Cardinal Newman Society
Encyclopedia
The Cardinal Newman Society is a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt, nonprofit organization founded in 1993 and dedicated to what it calls the renewal of Catholic
identity on the campuses of colleges and universities
in the United States. The organization is guided by its particular interpretations of John Henry Cardinal Newman's The Idea of a University and Pope John Paul II
's 1990 Apostolic Constitution
, Ex Corde Ecclesiae
. The organization claims a membership of more than 20,000.
The society claims a four point mission: to--
It should not be confused with the Oxford University Newman Society
, or with the Society for the Study of Cardinal Newman,http://www.cardinalnewmansociety.net or with Newman Centre
, the name often used to designate Catholic campus ministry centers at state and other non-Catholic universities.
The society's board of directors includes Media Research Center
founder L. Brent Bozell III. The society's national advisory board includes Rev. Benedict Groeschel
, CFR, Rev. Robert Levis, Rev. C. John McCloskey
, III, Rev. Michael Scanlan, TOR, Dr. Alice von Hildebrand
, and Rev. Peter Stravinskas.
alumnus Patrick Reilly. After decisions by Fordham to recognize pro-choice and gay student clubs and create a counseling helpline which referred pregnant students to an abortion provider, Reilly used his position as editor of the school paper to express his opinions in defense of his understandings and applications of Catholic teaching on sexuality and abortion. http://www.catholicherald.com/detail.html?sub_id=9678 Reilly launched the society with the help of other recent Catholic college graduates. The society's leadership included prominent conservative commentator L. Brent Bozell III. It was Bozell, founder and president of the conservative media-watchdog group Media Research Center
, who suggested use of direct mail marketing to invigorate the organization at a time when it existed "primarily as letterhead." http://chronicle.com/free/v52/i43/43a00601.htm
According to Reilly, “It took a while, but there was such a need, more and more, to engage students and working with alumni and working with faculty and as we went on, it became clear that they were all looking for some kind of national voice to express the concerns that very many faithful Catholics had about the state of Catholic education.” http://www.catholicherald.com/detail.html?sub_id=9678
One prominent supporter of the group is Fr. Benedict Groeschel
, who wrote the forward to their "Newman Guide" and has spoken publicly in support of a stronger presence of the Christian culture of life on Catholic campuses, famously quipping that some secular colleges provide a better Catholic formation than their purported Catholic counterparts. Another supporter of the group is Fr. Joseph Koterski
, a Jesuit at Fordham who is on record as having told Fordham students that he "couldn't see how [a Catholic] could [vote for Barack Obama] in good conscience after knowing the facts [about his positions contrary to Catholic teachings, such as extremist pro-abortion stance]."http://www.theramonline.com/2.12149/college-democrats-discuss-catholics-and-abortion-1.1656336
claiming "to show students where they can learn and grow in a genuine Catholic environment without the nonsense that has overtaken even some of the most well-known Catholic universities." They identify 26 Catholic colleges and universities in the United States
, abroad, and online where, in their view, "students can reasonably expect a faithful Catholic education and a campus culture that generally upholds the values taught in their homes and parishes."
An important initiative includes monitoring speakers at Catholic universities, and providing a mechanism for online reporting of what it believes to ve scandalous commencement speakers and honorees they believe to "have taken public positions contrary to Catholic values or teaching."
The organization is often at the center of controversy, as for example when it solicited donations to "finance a major effort to expose the heretics within our Catholic colleges," an effort which was called "red-baiting in ecclesiastical garb" by the Rev. John Beal, canon law professor at Catholic University of America. It has been criticized for "McCarthyite tactics and fundamentalist agenda"http://ncronline.org/news/politics/catholic-academic-ayatollah-shows-true-colors. Charles L. Currie, president of the Association of Jesuit Colleges and Universities said that the society's "attacks can no longer go unchallenged," and characterized their work as "a long trail of distorted, inaccurate, and often untrue attacks on scholars addressing complex issues." Michael James, vice president of the Association of Catholic Colleges and Universities, said the society is "destructive and antithetical to a spirit of unity in our commitment to serve society and the church." http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2005/08/28/groups_church_role_questioned/ Reilly has been referred to in Catholic publications as the "self-appointed ayatollah to Catholic academia in this country." http://ncronline.org/news/politics/catholic-academic-ayatollah-shows-true-colors
The organization partners with conservative groups like The Heritage Foundation
to sponsor such events as their joint forum on academic freedomhttp://proecclesia.blogspot.com/2008/04/academic-freedom-in-catholic-higher.htmlhttp://www.heritage.org/Press/Events/terms.cfm It has a large presence on the Web, issuing "Catholic Higher Education Alerts" to publicize not only what it considers scandalous programming at universities, but in opposition to the ACLU, judges it deems activist or with whom it disagrees, and what it perceives as "liberal bias" more generally.http://www.fordhamobserver.com/home/index.cfm?event=displayArticlePrinterFriendly&uStory_id=c6124974-a9c3-4cb9-aa7e-666905cfa2a7
