Now, this is depressing. Not surprising. But definitely depressing. I just got this video from the Cardinal Newman Society concering Georgetown University. And it’s a doozy. And here’s the thing -this is what Georgetown is publicly espousing. I can’t imagine what it is they’re not saying.
Georgetown’s Associate Dean Fr. Ryan Maher, S.J. said it’s not Georgetown’s job to bring God to people or to bring people to God.
“Our job as educators and as priests is not to bring God to people, or even to bring people to God. God’s already there and the people are already there. Our job, our way, of living out our educational vocation is to ask the right questions, and to help young people ask those questions,” says Fr. Ryan Maher, S.J., Georgetown’s associate dean and director of Catholic studies, in the opening to a new video profiling the work of Jesuits on campus.
Jesuits at Georgetown from Georgetown College on Vimeo.
Once again the question must be asked whether Georgetown is a Catholic university at all or a university where some Jesuits teach? It’s sad that there’s a distinction but sometimes there just is.
Check out the Cardinal Newman Society for more on this video.
January 24, 2011 at 3:38 am
No surprise here. This Fr. Maher is notorious.
January 24, 2011 at 7:00 am
There must be some fairness and not just knee jerk reaction.
There is one Truth. If one seeks the Truth, honestly, then one inevitably finds that Truth. And that Truth is a Person – Christ Jesus. And if one asks the right questions, one will find Him.
This is true, and should not be doubted, but they never admit that there is a truth, but imply that there are various right places people may be. This is evident in the discussion of "traditions". There is an implication that all traditions have value, and they are not ordered. This is simply wrong. Not all traditions and ideas are respectable and worthy.
The piece is right in that if we seek Truth we will find Christ. But this must be guided with an understanding that there is a Truth and there is falsehood. The problem isn't with the initial statement it is with the critical thinking and realist (as opposed to relativist) perspective that is needed to find the Truth.
The question is whether Georgetown help students find the Truth by asking the right questions or does it help them question and doubt the Truth by entertaining the wrong questions.
January 24, 2011 at 1:33 pm
Anon 7:37 — I'm sorry that your family had such a bad experience. The California Province is pretty notorius –I remember in college that even my most liberal friends found their behavior pretty scandalous.
But given that there are 20,000 Jesuits (or is that Jesuit priests? Can't remember) in the world, it seems pretty unwise to condemn THE ENTIRE LOT OF THEM for the actions of a few whackjobs.
A few months ago, I read a post on Matthew Fox and why he was allowed to remain a Dominican for so long. Apparently, once a typical religious order lets someone IN, it's very difficult to kick them OUT. There are all sorts of 'due process' requirements, and cases can take DECADES.
As it is, the guys joining the Jesuits now (at least the ones I've met) are a pretty goods bunch of people. Argumentative – annoyingly Socratic at times, but a good bunch.
January 24, 2011 at 3:25 pm
YOU ARE ALL WHACK JOBS _ JESUITS open minds not keep them closed up and usless for a modern world. This ecumenical spirit of Jesus Christ is evident at Jesuit HS Universities and Parish communities . Jesus would have shared bread with people of ALL Faiths .
I am sorry that the best Catholic Colleges and Universities are all Jesuit – ESADE, Innsbruck, Louvain , Georgetown Fordham & Boston College All the most pre eminent Catholics were Jesuit educated
Thankfully Jesuits are the largest order in the Church .
I pray the next pope will be a Jesuit Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio
who has washed the feet with those afflicted with HIV/AIDS
January 24, 2011 at 5:12 pm
I could read recently that the Louvain Catholic University(Belgium)jesuit direction staff was considering dropping the adjective "catholic" since it no longer matched their objectives regarding scientific issues such as cloning, stem cells etc…
For some so-called catholics, catholicism has become like a millstone around their neck.
Anyway, it is clearer like that: We are warned that they have left the RCC forever and we no longer have to do anything with them, unless we want our souls to be lost forever too.
January 24, 2011 at 6:04 pm
They should have been suppressed back in the 80s, but soon-to-be-blessed John Paul II was talked out of it.
Too educated, too full of themselves, too self-righteous for their own good.
Best CINO universities, Anonymous Troll, you are right, are under the thumb of the Jesuits.
But, Catholic they aren't. Not by a long shot. They are hotbeds of dissent, heterodoxy, 'non serviam' riding on their reputations.
Full disclosure: Fordham University class of 1979. Somehow, despite the guitar masses, drunken priests, money-grubbing/kneeling in adoration of the NY State funding, managed to hold on to the Faith, despite the best efforts of the protestant order currently masquerading as Jesuit.
But, again…Catholic, they ain't.
January 24, 2011 at 9:32 pm
Add Marquette University to the list. Barely Catholic.
However, if we gave our kids proper catechesis (proper/authentic, not lame-o CCD), we wouldn't have to worry about sending kids to Jesuit-run colleges because they'd know what they're up against. Some of them are great places to get a degree in certain fields. Your faith should have a solid foundation BEFORE you walk into ANY college – Cathlyc, Catholic, or not.
January 25, 2011 at 4:07 pm
@Charlotte: Right on.
This, despite having folks like Frs. Previtt (pres. out in SF), Schroth (fmr Pres in KC), Donceel, Loughran, etc who if not totally out in left field, were balanced by Fr.Charles Loughran SJ, Fr. Martin Hegyi SJ, and Fr. John McDermott, who were shining examples of Real Jesuits (what we were brought up to think they were..towering intellect, orthodox to the core, and men of prayer in action.
Unfortunately, for every good one…there are 10 behind them in the Company who would be better off elsewhere…and those 10 are in the positions of power and public notice.
January 26, 2011 at 4:10 am
The posts on this blog truly sadden me. I am a current Georgetown student who has been actively involved in Georgetown Campus Ministry and student life for four years now. I will readily admit that before coming to Georgetown my faith was little more than a cultural identifier. Now, my faith is instrumental to the way that I act and live everyday, and that is because of the influence of many notable Jesuits. As a matter of fact, Fr. Maher was instrumental in that transformation. His course on Jesuit Education changed my life: he led me to discover a deeper faith than I had ever known before. One of the great things about Georgetown is that it has led me to discover both the depth and the breadth of the Catholic Church. Here, I am daily challenged in theology courses to reach a deeper understanding of my faith. Moreover, I have the daily opportunity to go to Mass on campus (twice if I wish), to go to adoration (once a week), and even to experience a Traditional Latin Mass (which I was just at tonight). Despite the hurtful comments on this blog, I am not afraid to say that the Jesuits are largely the reason I have come to know God through the Catholic Church. These men (Fr. Maher included) know how to ask the important questions. More importantly, though, they know that in the end, faith is about recognition. God doesn't all of a sudden appear in one's life. Rather, like St. Paul, the scales fall from our eyes as we witness and realize the reality of life in the presence of Jesus Christ.
~Pax Christi
January 26, 2011 at 12:36 pm
They foment the cult of "questions." That is what is vogue. If you dare venture into the realm of "answers," you are ostracized as hopelessly backward and pre-Vatican II. It has been going on for a long time.