Vatican City, Jan 29, 2018 / 06:40 am (CNA/EWTN News).- On Monday Pope Francis released a new apostolic constitution calling for a “radical” reform to the nature and curriculum of ecclesiastical universities and institutions.
“The primary need today is for the whole People of God to be ready to embark upon a new stage of Spirit-filled evangelization,” the Pope said in the document, “Vertatis Gaudium.”
This new stage of evangelization, he said, “calls for a resolute process of discernment, purification and reform. In this process, a fitting renewal of the system of ecclesiastical studies plays a strategic role.”
Signed Dec. 8, 2017, and published Jan. 29, 2018, the 87-page document is Francis’ is titled “Veritatis Gaudium,” meaning “the joy of truth.”
The document deals specifically with ecclesiastical universities and faculties, which, differing from regular Catholic universities, offer Vatican-approved degrees required to teach in seminaries or at pontifical universities.
It consists of two parts dedicated to general norms and specific norms, and also contains an appendix and norms of application. The document is meant to “update” previous norms, and abrogates any prior rules which contradict the new ones laid out by Pope Francis in Veritatis Gaudium.
The document abrogates any contrary norms established by John Paul II’s 1979 Apostolic Constitution “Sapientia Christiana,” issued after a careful study of the Second Vatican Council’s decree “Optatam Totius” on ecclesiastical studies. However, John Paul II’s 1990 Apostolic Constitution “Ex corde Ecclesiae” is not impacted , as it deals specifically with Catholic colleges and universities, rather than ecclesiastical academic entities.
Criteria
In the foreword for his new constitution, Pope Francis, who has often spoken of the importance of education, said that while offering a great contribution to the Church’s life and mission, Sapientia Christiana “urgently needs to be brought up to date.”
“While remaining fully valid in its prophetic vision and its clarity of expression, the constitution ought to include the norms and dispositions issued since its promulgation, and to take into account developments in the area of academic studies in these past decades,” he said.
“There is also a need to acknowledge the changed social-cultural context worldwide and to implement initiatives on the international level to which the Holy See has adhered.”
Francis noted that the world is currently living not only a time of change, but it is also experiencing “a true epochal shift, marked by a wide-ranging anthropological and environmental crisis,” such as natural, social and financial disasters which are swiftly reaching “a breaking point.”
This reality, he said, requires “changing the models of global development and redefining our notion of progress.” However, a great problem in doing this is the fact that “we still lack the culture necessary to confront this crisis. We lack leadership capable of striking out on new paths.”
Because of this, he said that on the cultural level as well as that of academic training and scientific study, “a radical paradigm shift” and “a bold cultural revolution” are needed which involve a worldwide network of ecclesiastical universities and faculties which are capable of promoting the Gospel and Church Tradition, but which are also “ever open to new situations and ideas.”
“Philosophy and theology permit one to acquire the convictions that structure and strengthen the intelligence and illuminate the will,” he said, but cautioned that this “is fruitful only if it is done with an open mind and on one’s knees.”
“The theologian who is satisfied with his complete and conclusive thought is mediocre,” Francis said. However, “the good theologian and philosopher has an open, that is, an incomplete, thought, always open to the maius of God and of the truth, always in development.”
Pope Francis then listed four criteria for ecclesiastical studies which he said are rooted in the Second Vatican Council’s teaching and and inspired by the changes that have taken place in the decades since.
The first of the criteria, he said, is the “contemplation and the presentation of a spiritual, intellectual and existential introduction to the heart of the kerygma, namely the ever fresh and attractive good news of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.”
Secondly, he said there is need for a “wide-ranging dialogue” which is not merely a “tactical approach,” but which is “an intrinsic requirement for experiencing in community the joy of the truth and appreciating more fully its meaning and practical implications.”
He then pointed to the need for an “inter-disciplinary and cross-disciplinary” approach which is carried out “with wisdom and creativity in the light of revelation.”
“What distinguishes the academic, formative and research approach of the system of ecclesiastical studies, on the level of both content and method,” he said, “is the vital intellectual principle of the unity in difference of knowledge and respect for its multiple, correlated and convergent expressions.”