The organization has stated that "a Catholic bishop contacted Patrick Reilly to discuss how he could put the screws to a wayward Catholic college in his diocese, including ways of encouraging the removal of dissident theology faculty;" Reilly declined to identify the bishop, citing confidentiality. Rev. James Keenan, a priest and professor at Boston College
who was targeted in a fundraising letter sent out by the society, said "Hopefully, someday our bishops will call us to end this awful conduct, which hurts not only those of us targeted, but more importantly, the unity of the church itself."http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2005/08/28/groups_church_role_questioned/?page=3 Another of the targets, Fr. John J. Paris, said of Reilly "I think he is a fraud, a charlatan, and a snake-oil salesman" and of the society, that its purpose is "whipping up right-wing types to open their checkbooks."http://chronicle.com/free/v52/i43/43a00601.htm
In 2009, the society was one of the primary organizations that criticized the University of Notre Dame for inviting the President Barack Obama
to receive an honorary doctorate of law and deliver the commencement speech, due to his pro-choice position and record in support of abortion. The society garnered more than 367,000 signatures to its online petition of protest. http://www.notredamescandal.com/
The organization also deplored a commencement address given at Belmont, California's Notre Dame de Namur University, by Sr. Helen Prejean
, a nun opposed to capital punishment
and author of Dead Man Walking, claiming the Josephite nun "is out-of-line with church teaching on, of all issues, capital punishment."http://www.nationalcatholicreporter.org/washington/wnb051204.htm; the organization faulted Prejean's critique of a "loophole" in the Church's teaching which permits capital punishment under limited circumstances.
Catholic
The word catholic comes from the Greek phrase , meaning "on the whole," "according to the whole" or "in general", and is a combination of the Greek words meaning "about" and meaning "whole"...
identity on the campuses of colleges and universities
University
A university is an institution of higher education and research, which grants academic degrees in a variety of subjects. A university is an organisation that provides both undergraduate education and postgraduate education...
in the United States. The organization is guided by its particular interpretations of John Henry Cardinal Newman's The Idea of a University and Pope John Paul II
Pope John Paul II
Blessed Pope John Paul II , born Karol Józef Wojtyła , reigned as Pope of the Catholic Church and Sovereign of Vatican City from 16 October 1978 until his death on 2 April 2005, at of age. His was the second-longest documented pontificate, which lasted ; only Pope Pius IX ...
's 1990 Apostolic Constitution
Apostolic constitution
An apostolic constitution is the highest level of decree issued by the Pope. The use of the term constitution comes from Latin constitutio, which referred to any important law issued by the Roman emperor, and is retained in church documents because of the inheritance that the canon law of the...
, Ex Corde Ecclesiae
Ex Corde Ecclesiae
is an Apostolic constitution issued by Pope John Paul II regarding Catholic colleges and universities.Promulgated on August 15, 1990 and intended to become effective in the academic year starting in 1991, its aim was to define and refine the Catholicism of Catholic institutions of higher education...
. The organization claims a membership of more than 20,000.
The society claims a four point mission: to--
- Assist and support education that is faithful to the teaching and tradition of the Catholic Church;
- Produce and disseminate research and publications on developments and best practices in Catholic higher education;
- Advise and assist students, alumni, trustees, campus officials, faculty and others engaged in renewing and strengthening the Catholic identity of Catholic colleges and universities and Church-affiliated ministries at non-Catholic colleges and universities; and
- Study and promote the work of John Henry Cardinal NewmanJohn Henry Cardinal NewmanJohn Henry Newman, D.D., C.O. , also referred to as Cardinal Newman and Blessed John Henry Newman, was an important figure in the religious history of England in the 19th century...
, especially as it relates to Catholic higher education and the unity of faith and reason. http://www.cardinalnewmansociety.org/AboutUs/tabid/53/Default.aspx
It should not be confused with the Oxford University Newman Society
Oxford University Newman Society
For Newman Centers around North America see Newman Centre.The Oxford University Newman Society is Oxford University's oldest Roman Catholic organisation, named as a tribute to Cardinal Newman, who advanced the cause of Catholicism at Oxford both as an Anglican striving to recover Anglicanism's...
, or with the Society for the Study of Cardinal Newman,http://www.cardinalnewmansociety.net or with Newman Centre
Newman Centre
Named in honour of Blessed Cardinal John Henry Newman, the Newman Centers are residence and Catholic ministry centers at non-Catholic universities throughout the world. They were inspired by Newman's writings encouraging societies for Catholic students attending secular universities.In 1888 the...
