Georgetown and Catholic identity issues

[CWS]

A thread for those issues that occasionally arise.

Proud of our grads this weekend. Two of their stories merit mention here:

Grad to enter Jesuits

I've told that two other Georgetown grads are in the application process to enter the Jesuits this year (one graduated last year; one an alum of the law school).

Also:

www.thehoya.com/the-mass-that-showed-me-the-way/

[CWS]

President DeGioia will meet the Pope on his visit to the Holy Land.

DeGioia and Jordan

President of Jesuit-run Georgetown University Dr. John DeGioia will be in Amman for the Pope’s arrival. Jordan’s King Abdullah has long been “exceptionally” supportive of interfaith dialogue, says DeGioia, whose university runs a renowned center for interreligious dialogue.

[pertinax]

As to the significance of Jack D meeting with the Pope, I feel sure your reaction will be a smile of appreciation as I analogize that to Pope John XXIII's audience line that once included Danny Kaye and Jimmy Durante. As recounted by Kaye, the Pope greeted Durante, who was next to him, but then after moving on to Kaye kept glancing sidewise back to Durante until finally, unable to resist the power of the impulse any longer, he moved back to Durante and lightly rubbed a forefinger up and down the length of the comedian's nose! While Jack is a thoroughly kind and good man, I would take no more significance from his meeting with Francis than Pope John's meeting with Durante.

[strummer8526]

May 24, 2014 11:41:53 GMT -5 pertinax said:

As to the significance of Jack D meeting with the Pope, I feel sure your reaction will be a smile of appreciation as I analogize that to Pope John XXIII's audience line that once included Danny Kaye and Jimmy Durante. As recounted by Kaye, the Pope greeted Durante, who was next to him, but then after moving on to Kaye kept glancing sidewise back to Durante until finally, unable to resist the power of the impulse any longer, he moved back to Durante and lightly rubbed a forefinger up and down the length of the comedian's nose! While Jack is a thoroughly kind and good man, I would take no more significance from his meeting with Francis than Pope John's meeting with Durante.

You're a real treasure.

[CWS]

May 24, 2014 11:41:53 GMT -5 pertinax said:

As to the significance of Jack D meeting with the Pope, I feel sure your reaction will be a smile of appreciation as I analogize that to Pope John XXIII's audience line that once included Danny Kaye and Jimmy Durante. As recounted by Kaye, the Pope greeted Durante, who was next to him, but then after moving on to Kaye kept glancing sidewise back to Durante until finally, unable to resist the power of the impulse any longer, he moved back to Durante and lightly rubbed a forefinger up and down the length of the comedian's nose! While Jack is a thoroughly kind and good man, I would take no more significance from his meeting with Francis than Pope John's meeting with Durante.

The analogy might have more merit if the Jordan meeting were anomalous for DeGioia. But he has regularly tried to engage the Vatican and its leadership -- e.g., visiting Rome annually to meet with Vatican officials, bringing the entire Board of Directors to Rome to meet with the Jesuit and Curial leadership, starting a new initiative related to Pope Francis, etc. Just some examples:

Kolvenbach Addressed Georgetown's Board of Directors

Georgetown Co-Sponsors Vatican Initiative

DeGioia Attends Inauguration of Pope Francis

New Initiative to Engage Pope Francis

Georgetown Delegation Meets Pope Francis

This meeting reflects a pattern.

[pertinax]

As to the analogy, a fair point. But deeds, not words and kissing the ring, are the reflection of one's sincerity, not so? After all, the Pizza #3 at Gusto's in Rome is a sufficient magnet for regular visits all in itself.

[CWS]

Baylor-Georgetown Alliance

The burgeoning partnership between Byron Johnson, who directs the Institute for Studies of Religion at Baylor University, and Tom Farr, who directs the Religious Freedom Project at Georgetown University’s Berkley Center for Religion, Peace and World Affairs, is bringing together two separate camps in Christianity that, for centuries, had often opposed each other.  Baylor in Waco, Texas, often billed as the world’s largest Baptist university, and Georgetown, the nation’s oldest Jesuit and Roman Catholic university, weren’t direct rivals, but their sponsors, historically, were.

So how do people from a Catholic university and a Baptist one end up partnering on religious freedom? It starts with friendship, both men said. They met while serving on an advisory board at the Templeton Foundation.  "We became friends just because of so many common interests," Farr recalled. "It wasn’t too long after that that we began to say, 'You know, we should be cooperating together on the issue of religious freedom, because we share this passion for it. We’re from two different parts of the Christian tradition, but we come together on many things, and this is one of them.'"