The fourth and final criteria the Pope gave was “the urgent need for networking” between worldwide institutions that “cultivate and promote ecclesiastical studies, in order to set up suitable channels of cooperation also with academic institutions in the different countries and with those inspired by different cultural and religious traditions.”
In this regard, he said there is a need to establish more specialized centers of research dedicated to studying “the epochal issues affecting humanity today and to offer appropriate and realistic paths for their resolution.”
He urged the competent authorities to give a “new impulse” to scientific research conducted in ecclesiastical universities and faculties, saying the need for new and qualified research centers is “indispensable.”
These centers, the Pope said, ought to include scholars from different religious universities and from different scientific fields who can interact with “responsible freedom and mutual transparency.”
He said plans are already under way for the establishment of “outstanding interdisciplinary centers and initiatives aimed at accompanying the development of advanced technologies, the best use of human resources and programs of integration.”
Norms
In the new norms, Francis outlined the role, nature and purpose of ecclesiastical universities and faculties, saying they are to evangelize and, through scientific research, better enunciate the truths of the faith and present them in “a manner adapted to various cultures.”
Bishops’ conferences will be charged with overseeing the life and progress of the universities, and are to be headed by a chancellor who will serve as the entity’s go-between with the Holy See. All ecclesial universities and institutions will be overseen by the Congregation for Catholic Education, headed by Cardinal Giuseppe Versaldi.
Regarding the role of teachers, the Pope said there must be several teachers of various ranks in each faculty, including permanent ones.
Criteria necessary to be considered for appointment to such faculties include the need to be “distinguished by wealth of knowledge, witness of Christian and ecclesial life, and a sense of responsibility.”
Teachers, Francis said, must also have a doctorate or similar equivalent title or scientific accomplishment; they must show “documentary proof” of their suitability for doing scientific research, preferably a published dissertation, and they must demonstrate adequate teaching ability.
He also stressed that all teachers, no matter their rank, “must be marked by an upright life, integrity of doctrine, and devotion to duty, so that they can effectively contribute to the proper goals of an ecclesiastical academic institution.”
This goes for both Catholics and non-Catholics, as the document allows for non-Catholic professors to teach specialized courses at ecclesiastical universities and institutions in their areas of expertise.
Francis said that should any of the required criteria cease, “the teachers must be removed from their post, observing the established procedures.”
Teachers who instruct on faith and morals, he said, “are to be conscious of their duty to carry out their work in full communion with the authentic Magisterium of the Church, above all, with that of the Roman Pontiff.”
On the role of students who attend the ecclesiastical universities and institutions, the Pope said these entities must be open “to all who can legally give testimony to leading a moral life and to having completed the previous studies appropriate to enrolling in the faculty.”
As far as the study plan for ecclesiastical entities, the Pope said they must place a focus on ecclesial texts, with special emphasis on those from the Second Vatican Council, while also taking into account scientific advances that contribute to answering questions on modern concerns.
“Up-to-date didactic and teaching methods should be applied in an appropriate way, in order to bring about the personal involvement of the students and their active participation in their studies,” he said.
The Pope also said there must be freedom and flexibility in terms of research, but stressed that it must be “based upon firm adherence to God’s Word and deference to the Church’s Magisterium, whose duty it is to interpret authentically the Word of God.”
“Therefore, in such a weighty matter one must proceed with trust, and without suspicion, but the same time with prudence and without rashness, especially in teaching; moreover, one must carefully harmonize the necessities of science with the pastoral needs of the People of God.”
He said faculties of theology have the specific task of “profoundly studying and systematically explaining, according to the scientific method proper to it, Catholic doctrine, derived with the greatest care from divine revelation” and of carefully seeking solutions to human problems in light of this revelation.
Revealed truth, the Pope said, must be considered alongside valid scientific accomplishments, in order to see “how faith and reason give harmonious witness to the unity of all truth.”
“Also, its exposition is to be such that, without any change of the truth, there is adaptation to the nature and character of every culture, taking special account of the philosophy and the wisdom of various peoples,” Pope Francis said, but stressed that “all syncretism and every kind of false particularism are to be excluded.”
While the positive aspects of the various cultures and philosophies studied are to be sought and taken up after careful examination, he said “systems and methods incompatible with Christian faith must not be accepted.”