, the name often used to designate Catholic campus ministry centers at state and other non-Catholic universities.
The society's board of directors includes Media Research Center
Media Research Center
The Media Research Center is a content analysis organization based in Alexandria, Virginia, founded in 1987 by conservative activist L. Brent Bozell III...
founder L. Brent Bozell III. The society's national advisory board includes Rev. Benedict Groeschel
Benedict Groeschel
Benedict Joseph Groeschel, CFR is a Catholic priest, retreat master, author, psychologist, activist and host of the television talk program Sunday Night Prime with Father Benedict Groeschel, which is broadcast on the Eternal Word Television Network. He has also hosted several serial religious...
, CFR, Rev. Robert Levis, Rev. C. John McCloskey
C. John McCloskey
C. John McCloskey, III is a Catholic priest and member of Opus Dei. He is the former director of the Catholic Information Center of the Archdiocese of Washington. He worked on Wall Street - Citibank and Merrill Lynch - for some years before becoming a priest, being ordained in 1981 by Cardinal...
, III, Rev. Michael Scanlan, TOR, Dr. Alice von Hildebrand
Alice von Hildebrand
Alice von Hildebrand is a Catholic philosopher and theologian and a former professor.She came to the U.S. in 1940 and began teaching at Hunter College in New York City in 1947...
, and Rev. Peter Stravinskas.
Founding
The society was founded in 1993 by Fordham UniversityFordham University
Fordham University is a private, nonprofit, coeducational research university in the United States, with three campuses in and around New York City. It was founded by the Roman Catholic Diocese of New York in 1841 as St...
alumnus Patrick Reilly. After decisions by Fordham to recognize pro-choice and gay student clubs and create a counseling helpline which referred pregnant students to an abortion provider, Reilly used his position as editor of the school paper to express his opinions in defense of his understandings and applications of Catholic teaching on sexuality and abortion. http://www.catholicherald.com/detail.html?sub_id=9678 Reilly launched the society with the help of other recent Catholic college graduates. The society's leadership included prominent conservative commentator L. Brent Bozell III. It was Bozell, founder and president of the conservative media-watchdog group Media Research Center
Media Research Center
The Media Research Center is a content analysis organization based in Alexandria, Virginia, founded in 1987 by conservative activist L. Brent Bozell III...
, who suggested use of direct mail marketing to invigorate the organization at a time when it existed "primarily as letterhead." http://chronicle.com/free/v52/i43/43a00601.htm
According to Reilly, “It took a while, but there was such a need, more and more, to engage students and working with alumni and working with faculty and as we went on, it became clear that they were all looking for some kind of national voice to express the concerns that very many faithful Catholics had about the state of Catholic education.” http://www.catholicherald.com/detail.html?sub_id=9678
One prominent supporter of the group is Fr. Benedict Groeschel
Benedict Groeschel
Benedict Joseph Groeschel, CFR is a Catholic priest, retreat master, author, psychologist, activist and host of the television talk program Sunday Night Prime with Father Benedict Groeschel, which is broadcast on the Eternal Word Television Network. He has also hosted several serial religious...
, who wrote the forward to their "Newman Guide" and has spoken publicly in support of a stronger presence of the Christian culture of life on Catholic campuses, famously quipping that some secular colleges provide a better Catholic formation than their purported Catholic counterparts. Another supporter of the group is Fr. Joseph Koterski
Joseph Koterski
Joseph Koterski, S.J. is an American Jesuit priest, philosopher, author, and currently associate professor and chair of the Philosophy Department at Fordham University in the Bronx, New York.-Academic career:...
, a Jesuit at Fordham who is on record as having told Fordham students that he "couldn't see how [a Catholic] could [vote for Barack Obama] in good conscience after knowing the facts [about his positions contrary to Catholic teachings, such as extremist pro-abortion stance]."http://www.theramonline.com/2.12149/college-democrats-discuss-catholics-and-abortion-1.1656336
Activities
The society sponsors conferences and speakers as well as producing Campus Notes and The Renewal Report, the society's newsletters. Its website indicates an emphasis on "researching activities both on campus and in the classroom;" the research leads to numerous press releases publicizing scandals in Catholic higher education, particularly what it regards as departures from orthodoxy or tolerance of ideas, activities and presentations it considers not in keeping with Roman Catholic teaching. The organization also produces The Newman Guide to Choosing a Catholic College: What to Look For and Where to Find ItThe Newman Guide to Choosing a Catholic College
The Newman Guide to Choosing a Catholic College is a guide published annually by the Cardinal Newman Society to assist the students in choosing a Catholic college or university. It includes a list of Catholic institutions in higher education selected for their adherence to Catholic teaching and...
claiming "to show students where they can learn and grow in a genuine Catholic environment without the nonsense that has overtaken even some of the most well-known Catholic universities." They identify 26 Catholic colleges and universities in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, abroad, and online where, in their view, "students can reasonably expect a faithful Catholic education and a campus culture that generally upholds the values taught in their homes and parishes."
