Some Reflections on the Jesuit, Catholic Identity of Loyola College

Rev. Angela Christman, Ph.D.
Department of Theology

In the past decade, historians and theologians have studied the way in which many religiously-affiliated colleges, both Protestant and Roman Catholic, have lost the sense of identity and mission that was integral to their founding. At the same time, faculty and administrators at a number of these colleges, aware of this trend which historians and theologians have chronicled, have organized discussions aimed at reflecting upon and strengthening their identity and mission. In addressing these issues, some colleges have chosen to limit their faculty to those with a particular denominational affiliation or to those who are willing to adhere to a particular set of beliefs or standard of behavior. In contrast, Loyola has committed itself to emphasizing its mission and identity as a Catholic, Jesuit college and, at the same time, maintaining diversity within its faculty. Such a commitment raises a host of significant and interesting issues which can be organized into two categories: those dealing with principles and those pertaining to specific, concrete practices. In this essay I set out some initial reflections on the principles and practices involved in Loyola's commitment to both its Jesuit, Catholic identity and diversity.

Loyola College in Maryland, like most colleges and universities in this country, seeks to initiate its students into the search for truth. To do this, it must inculcate in them mental discipline and critical intelligence; impart to them historical, literary, philosophical, cultural, and scientific knowledge; and nurture habits conducive to a lifetime of learning. However, as a Catholic college, Loyola parts company from its secular counterparts in its understanding of what the search for truth properly includes. For Loyola, not only does the pursuit of truth involve questions about humankind and the physical world, but it also necessarily includes questions about God, the ultimate source of all truth, and about the purpose of human life. If these essential questions are not explored, if faith and reason are not brought into dialogue with each other, then Loyola's mission is unfulfilled, its search is incomplete. To borrow the words of John Paul II in Ex Corde Ecclesiae, this search is the "search for the whole truth about nature, man and God."

Loyola's distinctive heritage as a Jesuit, Catholic college carries several consequences for its search for truth. First, and perhaps most important, the Christian belief in the Incarnation affirms that the search for truth is meaningful and intelligible. The Christian claim that God, out of love for humankind, entered the world and human history in the person of Jesus means that truth is accessible within history, that there is an order and purpose to the world. The Christian claim that the infinite creator of the universe became a finite human being means, in the words of Jesuit theologian Brian E. Daley, that it is possible to "discern abiding meaning in human gestures and words."

The content of Jesus Christ's preaching also has implications for the particular way in which Loyola College undertakes this search for truth. In announcing the advent of the Kingdom of God, Jesus proclaimed God's transformation of the world through his love and justice. This means that the Loyola College community must continually ask itself certain questions: Is our search for truth being carried out in a manner consistent with Christ's vision of a transformed world; Is the knowledge we acquire in this search being used to promote a more just society; Have we illuminated clearly the vital connection between the search for truth and the commitment to serve our fellow human beings?

Since Loyola College asks questions about the world and about God, it must also ask questions about the relationship between faith and culture. These questions are particularly essential today, because we live in a culture that not only trivializes religion but also is often hostile to it. As a result, Loyola and other religiously-affiliated colleges all too often find themselves swimming against the culture's currents. But this is all the more reason for Loyola to maintain its claim that questions about God are integral to the search for truth. By its insistence that students have a basic knowledge not only of mathematics, philosophy, the sciences, history and literature, but also of theology and ethics, Loyola ensures that its members examine critically and question the dominant patterns of culture. Also, by keeping theological discussion integral to conversations within its community, the college encourages all its members, both students and their professors, from the scientist to the professor of literature to the historian, to be mindful of theological questions and implications as they explore and discuss their work.

As a Catholic, Jesuit college, Loyola properly has a distinctly Roman Catholic theological perspective. However, it is also a place where all Christians, as well as people of other faiths and non-believers, can, and should, discuss fundamental theological issues with integrity and mutual respect. Thus, Loyola College urges its Christian students and teachers, whether Catholic, Orthodox, Protestant, or Anglican, to study and reflect upon their faith, and so better comprehend it. It encourages those who are members of other religions to learn about another tradition, thereby increasing their understanding of their own faith. Finally, it ensures that non-believers do not make the decision against faith lightly and without serious reflection. In this, Loyola College continually presses each individual to reflect upon and redefine his or her theological and ethical stance.

As a faculty member who stands within the Christian tradition but outside the Roman Catholic tradition, I applaud Loyola's commitment to maintain both its Jesuit, Catholic identity and diversity. Indeed, I benefit from it! However, I am convinced that Loyola's commitment calls for certain commitments on the part of its faculty that are manifested in particular, concrete practices.

First, Loyola's openess to faculty of diverse beliefs and faiths mandates a corresponding openess on my part, and on the part of all faculty who stand outside the Roman Catholic tradition. That is, it is incumbent upon me both to be familiar with the Roman Catholic tradition, and when questions pertaining to this tradition arise in the classroom, to be willing to present the Roman Catholic position with sympathy. I can perhaps best illustrate my point with an example from my own academic area, the theology and history of early Christianity. In his autobiography, Confessions, Augustine of Hippo, recounts for his readers how he came to seek baptism in the Church. While Augustine was raised in a Catholic Christian home, in accord with fourth-century custom, he had not been baptized as an infant. By the time Augustine was 20, he had rejected the Catholic faith of his mother Monica, and had begun to associate with the Manichees, who considered themselves true Christians and who strongly opposed a number of beliefs held by the orthodox Catholic Church. After spending a decade with the Manichees, Augustine found himself dissatisfied and disillusioned with them, and began to turn back to the Church and the beliefs he had earlier rejected. To his surprise, he found that what the Church actually believed was quite different from what he had thought it believed. That is, what he thought were the Church's beliefs were, instead, his own misunderstandings of those beliefs. Augustine's experience is instructive because it shows how easily one can misconstrue or misunderstand Christian beliefs and practices. Thus, as a faculty member at Loyola College, knowledge of the Roman Catholic tradition is essential for me because it ensures that when I engage the Roman Catholic tradition, whether in agreement or disagreement? I am engaging the reality of that tradition and not some chimera constructed from stereotypes or popular depictions. (Indeed, since Augustine was raised in a Christian home, his experience would seem to be instructive for all faculty at Loyola, both those within the Roman Catholic tradition and those without.)

But more is asked of me than just a certain degree of knowledge about the Roman Catholic tradition. I must also be willing to present the Church's position with sympathy. Again, an example from Augustine is instructive. When I teach Augustine's Confessions in my introductory theology classes, I try to present the Manichean perspective with sympathy, even though I disagree with it. Naturally, I also present the theological arguments against the Manichean position, and I do not hide from the students my own rejection of Manichean beliefs. But as a teacher and scholar, I am committed to presenting both sides as fairly as possible, that is, with sympathy. Likewise, I strive to present the Roman Catholic tradition with sympathy, while also fairly presenting disagreements, my own or those of others, with the tradition. (I hasten to add that my own disagreements with the Roman Catholic Church are far fewer than my disagreements with Manicheism!)

As a theologian, I have ample opportunity to present the Roman Catholic tradition with sympathy. Naturally, other faculty members may have fewer opportunities than I, depending upon their department and area of expertise. However, Loyola's understanding of its pursuit of the truth as the search, for the whole truth about nature, man and God, implies that all academic disciplines are inter-related, and so no discipline can claim to be isolated from questions raised in and by the Jesuit, Roman Catholic tradition. Thus, Loyola can reasonably ask its faculty to possess a certain familiarity with the Roman Catholic tradition and to be willing to present that tradition with sympathy in the classroom.