Ecumenical questions must be “carefully treated,” as well as questions regarding relationships with non-Christian religions. In addition, Francis said problems that arise from atheism and other currents of contemporary culture must also be “scrupulously studied.”
“In studying and teaching the Catholic doctrine, fidelity to the Magisterium of the Church is always to be emphasized. In the carrying out of teaching duties, especially in the basic cycle, those things are, above all, to be imparted which belong to the received patrimony of the Church,” he said. “Hypothetical or personal opinions which come from new research are to be modestly presented as such.”
Faculties of canon law, whether in the Latin rite or in Eastern rites, must cultivate and promote the judicial disciplines in light of the Gospel, he said.
These faculties, Francis said, should include a first, two-year cycle for those who have no prior education in philosophy and theology, as well as those who have a degree in civil law. During this first cycle, students ought to study the basic concepts of canon law, philosophy and theology in order to advance.
In the second cycle, which he said should last three years, students must become familiar with canon law “in all its expressions,” including the normative, jurisprudential, doctrinal, praxis, and the codes for both the Latin and Eastern Churches should be studied “in depth” with magisterial and disciplinary sources.
As with theology, the third cycle ought to consist of a suitable time-frame in which students finish their training with scholarly research aimed at preparing a doctoral dissertation.
Faculties of philosophy, he said, have the aim of “investigating philosophical problems according to scientific methodology, basing itself on a heritage of perennially valid philosophy.”
Philosophical study, Francis said, must look for solutions in the light of “natural reason” and must also demonstrate “consistency with the Christian view of the world, of man, and of God, placing in a proper light the relationship between philosophy and theology.”
The first cycle of study, he said, should last for three years and consist of an “organic exposition” of the various aspects of philosophy – including the world, man and God – as well as a look at the history of philosophy and an introduction to the method of scientific research.
In the second cycle, which should last for two years, Francis said specializations ought to begin through special disciplines and seminars. The third cycle, which he said should last for three years, must promote “philosophical maturity” through writing a dissertation.
The document also included new norms on other types of faculties, degrees, financial management, strategic planning and cooperation, and leadership ad government for ecclesiastical universities and institutions.
These new norms will go into effect on the first day of the 2018-2019 academic year or of the 2019 academic year, depending on the calendar year of the various academic entities. Each faculty or university must present their revised statutes and plan of studies before Dec. 8, 2019.
After being presented, the new statutes and plans of study will be approved “ad experimentum” for a three-year period. However, faculties with a juridical connection with civil authorities can be given a longer period of time with permission from the Congregation for Catholic Education.
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“Sins, however great and detestable they may be, are looked upon as trivial, or as not sins at all, when men get accustomed to them; and so far does this go, that such sins are not only not concealed, but are boasted of, and published far and wide…Woe to the sins of men! for it is only when we are not accustomed to them that we shrink from them: when once we are accustomed to them, though the blood of the Son of God was poured out to wash them away, though they are so great that the kingdom of God is wholly shut against them, constant familiarity leads to the toleration of them all, and habitual toleration leads to the practice of many of them…(I shall see whether the extravagance of grief did not betray me into rashness of speech)”. St. Augustine, The Enchiridion, Ch. 80
St. Augustine, pray for Bishop Strickland, your less eloquent but equally “rash” apostolic brother.
This sharing was such a gift. It explains familiarity is so powerful for us falling into sin. Mary
How about another? “Carnal lust reigns where there is not the love of God.” St. Augustine, The Enchiridion, Ch. 117
Note to editor. The letter could not have been published in full Nov 25.
With Card Parolin’s Nov 24 letter citing sanctions if doctrine on women’s ordination and homosexually are not observed, this added strength to Pope Francis’ previous milder letter is the most noteworthy of all the previous admonitions. If, hopefully the Vatican follows through there’s reason for a guarded restoration of trust.
Germany is 6 hours ahead of NYC, so the Card Parolin letter may have just been published by Tagepost Nov 26.
Wait a minute!
What about the “listening”? The “walking together”? The “development”? The “radical inclusivity”?
If the Holy Spirit is driving this Synod, who is Bergoglio to judge the results?
Polygamous marriages? Why not?
Baptizing pets? For sure!
Indulgences for wearing liederhosen? Wunderbar!
