Catholic Vilanova University is no Longer a She and He Place


Having spent decades in universities, I have known since way back neither the Pope nor authority figures in Protestant universities would be able to hold back liberal versions of social change. Society goes where it wants to go and university, religions and everything in between follow along whether they want to or not. Now, the Catholic Vilanova University's administration has advised its staff and faculty it should no longer use traditional version of gender identity. Syllabuses for courses, for example, should not refer to "he" and "she." This is in spite of the fact the Pope has said publicly breaking down the difference between genders is "dangerous." The Pope sounds like a preacher of a Southern Baptist church, "I don't want to hear this from y'all." 

There is myth circulated among Catholics a Catholic university is under the thumb of the local Bishop. It's as if the local Bishop rules over the university in his diocese. Vilanova had 10,000 undergraduates only a few years ago. Now it has about 7,000. No doubt it is hustling to stop the enrollment fall and hang on to the cash flow students provide. What lever does the local Bishop have over a university in its diocese? Will the local Bishop make up for lost revenue if he requires some policy that hurts enrollment? I guess it could threaten to have the institution removed from the Catholic list of schools. That would hurt the diocese and might not hurt the school. The school's faculty and students would be among the Catholic church members in the diocese. 

I enjoy peeking into the web sites of Catholic universities to find the welcome and club for LGBTQ students. Welcoming and providing facilities for such sinners should earn a powerful rebuke from local Bishops. I've never heard on peep about it. Vilanova has a great way to hide its LGBTQ welcome. There is not a list of approved student organizations on the web page. Instead, one has to watch a long video about the campus organizations. I did not have the patience to hear the entire thing but would be willing to bet there is an organization there and Vilanova welcomes each such student.

Welcoming LGBTQ students is not as daring as the Vilanova administration telling the faculty it should use gender neutral words. That is going into the mouth of the lion. When the Pope has weighed in with a direct condemnation a Catholic University had to have thought through the implications. The local Bishop knows for certain what the Pope thinks of this.  Good for Vilanova.  

Comments

  1. AnonymousOctober 5, 2022 at 3:30 PM

    I struggle to understand your post. You seem to think the way Villanova will make up a 3000 student drop-off in enrollment is to drop he and she in favor of they and them. My guess is that there is something else behind the enrollment drop-off, e.g. tuition costs, degrees offered, etc.

    The local Bishop is in charge of all Catholic entities within his diocese except if a Catholic entity is directly under papal authority. For example, Jesuit institutions report directly to the Pope and not the local Ordinary Bishop. For example, a Jesuit university such as Creighton (Nebraska), Loyola (many), Georgetown and many others can seemingly escape their local local Bishop.

    There are some other Orders besides Jesuits.

    GLBTQ is a new one. I always thought it was LGBTQ. Who cares?

    I get a better education at Stanford than I probably would have received at Georgetown. And the Catholic center at Stanford was very nice. But we're talking 41 years ago.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. JonOctober 5, 2022 at 4:28 PM

      Anonymous--"My guess is there is something else behind the enrollment, e.g., tuition costs, degrees offered, etc." I looked at Villanova's tuition cost. It's lower the State Universities in the Midwest. Can't be that. Every place offers about the same majors. Student numbers are generally down everywhere, especially in small colleges. Competition is stiff. Using up-to-date language is a necessary part of the package.

      Delete
  2. Matt NoahOctober 5, 2022 at 5:37 PM

    Libby lingo is not a necessary part of the package. The burden of proof is on you. You want it since it fits your liberal bias but that doesn't cut the mustard.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. JonOctober 5, 2022 at 7:53 PM

      Matt -- "Libby lingo is not a necessary part of the package." If it's not necessary, why is Catholic Villenova using libby lingo?

      Delete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Maybe the "Original Sin" Should be Reassigned

Image
We can all agree most Catholic priests are fine people and not guilty of sexual abuse. What Catholics must face, however, it that their church harbors executives who are dishonest . There is an incredible story about the Argentine Bishop Zanchetta. The Pope worked with him in Argentina and they are considered friends. Around 2015 Zanchetta sent nude pictures of himself and they began circulating world wide. He also was too friendly with young seminarians and some left because of him.  Three different officials say they made formal complaints to the Vatican about Zanchetta between 2015 and 2017. Yet, in 2018, the Vatican claimed it was unaware of any complaints about Zanchetta. This might be a good time to repeat the Catholic hierarchy claims to have the sole authority handed down from Jesus to what the faith stands for. It condemns as sinners those who practice birth control, have abortions and gay sexual relationships. Handing the hierarchy this responsibility would make som
Read more

The Religious Capitol Invaders May Yet Win

Image
So much about U.S. society and religion can be learned from the Civil War and what happened afterwards. After its defeat, the South started a myth about the unethical soldiers from the North. The South fought for principles of God and states rights. The North did not. It was the South, this propaganda told the country, that had the high moral ground.  The Capitol invaders, encouraged by Trump, swallowed the myth that Biden's election was stolen. Thus, they think they held and still hold the high moral ground. This was reinforced by the cross and prayers during the invasion. Even with Trump is gone, we will see political opportunists like Senators Ted Cruz and Josh Hawley stroking crowds and feeding the same lies as Trump. Like "the South will rise again" these gullible followers will talk of victory over the unclean. After the Civil War the South rallied around the phrase, Lost Cause. For decades, and maybe to this day, there are ceremonies remembering fallen martyrs, Re
Read more

Father Frank Pavone, the Ultimate Crook

Image
Recently, the Vatican defrocked Frank Pavone. His diehard fans are outraged. This is because he cleverly manipulated his fans and the press all the while living well from donations and, apparently, abusing some women. By making abortion the "sin" of the century, and himself the main opposition to this one sin, he himself could get away with any sin he pleased.  As the link points out, Pavone was the perfect priest for the Trump era. Trump is so self-important laws have no role in his life. He felt accountable to no one. Women were there to be had. Pavone and Trump are interchangeable.  Pavone was very successful raising money. In his mind, abortion was so important in Catholic beliefs and he was so important in anti-abortion the money he raised opposing it was his to do with what he liked. The Catholic Church, the brand name he used to raise this money, thought the money belonged to it. When he gave the Vatican the bird, it gave him walking papers. With polls showing the majo
Read more