"Ex corde Ecclesiae" twenty years in: the news is not good

And, sadly, that is not surprising. From the Cardinal Newman Society blog:

A national survey of U.S. Catholic college presidents reveals significant gaps in the implementation of Ex corde Ecclesiae more than 20 years after the Vatican issued its apostolic constitution for Catholic higher education.

The survey results are presented in "Ex Corde Ecclesiae and Catholic Higher Education," a doctoral dissertation by James Caridi, vice president for student development at Ohio Dominican University in Columbus, Ohio.  About half the presidents of the nation's 217 Catholic colleges and universities responded to Caridi's survey in the spring of 2011.

The study's release comes just as the U.S. bishops are wrapping up a review of the implementation of Ex corde Ecclesiae, the 1990 Vatican constitution that defines and sets requirements for Catholic colleges and universities worldwide.  The U.S. bishops' "application" of Ex corde Ecclesiae, including guidelines specific to American Catholic institutions, has been in effect since 2001. ...

Caridi's dissertation is generally positive about the results of his survey, finding that Catholic college presidents generally support Ex corde Ecclesiae and believe they are meeting its requirements.  But many presidents also acknowledge that their institutions have not complied with the constitution.

For instance, although Ex corde Ecclesiae describes theology as essential to the Catholic university, 42 percent of the presidents of U.S. institutions report having neither a department nor a chair of Catholic theology as required by the constitution.  More than seven percent say that Catholic theology is not even taught in their institutions.

The Vatican also requires each professor of Catholic theology to have a mandatum from the local bishop—an affirmation that the professor embraces and intends to teach authentic Catholic doctrine.  Whereas some Catholic colleges consider the mandatum to be necessary for hiring as a Catholic theologian, most refuse to reveal or even track who has the mandatum.  According to the survey, 36 percent of Catholic college presidents said they don't know whether their theology professors have the mandatum, 10 percent said some but not all of their theologians have it, and another 6 percent said no faculty have it.

Read the entire piece. And here are some related Ignatius Insight essays:

• Courageous Creativity, Rigorous Fidelity, and Ex Corde Ecclesiae: Reflections of a Student in An Age of Dissent | Brian Jones, with Marcus Toft
• Is Gonzaga still a Jesuit, Catholic university? The ruminations of a bewildered witness | Dr. Eric Cunningham
• "The Transcendent Dimensions of Study and Teaching": The Pope on the Purpose of Education | Fr. James V. Schall, S.J.
• The Molochs of Modernity | Dr. Jose Yulo
• Ratzinger and Regensburg: On What Is a University? | Fr. James V. Schall, S.J.
• Ivory Comedy Clubs: The Tragedy of Modern Education | Dr. Jose Yulo
• On Learning and Education | An Interview with Fr. James V. Schall, S.J.
• Reading Without Learning: On Not Missing "Sublime Passages" | Fr. James V. Schall, S.J.
• The Inequalities of Equality, or All Things Being Equal, Not Everything Can Be Equal | Fr. James V. Schall, S.J.
• On School and Things That Are Not Fair | Fr. James V. Schall, S.J.
• On Teaching the Important Things | Fr. James V. Schall, S.J.