California Catholic Daily just published the text of a speech by Fr. Michael Sweeney, OP President, Dominican School of Philosophy and Theology, Berkeley. It is a very encouraging speech that could begin a conversation on Catholic higher education. Fr. Sweeney deplores what has happened to Catholic higher ed – but he is offering a real solution!! Unlike most Catholic college presidents who say that nothing can be done, Fr. Sweeney offers a whole new look at the problem and the solution- Faithfulness…
Fr. Sweeney reminds us that too many students just do not understand Catholic teachings – they have never been taught: ”When they (the Pope or the Bishops) speak of the natural law, or of the common good, or of solidarity, or of subsidiarity they are using terms that are inaccessible and therefore largely meaningless to the majority of Catholics, let alone of other citizens. They are speaking, if at all, to an aging elite, to Catholics whose education in College was completed prior to 1970.”
Fr. Sweeney’s Dominican Masters Program is a 3 year program. He encourages us all to identify students who could learn there – and contribute to revitalizing our Church.
He concludes his piece with:
There are practical challenges to the work that we have determined to undertake. Apart from a small subsidy from the Western Dominican Province, we have no means of support for the School other than the tuition that our students pay and the direct contributions of our benefactors. But this affords us, I am convinced, an extremely significant strategic advantage to what we are proposing: we are not dependent upon government or industry for our support, and therefore we can be fully objective in our study, and we can apply the Catholic tradition in its integrity, without apology or compromise. We are directly accountable to God and to the Catholic community.
David House
Kim Shankman
Anne Hendershott
Paul Sullins
Josh Hochschild
Fr. Paul Dumais
Michael Krom
Andrew Seeley
John Hittinger
Robert Gotcher
