C <> I
CATHOLIC
CONTROVERSY
^technically. his professional address remains a
m cramped basement office at Catholic University in
M Washington, D C But psychologically, ever since the
m Vatican barred him from teaching last August be
JL cuuse he differed with established church doctrine,
theologian Charles Curran has been in a place that’s even
more distinctly Catholic: limbo. "I hope for the best and
expect the worst,” says Father Curran, who is planning to
fight for reinstatement as a tenured professor in forthcom
ing hearings In assorted intellectual forums, the Curran
case has raised two questions that are inextricably bound:
Can there lx* true academic freedom in an institution with
STEVE MOM ARTY NOTRE DAM* l'N!\
Concerned: Hesburgh
strong lies 10 an aumornar
ian church'.’ And, in the
context of 1986, what in a
Catholic university?
George Bernard Shaw,
with his usual acidity, sup
posedly declared that a
Catholic university is "a con
tradiction in terms." Today
the oxymoron is clearly in
apposite The 235 Catholic
institutions of higher learn
ing in the United States
have undergone enormous,
if uneven, changes since
Vatican II. They’re now
marked by increasing inde
pendence from orthodoxy,
heightening academic re
No tremors:
Commencement at
Boston College, whose
ties to the church are less
binding than Catholic
University’s
pute and the diversification
of student bodies far beyond
the immigrant youths most
were founded to serve. Total
enrollment is near 600,000,
up 32 percent since 1970.
Many of these schools have
become more secular, and
among their students the
censure of Curran has pro
voked concern and debate.
It s awful what happened
to Reverend Curran. I think
the Catholic Church and the
pope are old-fashioned, and
this crackdown threatens
our academic freedom.
—Boston College sophomore
Pamela Szufnarowski
I 'm wondering why it took
so many years ... to finally
stop Curran from teaching.
It's pretty obvious that what
he was teaching is not
(atnolic stuff.
—Catholic U. grad student Joe Konczal
What Curran taught was scarcely radical: that birth con
trol can be necessary for responsible parenthood, that
abortion can be justified to save the life of the mother, that
divorce, premarital sex and homosexuality are not always
immoral. But sexual morality, more than any other area,
reveals the chasm between the teachings of Rome and the
practices of the American Catholic majority. Pope John
Paul II has vowed to quell doctrinal dissent wherever it
surfaces—in the United States no less than in the Nether
lands. "Obviously, it’s broader than my case," says Curran.
Father Curran—"Charlie” to most students—is no
stranger to controversy. In 1967 CU did not renew his
contract. Students and faculty responded by boycotting
classes, and the popular priest was rehired and promoted.
This time Curran’s situation has sparked national interest;
supporters have collected 20,(XX) signatures in favor of
keeping him on staff.
At the center of Georgetown University an unobtrusive
cross rises high above the disk tower ofthe Healy building—
final point of the campus and seat of its Jesuit administra
tion In 1888. faced with a Catholic enrollment that dwin
dled as the school's popularity surged, the university provost
proposed to the admissions director that applicants of the
founding faith be given an edge. Two months later, after
protests that such a policy was discriminatory, administra
tors dropfxd the idea. This year only 58 percent of George
town undergraduates are Catholic, and the university is
probably best known for its academic achievements—and its