Bergoglio has told us that the Synods are about being in tune with the Holy Spirit, even if He takes us out of our comfort zones.
So then how can Bergoglio possibly object now?
I told you there was nothing to worry about. When are you all going to learn: God is in control!
Yes God is in control, but wish He would act quicker. Us humans with the freedom He allows us to have mess things up way too much.
So you reckon you know better than God when and what to allow according to His wisdom?
You might need to reas His response to Job.
So true. After a decade of this pontificate, I was starting to think Christ was the Pope’s Vicar.
Yes, God is in control.
Synodaling is an eminently popular movement. Every political clique is opposed to the popular interests and, therefore, it cannot be a Synodalist organization.
A Synodalist must be at the service of the cause. He who invoking the name of this cause is really at the service of a political clique or a “caudillo” (local political leader) is only a Synodalist by name.
No Synodalist should presume to be more than he really is, nor should he adopt a position inferior to what his social status should be. When a Synodalist starts to think that he is more important than he really is, he is about to become one of the oligarchy.
Now that we have been mollified with the reaffirmation of a bit of basic Church teaching, does this prevent the post-Synodaling promulgation of a prayer to welcome with mercy those in irregular unions? The Joy of Love Invocation? It need not mention sin. Or does this prevent the creation of a new female form of minister? Perhaps even the restoration of lay Cardinals? They could be called Cardinal Ministers?
This pontificate is a gift to develop our understanding of the bare minimum required to uphold papal infallibility.
Bishop Barron’s ‘frank’ disagreement with the Synod on Synodality’s final report, that “advances in the sciences require an evolution in the Church’s moral teaching on human sexuality” underscores an irony. Ironic in that if Pope Francis and Card Parolin are prepared to sanction the Synodale Weg German Bishops on female ordination and homosexuality, the latter noted here, then what are they to make of the Synod on Synodality’s agreement with the German Synod? Obviously, they must be consistent and oppose both Synods’ errors of judgment [please disregard my mistakes on the dates of the letter warning the German Bishops of sanction].
From the 2023 Synod Synthesis Report, two items to watch for in Synod 2024:
Part II: 9(n). “Theological and pastoral research on the access of women to the diaconate should be continued [….]” possibly to be “presented to the next Session of the Assembly.”
Wiggle room? Will the Assembly now agonize over whether possibly “ordained” female diaconates can be separated from the three-level male ordination of deacons/priests/bishops? The history already has been demonstrated that early “deaconesses” were not a sacramental ministry. More synodal research?
Part III: 16(p). A proposed “ministry of listening and accompaniment” partly for (16 h): “…people who feel marginalized or excluded from the Church because of their marriage status, identity or sexuality [….].”
As of 2017, Fr. James Martin, a delegate to Synod 2023, is already a consultant to the Vatican’s Dicastery on Communication. No doubt he feels well-groomed for further elevation into the new ministry.
Or, instead and moving forward, might the Synod more inclusively (!) rediscover the compassionate and truthful 1986 Letter on the Pastoral Care of Homosexual Persons: https://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/congregations/cfaith/documents/rc_con_cfaith_doc_19861001_homosexual-persons_en.html
Apparently Ratzinger’s 1986 Letter to Bishops of the Catholic Church on Pastoral Care of Homosexual Persons was intended to correct the ‘suggestion of permissibility’ of adult, stable homosexual relations.
“In regard to this second category of subjects [homosexuals who are definitively such because of some kind of innate instinct], some people conclude that their tendency is so natural that it justifies in their case homosexual relations within a sincere communion of life and love analogous to marriage, in so far as such homosexuals feel incapable of enduring a solitary life. In the pastoral field, these homosexuals must certainly be treated with understanding and sustained in the hope of overcoming their personal difficulties and their inability to fit into society. Their culpability will be judged with prudence. But no pastoral method can be employed which would give moral justification to these acts on the grounds that they would be consonant with the condition of such people” (VIII. Sacred Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. PERSONA HUMANA. DECLARATION ON CERTAIN QUESTIONS CONCERNING SEXUAL ETHICS. Franjo Cardinal Seper Prefect. 1975).
