Are We Still Jesuit - Catholic? - A Short History of How We got to Where We Are

Sep 29, 2026

Are We Still Jesuit? Catholic? traces how Jesuit and Catholic identity in higher education has evolved from the late 1940s and early Fordham era through Vatican II-era debates and later documents. It recounts the tension between institutional autonomy and the Church’s expectations, referencing Land O’Lakes, canonical developments on higher education, and the 1990 apostolic constitution Ex corde Ecclesiae. The article frames ongoing questions about what makes a university truly Catholic and Jesuit over time.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryReligion & Spirituality

FormatPDF

Pages10

Reading Time25 min

AccessFree to download

A Short History of How We got to Where We Are

Some Historical Notes on the Identity Question

| Volume34|Issue 1 | Article 5 | | --- | --- | 10-1-2008 # Are We Still Jesuit?Catholic? Charles L.Currie,SJ. Recommended Citation Charles L.Currie,SJ.is president of theAJCU.This article is besed on biskeynote cadelress at the tuenty-fifthanaivensary of the Bannn Iustirure atSanta Clara Univensity.May 2,2008. ## A Short History of HowWe got to Where We Are hen I was a student atFordham University in the lateforties to eary fifties,no onewas asking "Is Fordham stillJesuit and Catholic?”Therewere too many Jesuits walkingaround in long,black cas-socks,essentially everyone oncampus was Catholic,there By Charles L.Currie,S.J. was a tightly structured curriculum centered on neo-scholastic philosophy —more than 30 credits of it,and a benevolent dictator Jesuit served as dean ofstudents.Today,in a very different world,all too reg-ularly I am asked is_ still Jesuit?Catholic? Early Saint Peter's College Jesuits circa 1880.Photo courtesy of Saint Peter's College Archive Department. International Federation of Catholic Universities(IFCU)andthe Vatican Congregation on Catholic Education.Under theleadership of Fr.Theodore Hesburgh,C.S.C.,President of theUniversity of Notre Dame,and with the support of Pope PaulVI,IFCU evolved into an organization increasingly independ-ent of the congregation,to the chagrin of the congregationand foreshadowing tensions accompanying the developmentof Ex corde.Meeting in Tokyo in 1965,IFCU decided todevelop a document on the cdistinctive character of a Catholicuniversity in the light of the recently published Vatican IⅡdocument,The Church in the Modern World. ## Some Historical Notes on the Identity Question The issue of Jesuit,Catholic identity has a most interestinghistory,with many of the same questions and themes play-ing over and over again,with different accents,and in manydifferent contexts.Discussions on just what makes a univer-sity Catholic,and how a Catholic university should relate tothe church and the local bishop,date long before Ex cordleEcclesiae,and indeed go back at least to the University ofParis,where Bishop Tempier censured theses of ThomasAquinas,only to have wiser heads prevail and canonize himabout fifty years later As part of this effort,Fr.Hesburgh hosted a meeting atthe Notre Dame villa in Wisconsin in 1967,from whichresulted the famous(or,to its critics,infamous)Land O'LakesStatement:The Nature of the Contemporary Catholic More recently,in 1949 we had the beginnings of a gen-tle and sometimes not so gentle tug of war between the University.This statement helped frame the issues thathave been the basis for tensions between Churchauthorities and American Catholic higher education forover 40 years,especially when it insisted that...the Catholic university must be a university in thefull modern sense of the word,with a strong commit-ment to and concern for academic freedom,and thatthis institutional autonomy and academic freedom are essential conditions of lifeand growth,and ndeed ofsurvival for Catholic univer-sities,as for all universities. The strong presidentsbehind this progressare often faulted forsacrificing Catholicidentity in the urgencyto grow and develop. Critics of this so-called "Declaration ofIndependence,”often for-get the distinguished com-position of the group issu-ing the statement.It includ-ed two bishops,two high-ranking monsignors,one ofwhom is now a cardinal (Cardinal McCarrick),the superior general of theCongregation of the Holy Cross,the assistant superiorgeneral of the Society of Jesus,and the presidents ofNotre Dame,Boston College,Fordham,Georgetownand St.Louis.Also forgotten is that of the ten sectionsof the document,only the first spoke of autonomy andacademic freedom.The other nine sections weredevoted to how Catholic universities could assure thatCatholicism would be“perceptibly present and effec-tively operative.” Five years later,after years of negotiation betweenCardinal Garrone,the prefect of the congrega

FAQs

What does the article question about Jesuit and Catholic identity?

The article asks whether institutions can remain Jesuit and Catholic in a changing world, focusing on how Catholic universities define their identity over time.

How did the Fordham-era context shape the issue?

The article notes that in the late 1940s to early 1950s, being Jesuit and Catholic felt assumed on campus, unlike later periods when the question became explicit.

Which later Catholic higher-education debates does the article highlight?

It highlights discussions connected to the Land O’Lakes Statement, the development of canon law for higher education, and the 1990 apostolic constitution Ex corde Ecclesiae, especially around autonomy and the Church’s operative presence.

Sep 29, 2026

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