[DanMcQ]

www.georgetown.edu/news/degioia-visits-refugees-sees-pope-francis.html

[CWS]

A couple of other Catholic related developments.

Yesterday the university gave Cardinal Wuerl an honorary doctorate:

Cardinal Wuerl Given Georgetown Honor

Notre Dame and Georgetown team up to research persecution of Christians:

Research on Persecution of Christians

And there was this scene from the new show "Madam Secretary":

Tea Leoni becomes Secretary of State when the previous one crashes in an airplane. Her husband, Timothy Daly, is a professor of religion. Both had been working at University of Virginia, and then they move to D.C. when she becomes the Sec of State. Conversation between them when she is debating whether the move (with 2 teenagers) was the right thing to do:

Tea: Are you sure you like teaching at Georgetown?

Tim: Are you kidding? Being a religion professor at a Jesuit university is like being a Beatle!

[Nevada Hoya]

CWS, which Beatle are you. My uncle was Paul.

[CWS]

Sept 23, 2014 12:25:39 GMT -5 Nevada Hoya said:

CWS, which Beatle are you. My uncle was Paul.

As department chair, I find the idea of beating something (drums) quite nice.

[RusskyHoya]

The Atlantic dives into this question, looking at Jesuit universities as a whole: The New Brand of Jesuit Universities

"There is a tension between desire to be strongly identified as Jesuit and Catholic and the desire to respond effectively to the call to be a contemporary, competent university in North America," said Thayne McCulloh, president of Gonzaga University in Spokane, Washington. "How do you accomplish that without compromise?"

...

"The last thing you worry about is whether they are making a religious quest," (President of the Association of Jesuit Colleges and Universities Rev. Michael) Sheeran said. Instead, "Are they asking the ‘meaning questions’? What we are doing is invitation Catholicism versus command Catholicism. We invite them where they are and we invite them to go deeper."

One of a Jesuit university’s academic objectives is to help students think critically; students may take courses in feminist theology, Christian metaphysics, Buddhism, and sex and gender. The purpose of this coursework is not to make a student think one way or another but to provide the framework from which they can make their own decisions.

[HoyaNyr320]

With the Pope having announced that he will visit Washington DC during his first U.S. visit, I'm going to predict right now that he visits Georgetown during his trip (no inside knowledge). Thoughts?

www.cnn.com/2015/01/19/us/pope-visit/index.html

[EasyEd]

Jan 19, 2015 16:03:09 GMT -5 HoyaNyr320 said:

With the Pope having announced that he will visit Washington DC during his first U.S. visit, I'm going to predict right now that he visits Georgetown during his trip (no inside knowledge). Thoughts?

www.cnn.com/2015/01/19/us/pope-visit/index.html

My thought: some faculty will oppose his coming to the hilltop.

[Filo]

My thought: Some condescending holier-than-thou posters will oppose his decision to come to the Hilltop since his visit would serve to condone the University's "abuse" of Catholic doctrine.

[quickplay]

My thought: A photo of the Pope in the Popemobile on campus grounds would really make my day.

[SaxaCD]

Jan 20, 2015 9:13:53 GMT -5 Filo said:

My thought: Some condescending holier-than-thou posters will oppose his decision to come to the Hilltop since his visit would serve to condone the University's "abuse" of Catholic doctrine.

I have much the same thought, but more about the Catholics who don't really practice anymore, who will oppose his decision to come unless he demands the university provide free condoms with every cafeteria meal.

[Elvado]

It seems to me that the opportunity to have the Pope visit campus is one that should unite regardless of how anyone feels on any individual issue. His visit would raise GU's profile immeasurably and for that one day it would be the center of the Roman Catholic universe.

No down side.

[tashoya]

Jan 23, 2015 16:17:31 GMT -5 Elvado said:

It seems to me that the opportunity to have the Pope visit campus is one that should unite regardless of how anyone feels on any individual issue. His visit would raise GU's profile immeasurably and for that one day it would be the center of the Roman Catholic universe.

No down side.

Agreed. I grew up Catholic (honestly, lazy Catholic. It basically started and ended with CCD) and don't consider myself at all religious but I jumped at the chance to see the Pope at Giants Stadium in the late nineties. Even if your beliefs are different, the experience is memorable and worthwhile.