Although the letter goes on to say such relationships cannot justify homosexual acts, its tone gives the impression of justifying the relationship. The 1986 document is unequivocal. During the present pontificate some prominent clergy who favor normalcy of adult homosexual relations have referenced the 1975 document. As we know a major issue regarding the mitigation of intrinsic evil within the Church involves clerics who favor that normalcy.
Yes, reduced culpability does not overturn moral theology. But, of “homosexuals who are definitively such because of some kind of innate instinct”…what might this presumption actually mean?
FIRST, how is it that the number of instinctive and anti-binary homosexuals is rapidly leapfrogging into larger digits, such that the predisposition is mysteriously spreading by, obviously, some means other than biological transmission and inheritance?
SECOND, what of heterosexuals who are not married, and yet feel themselves ‘incapable of enduring a solitary life?” A still broader rewrite of exemptions from moral theology? Equity!
THIRD, actual genome research rules out a gay gene, although there are five “markers” which still are not sufficient to determine the choice of actual behavior. https://news.yahoo.com/no-gay-gene-study-finds-180220669.html
FOURTH, apparently the “instinct” is a function of epigenetics, an shaper comparable to the way computer software manages the computer hard drive (genetics). But, like software, the erroneous and victimizing software can be rewritten. https://www.stossbooks.com/open-letter-to-german-episcopate.html#NewScience_ApplyBrakes Courage International should not have been excluded from Synod 2023 in preference to Fr. James Martin, SJ.
FIFTH, what then about such factors as absentee or abusive fathers, early sexual abuse, or early sexual experimentation and a porn culture? Will guru Hollerich now reveal his undisclosed “sociological and cultural foundations” for upending innate and universal natural law and, therefore, Church teachings? (Instead, “The Church is no way [!] the author or the arbiter of this [‘moral’] norm” [Veritatis Splendor, n. 95]).
SIXTH, we can gain insight from a celebrated bisexual novelist from within the LGBTQ community itself [sic political coalition]. This assessment of Andre Gide, by one of his biographers, on getting locked-in [!] by early experimentation:
“[Gide] emphatically protests that he has not a word to say against marriage and reproduction (but then) suggests that it would be of benefit to an adolescent, before his desires are fixed, to have a love affair with an older man, instead of with a woman. . . the general principle admitted by Gide, elsewhere in his treatise, that sexual practice tends to stabilize in the direction where it has first found satisfaction; to inoculate a youth with homosexual tastes [!] seems an odd way to prepare him for matrimony [better to simply redefine “marriage”!] (Harold March, “Gide and the Hound of Heaven,” 1952).
__________________
Responding to the recent instructions to der Synodale Weg, what will Synod 2024 “experts” now say that is preventive of sexual derailment; that is, supportive of families, parental responsibilities, and sexual morality; and, that transcends the tail spinning “signs of the times”?
Good response. The notion, “definitively such because of some kind of innate instinct” is oxymoronic, so broadly stated that it doesn’t define the condition. Almost all homosexuals are inclined to say they were born that way, whereas there’s evidence that it is adoptive [elective] behavior.
There are, however, scientifically verified rare accidents of nature, as Aquinas would say. Your allusion to elective behavior is seen by the many who are suddenly appearing analogously likened to spontaneous combustion. We find the phenomenon throughout history and where it becomes prevalent the culture collapses within itself.
What seems to be the case over and over again is that PF refuses to produce or provide clarity. All these various strains of his thought wending their way through the church without clarification are causing confusion at best or mayhem, at worse. I wish that our pope would offer some much needed clarity. Where are his answers to the dubia? The problem is that he refuses to reach to any documents that are any older (and more clear) than those produced during the 1960’s. The synod seems to have been an exercise in muddying the waters; even further degrading the role of the consecrated. Anyone excited about pursuing priesthood these days has to reconcile the changing identity and importance of the priestly office itself. The safe harbor during all this experimentation, cognitive dissonance and cacophony seems to be the pre-1960’s church and one committed to the Council of Trent. Thank you God for that compass! I can only hope that the crew of the Barque would pick it up and use it as the sextant it needs to navigate the waves of this modern world. V2 and the synod seem useless — look at the “fruit”.
“The safe harbor during all this experimentation, cognitive dissonance and cacophony seems to be the pre-1960’s church and one committed to the Council of Trent. Thank you God for that compass! I can only hope that the crew of the Barque would pick it up and use it as the sextant it needs to navigate the waves of this modern world.”
