In a terrorized world increasingly suspicious of cultural relativism, calls for a return to humanistic principles and the anchor they promise are bound to resurface.

Catholic Higher Education in Ruins

By Robert Oscar Lopez

Before there was Pope Francis, there was a different Francis from Assisi, Italy. Back in the twelfth century, St. Francis heard the call to fix a church falling into ruins. Now it is the twenty-first century, and this Francis ought to hear the call to fix Catholic colleges falling into ruins.

Recent incidents at Notre Dame, Marquette, and Catholic University of America trouble me, because they stir up memories of the muddled theology that corrupted my Catholic youth, led me into terrible confusion, and ultimately led me to leave the Church. Since I am a professor, the prospect of Catholic higher education unraveling is doubly alarming.

“Who am I to judge?”

Five words that bring back lots of difficult memories. It was a quote taken out of context. I get it.

Pope Francis didn’t really say what the Advocate and the Human Rights Campaign thought he said. But I’ve been through this before. The idea emerges from time to time in corners of the Catholic world: greed and economic exploitation are exceptional crimes, while lustful crimes do less harm and ought not to be subject to righteous indignation.

Run a soup kitchen, collect blankets for the homeless, preach about generosity, and don’t give people a hard time about forbidden private acts that bring them pleasure. If you don’t sermonize about what people are doing in the dark on Saturday night, then maybe they will feel more welcome at Sunday mass. More people saved, no harm done.

This medley of sexual anarchy and socialism, festooned with calls to charity and lopsided clippings from Matthew 25, helped my parents rationalize their decisions. My father and mother split up just as I was born. My father would go on to more lovers and wives than I care to count, and my mother would raise me together with another divorced woman who was her lover for almost two decades.


- Obligations Economic and Sexual ...

- Strike One: The University of Notre Dame ...

- Strike Two: Marquette’s Kibosh ...

- Strike Three: Catholic University’s Students against “Christian fascists” ...

- Three Strikes. Who’s Out? ...

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