World Without Transcendence – The Academy Weighs In

Here behind the lines, the place of scholars and their institutions is noteworthy. Scholarship is certainly important, and we would be impoverished without, no question. And yet, universities can turn into last refuges for lost causes. It is observed, for instance, the Cold War ended the day one could count more Communists on North American College campuses than in Russia. It seems yet another lost cause has found a refuge in the academic world. That cause is the decades-old effort to rid Christianity — the Catholic church in this case — of any association with the transcendent.

In the interests of brevity and focus, I merely note the existence of the cause. Other more learned and elegant writers have set down its origins among theologians who acted as if a Ph.D. made to members of the Church’s Magisterium, rather than valuable servants thereof. All we need know is that to make the faith a contest of ideas is both necessary and sufficient, de facto or de jure, to banish the transcendent. No metric exists in their realm outside the rulers of academe who referee journals.

Of late, much ink has been spilled about Notre Dame giving President Obama an honorary degree. Again, no need to do more than note it here. However, somewhat below the radar, another event has taken place that gives some insight into how the School of Our Lady could kiss the … er … ring of advocate of the murder of the unborn. And it could well also be an indicator that the scoundrels who have perpetrated these and other despicable acts are a spent force, a shot bolt.

Early in May, Roger Haight, SJ, who earlier had ceased to teach in Catholic institutions by order of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, ceased teaching altogether on the further order from the CDF. Fr. Haight wrote a book in 1999, that, essentially, reduced Jesus Christ from God the Son to a “symbol.” One could summarize Haight’s overall portrayal of Jesus as a, but not the, way, truth, and life, whose resurrection was only to be taken as a symbol, too.  If people were surprised the CDF acted, well they shouldn’t have been.

But Fr. Haight, it seems, was a slow learner. He found himself a Protestant academic post, and continued to preach the same non-Gospel. So now, he’s been told not to teach at all. As a Jesuit he has a choice: obey or break with the order by breaking his vow of obedience. He seems to be going to opt for the former — and let that be reckoned to his credit.

Those who wish to break free of transcendence have, as we might expect, not been silent about this further action by the CDF. One particularly revealing reaction came from another Jesuit, Father Leo O’Donovan. O’Donovan is another academic who’s calling to the academy, on the showing of his behavior, was a louder call than that of the transcendence to which his Church bore witness. While president of Georgetown University — a Jesuit school which now insults the listener’s intelligence if it claims to be Catholic — Father O. Donovan had his own problems with the Curia. He was told to evict a club from the campus, and he refused, in the name of free speech. It was a “pro-choice” club, that being the most favoured euphemism for “pro-abortion.” If we are surprised that commiseration flowed from such a source for Fr. Haight, well, we shouldn’t be here either. And what a piece of work the commiseration was.

O’Donnovan sent out an e-mail with two parts, a note and a prayer. According to the note, Haight’s end of teaching comes at a “terrible moment.” It has, we are told, “ecclesial significance.” And the readers are called together to offer “the consolation of colleagueship [sic],” in the context of coming together in prayer.

Now it is terrible that such disobedience has been manifested by a priest-theologian, to the point where this further action was called for. And it is hard to dispute, given the ridiculous and scandalous utterances that prompted this action, that it has “ecclesial significance,” if only because shows that, soon or later, church still can act to guard the Faith. What strikes me, though, is how prayer is ripped loose from its transcendent underpinnings to become a vector of “colleagueship.” It seems to have for Fr. O’Donovan the significance of the pot roast at pot luck supper. Now, I love pot roast, and cook a mean one myself, but heaven forbid I should ever see a pot roast, or collegiality, as a substitute for the things transcendent normally associated with prayer.

Here behind the lines, that’s one of the things that happens when the transcendent is shuffled out of the arena. It doesn’t cease to exist, but there’s a hole where it had once had a place. But oh, what a sad substitute is sometimes sought to fill the hole. In this case, it is collegiality, and that is doubly sad. You see, collegiality is a good thing, a fine thing, even. But place into a void left by the removal of the transcendent, and one will cheapen it, and render it shabby. Something good is cast out; something left behind is degraded.

That’s the first part of the tragedy in the communication. But the bad news just keeps coming. The rest of the bad news concerns the prayer that is the second part of the message. It’s so bad it will get its own discussion. The communication shows what can happen when people try to banish transcendence, but keep its trappings.

Part 1 of the Email – The Note

Dear Friends and Colleagues,

On Monday May 11th at 2 PM, Roger Haight will walk out of a classroom where he has been teaching for the last time. He will enter into theological silence, according to the CDF dictate that henceforth he not teach or publish except in the area of “spirituality.” This is the first time an American theologian has been so silenced. Its personal significance for Roger interweaves with ecclesial significance for theologians, for the church in the U.S., and for the worldwide church. To give this terrible moment its due, there will be a gathering of friends to pray with Roger and offer the consolation of colleagueship. If you wish, you can join with us in spirit at that time by means of the prayer below. Feel free to share this, as you see fit. Roger knows nothing about this, so please keep this confidential.

Leo O’Donovan, SJ

– To Follow: The Academy At Prayer