Word: curran
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: during 1980-1989
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...coincidence, one of their most vexing disputes was settled just days earlier, in District of Columbia Superior Court. Judge Frederick Weisberg ruled that the Catholic University of America had every right to follow John Paul's dictates by removing from its theology faculty Father Charles Curran, an outspoken professor who questions church policies on birth control, abortion, homosexuality, premarital sex and divorce...
Among the U.S.'s 233 Catholic colleges, Curran's former employer is unique. The Catholic University was chartered in 1889 by the papacy, and its theology school grants Vatican-authorized degrees. While most U.S. Catholic universities are run by predominantly lay boards, the school's chancellor is the Archbishop of Washington, and 16 bishops, usually including all active U.S. Cardinals, sit on its 40-member board. Last year the board carried out a 1986 Vatican directive and barred Curran from teaching Catholic theology. Curran, 54, retained tenure but spurned compromise offers to teach nontheological subjects in other departments...
...judge ruled that Curran "could not reasonably have expected that the university would defy a definitive judgment by the Holy See that he was 'unsuitable' and 'ineligible' to teach Catholic theology." There was a "direct and unavoidable" conflict, said the court, between academic freedom and the school's fealty to the Pope. The university sided with Rome, and "whether that is ultimately good for the university or for the church is something they have a right to decide for themselves." Heartily agreeing, a Vatican official said the "essential issue was the freedom of the church to regulate teaching of theology...
...unclear whether the decision will have a broader effect on Catholic higher education in the U.S. Curran thinks it might, "given the current atmosphere" of John Paul's campaign to clamp down on errant theology teachers in seminaries and universities. But Sister Alice Gallin of the Association of Catholic Colleges and Universities, emphasizes Catholic University's unusual status and expects no spillover effect. She adds, however, that the case is "a warning that faculties must protect academic freedom...
...draft of the decree. Father Richard McBrien, chairman of the University of Notre Dame theology department, is confident that the document will cause no change in the status quo. "Regardless of what they come up with," he says, "it's not enforceable." That, of course, is just what Father Curran thought...