The Identity of a Catholic University in Post-Christian European Societies

Abstract

This article reflects on four possible strategies for responding to the growing secularization that is threatening Catholic universities both from without and within. These include the abandonment of all claims to Catholic identity; the reassertion of a distinctively confessional identity; the promotion of the university as a place where so-called Christian values, and humanitarianism in particular, are promoted; and the option to promote Catholic identity in all its particularity by means of an ongoing dialogue with the contemporary pluralistic context. Each of these options say something about both the university's self-understanding and its perception of its relationship to the culture in which it finds itself. The fourth would seem to do more justice to the tradition, and offer more hope for the future of, Catholic universities in an increasingly pluralistic and post-secular context.

Theorising Catholic education: the relevance of Bourdieu and Bernstein for empirical research

“…A pluralism of educational provision, reflecting a more religiously diverse population, is increasingly becoming available (Devine, 2011). The 'confessional based identity' of schools (more closely aligned to a theocentric paradigm in the past) no longer appears 'doxic' (Boeve, 2006;O'Sullivan, 2005). Our Faith-Visible Schools appear closer however to Boeve's (2006) 'institutionally reconfessionalised' schools which operate on the assumption that the substantial proportions of the actors in these schools are practicing Catholics.…”

The theological disposition of lay Catholic headteachers

“…'Communion' here refers to those features that are considered to be 'distinctively Catholic' and find expression in forms that stress the importance of the integrity of the Catholic community, and 'mission' to those features that concentrate on the duty to reach out to those beyond itself. Perspectives that favour 'communion' or 'mission' influence various typologies of Catholic school (Arthur 1995;Treston 1997;McCann 2003;Boeve 2006). To these it is possible to add a third, which might be called 'secular', using the term in the sense that distinguishes between the religious and the secular without denying the existence of the religious or being opposed to the sacred (Arthur 2009, 229).…”

“…They utilised typologies of Catholic organisations offered by Boeve (2006) together with Sullivan's classifications of theology as either being 'from below' or 'from above'. The first dispositional ideal type is identified as 'confessional' and emphasised the preservation and protection of the Tradition from internal or external contamination; the transcendence and mystery of God and the divinity of Christ; the objectivity of truth, which remains constant regardless of how individuals perceive it; and the mediated nature of Revelation, which is interpreted by the Church and assured by the Magisterium.…”

Religious education in a post-secular and post-Christian context

“…At the same time, Christians so-doing are becoming themselves more aware of the fact that the Christian faith is no longer simply culturally conveyed, but that it demands a specific, individualised engagement (which from the perspective of Christian spirituality may be interpreted as a personal response to a prior calling by the God of Jesus Christ). A confessional school then conceives of its confessional identity as delivering a service of Christians -and their organizing ecclesial community -to society, even though they constitute no longer necessarily a majority within that school (Boeve 2006). (3) The last and possibly most important precondition is of course a credible Christian faith, propagated by a credible Church.…”