An important initiative includes monitoring speakers at Catholic universities, and providing a mechanism for online reporting of what it believes to ve scandalous commencement speakers and honorees they believe to "have taken public positions contrary to Catholic values or teaching."
The organization is often at the center of controversy, as for example when it solicited donations to "finance a major effort to expose the heretics within our Catholic colleges," an effort which was called "red-baiting in ecclesiastical garb" by the Rev. John Beal, canon law professor at Catholic University of America. It has been criticized for "McCarthyite tactics and fundamentalist agenda"http://ncronline.org/news/politics/catholic-academic-ayatollah-shows-true-colors. Charles L. Currie, president of the Association of Jesuit Colleges and Universities said that the society's "attacks can no longer go unchallenged," and characterized their work as "a long trail of distorted, inaccurate, and often untrue attacks on scholars addressing complex issues." Michael James, vice president of the Association of Catholic Colleges and Universities, said the society is "destructive and antithetical to a spirit of unity in our commitment to serve society and the church." http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2005/08/28/groups_church_role_questioned/ Reilly has been referred to in Catholic publications as the "self-appointed ayatollah to Catholic academia in this country." http://ncronline.org/news/politics/catholic-academic-ayatollah-shows-true-colors
The organization partners with conservative groups like The Heritage Foundation
The Heritage Foundation
The Heritage Foundation is a conservative American think tank based in Washington, D.C. Heritage's stated mission is to "formulate and promote conservative public policies based on the principles of free enterprise, limited government, individual freedom, traditional American values, and a strong...
to sponsor such events as their joint forum on academic freedomhttp://proecclesia.blogspot.com/2008/04/academic-freedom-in-catholic-higher.htmlhttp://www.heritage.org/Press/Events/terms.cfm It has a large presence on the Web, issuing "Catholic Higher Education Alerts" to publicize not only what it considers scandalous programming at universities, but in opposition to the ACLU, judges it deems activist or with whom it disagrees, and what it perceives as "liberal bias" more generally.http://www.fordhamobserver.com/home/index.cfm?event=displayArticlePrinterFriendly&uStory_id=c6124974-a9c3-4cb9-aa7e-666905cfa2a7
The organization has stated that "a Catholic bishop contacted Patrick Reilly to discuss how he could put the screws to a wayward Catholic college in his diocese, including ways of encouraging the removal of dissident theology faculty;" Reilly declined to identify the bishop, citing confidentiality. Rev. James Keenan, a priest and professor at Boston College
Boston College
Boston College is a private Jesuit research university located in the village of Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts, USA. The main campus is bisected by the border between the cities of Boston and Newton. It has 9,200 full-time undergraduates and 4,000 graduate students. Its name reflects its early...
who was targeted in a fundraising letter sent out by the society, said "Hopefully, someday our bishops will call us to end this awful conduct, which hurts not only those of us targeted, but more importantly, the unity of the church itself."http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2005/08/28/groups_church_role_questioned/?page=3 Another of the targets, Fr. John J. Paris, said of Reilly "I think he is a fraud, a charlatan, and a snake-oil salesman" and of the society, that its purpose is "whipping up right-wing types to open their checkbooks."http://chronicle.com/free/v52/i43/43a00601.htm
In 2009, the society was one of the primary organizations that criticized the University of Notre Dame for inviting the President Barack Obama
Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II is the 44th and current President of the United States. He is the first African American to hold the office. Obama previously served as a United States Senator from Illinois, from January 2005 until he resigned following his victory in the 2008 presidential election.Born in...
to receive an honorary doctorate of law and deliver the commencement speech, due to his pro-choice position and record in support of abortion. The society garnered more than 367,000 signatures to its online petition of protest. http://www.notredamescandal.com/
The organization also deplored a commencement address given at Belmont, California's Notre Dame de Namur University, by Sr. Helen Prejean
Helen Prejean
Sister Helen Prejean, C.S.J., is a Roman Catholic religious sister, a member of the Congregation of St. Joseph, who has become a leading American advocate for the abolition of the death penalty.-Death row ministry:...
, a nun opposed to capital punishment
Capital punishment
Capital punishment, the death penalty, or execution is the sentence of death upon a person by the state as a punishment for an offence. Crimes that can result in a death penalty are known as capital crimes or capital offences. The term capital originates from the Latin capitalis, literally...
and author of Dead Man Walking, claiming the Josephite nun "is out-of-line with church teaching on, of all issues, capital punishment."http://www.nationalcatholicreporter.org/washington/wnb051204.htm; the organization faulted Prejean's critique of a "loophole" in the Church's teaching which permits capital punishment under limited circumstances.