The Shape of Catholic Higher Education

1970 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 167
Author(s):  
W. B. Blakemore ◽  
Robert Hassenger
Author(s):  
Theron N. Ford ◽  
Blanche Jackson Glimps

The Catholic Church has been a major player in the field of education, both nationally and internationally. Numerous religious orders, such as the Jesuits, Felicians, created higher education institutions. Such institutions afforded college education to first-generation students and were a ladder for upward mobility. A perception lingers of Catholic institutions being an exemplar of Christian values of love, acceptance and social justice. In reality, some institutions are far more successful in actualizing those values. This chapter looks retrospectively at Madonna University and compares it to John Carroll University to highlight differences in how each has dealt with the issue of inclusiveness. While each of the institutions is a single instance within the Catholic higher education community, there are still lessons we may take from this examination that intersect with issues related to religion, gender and inclusiveness.


Author(s):  
James L. Heft

Until the 1970s, most sociologists thought that it was only a matter of time before the process of secularization would marginalize religion to the personal and private sphere. That has not happened. Thinkers such as José Casanova, Charles Taylor, and others clarify the many meanings of secularity and open space for theology. A comparison of Protestant and Catholic colleges shows how the latter has a chance to remain religiously rooted intellectually, depending on the formation of its faculty and the contributions of a global reality of Catholicism.


Author(s):  
James L. Heft

Major secular universities do not teach theology; they teach religious studies, if they teach anything about religion at all. It is impossible to imagine a Catholic university without theology. Four characteristics of Catholic theology show the unique contribution the discipline makes to Catholic higher education. False dichotomies are identified: critical or catechetical and faith or reason. This chapter describes the dramatic changes over the past sixty years in who teaches theology and what is taught to lay students at Catholic universities. Theologians need to address effectively the problem of widespread religious illiteracy among most college students. The Vatican document on Catholic higher education, Ex corde ecclesiae, offers a broad and demanding vision of the type of theological and moral education necessary for Catholic colleges and universities. The expectations of Catholic theologians in the academy and beyond it are daunting.


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