From the prophecies of Venerable Bartholomew Holzhauser regarding “the fifth period of the Church” (commencing AD 1520):
“During this period the Wisdom of God guides the Church in several ways: 1) by chastising the Church so that riches may not corrupt her completely; 2) by interposing the Council of Trent like a light in the darkness so that the Christians who see the light may know what to believe…”
Regarding PF’s refusal “to produce or provide clarity,” I believe Fr. George Rutler once remarked that one looks to Francis for a train of thought but finds a train wreck.
M. Tabish:
Some very fine insights. Compare the basic modus operandi of Francis with what is set forth about a primary obligation of any faithful pope by the saintly Pius X at the very beginning of his prescient and always relevant anti-modernist encyclical Pacendi, which was gifted to the Church and the world in 1907:
“One of the primary obligations assigned by Christ to the office divinely committed to Us of feeding the Lord’s flock is that of guarding with the greatest vigilance the deposit of the faith delivered to the saints, rejecting the profane novelties of words and the gainsaying of knowledge falsely so called.”
To be sure, Francis not only fails to reject profane novelties of words and false secular knowledge; he actively embraces these egregious errors and insists upon the Church doing the same, and therein lies a very sad tale.
Thank the Holy Spirit that Pope Francis and Cardinal Parolin are at least beginning to sound orthodox!
But the questions remain: Why do they undermine the very orthodox Catholic teachings that they are professing to uphold now by putting and leaving in place clerics (Fernandez, Hollerich, Bätzing, McElroy, Martin, Tobin, Coyne, etc.) who openly oppose some aspects of established Catholic doctrine, while demoting good, faithful clerics (Strickland, Mueller, Burke, Sarah, Torres, etc.) who courageously uphold established Catholic doctrine?
Until and unless Pope Francis and Cardinal Parolin back their orthodox rhetoric up by removing heterodox clergy and stop removing faithful clergy, I’m afraid their comments are all just “a noisy gong or a clanging symbol” that is devoid of any authentic meaning.
I just have one compound question. Who kidnapped Francis, and where are they hiding him, and who forged this orthodox communication in his name?
Is this leak merely a ploy to turn down the heat Bergoglio’s Vatican is currently taking for its negligence in defending the deposit of faith?
One way to know is for a local bishop to make sure that every Catholic in his diocese is aware of this Vatican confirmation of orthodoxy. If doing so results in his getting removed like Strickland was, then we will know the leak was just a political ploy.
If all the American bishops did this it would be difficult for Bergoglio to remove any of them.
We have what will go down in history as the “Machiavellian Papacy.” I don’t believe a word that comes out of this Vatican. It’s all so calculated and never to be taken at face value. This Pope is intent on torturing the Faithful. Truth is being sacrificed on a cross every day with this Pope and his legates.
Apparently the pot was coming to a boil too soon. They’ve turned down the heat for the time being. When its convenient it will come back, and far sooner than you believe.
It is consoling to some degree that the voice of Catholics faithful to the perennial Magisterium is being heard, though more as an alarm that Babel might tip over than as an informed theological caution.
The bone thrown to us dogs serves the purpose intended until it is no longer deemed necessary.
Exactly. Plus, the very fact that those issues were being openly discussed is a win of sorts. It’s the March through the institution one step at a time.
Don’t be so overjoyed! This letter could be saying “Wait, Germany, we are already doing everything you want in OUR synod, so stop trying to do it before we get it done. You can’t make these changes just in Germany, these things need to be implemented for the entire church. We will do this next year.”
I was whimsical with my first comment, but I completely agree with the pessimistic views of these comments above. Actually, all of these synods have been to float ideas of heterodoxy to obtain emotional acceptance in the minds of ignorant Catholics and secular media and culture. At the right time, it will seem quite acceptable to make a final push for what will seem like just a minor reform of popular approbation.
Grateful for this news. Still frustrated with everything else around it.
Pray no more jesuitical casuistry remains. I fear the horses are already out of the barn and far away. Do not fear.
that is astute one may wager. Shouldn’t se see a German Bishop’s head on a platter ala B. Strickland?