any form of immorality. BC’s public relations department probably just keeps the statement stapled to a bulletin board over the fax machine to send out whenever any objections come in.
As Diogenes asks, is there any position on any issue in any circumstance that a BC employee could take that wouldn’t merit the exact same response from Dunn. In other words, how far afield can a professor range and still be welcomed at the Catholic college? Anti-Semitism? Mysogyny? Preaching against homosexuality?
The limit of just what is acceptable and what is not would be quite instructive.
If one of the profs at a school like BC (and there are scads of them) ever dared to blaspheme the sacredness of homosex, he would be blasted out of there so fast that the wind of his speed would blow many of the ads for abortion mills right off the bulletin boards as he flew by!
Fact is, BC is above criticism. I wrote to President Leahy (twice) about his professor Alan Wolfe’s comments on Slate.com that Catholics worship statues of saints (I kid you not).
Over the course of two weeks, the president has apparently not had the time to respond.
I suspect many professors, if carefully observed and questioned would be revealed to hold two seldom articulated assumptions:
1. That the faculty are the proprietors of the institution and define its institutional mission (as opposed to being employees the institution and servants of that mission).
2. That the purpose of tertiary institutions is to provide steady jobs for intellectuals.
Perhaps Jack Dunn, the spokesperson for B.C., is suffering from memory problems. Certainly he can have someone in his office look up on one of their many computers: Charles Baron, Prof. of Law at B.C.,under”Greater Boston Hemlock Society” or, as it is called now “End of Life Choices Greater Boston”, under [url=http://www.bc.edu/schools/law/fac-staff/deans-faculty/baronc/]http://www.bc.edu/schools/law/fac-staff/deans-faculty/baronc/[/url] . This lists Baron’s articles which include: ,“To Die before the Gods Please: Legal Issues Surrounding Euthanasia and the Elderly”,“Physician Assisted Suicide Should Be Legalized and Regulated”,“Hastening Death:The Seven Deadly Sins of the Status Quo”, “Assisted Dying”,“Pleading for Physician-Assisted Suicide in the Courts”
to name just a few of his works which certainly do not reflect the teachings of the Catholic Church. Then, take a look at the Bay Windows issue of June 3,2004 article “BC faculty band together to promote change”, devoted to B.C. Professor of Theology,John McDargh,“who has always been open about his sexual orientation,(and) has also witnessed positive developments in the lives of B.C.‘s gay and lesbian faculty….but “McDargh says B.C. isn’t public enough in it’s efforts for incoming gay and lesbian faculty to really know whether this is a supportive place” so he is organizing the Lesbian and Gay Faculty,Staff and Administration Association of Boston College(LGFSAA) with the “mission that we’re going to make this a better environment’..and”serve as a resource and advocacy group.” Further “Dunn said he is aware that the organization has formed.”…“The organization is certainly welcome here.” No doubt Jack Dunn knows that John McDargh teaches a theology course entitled “Sexuality and Spirituality”.
By the way, Fr. Walter Cuenin had John McDargh come to his parish Youth religious ed. group to teach the youth about Sexuality and Spirituality. So the influence against Catholic teaching is spreading from the B.C. campus into a Catholic parish. No doubt Jack Dunn and Fr. Leahy are proud of this fact! An ounce of intelligence reveals that B.C. is lost in the Cosmos without the compas of the Catholic Magisterium!
Doesn’t Peter Kreeft teach there? I wonder how he stands it?