Ex Corde Ecclesiae and American Catholic Higher Education

Discussions over the extent to which Roman Catholic colleges and universities can maintain their religious identities in a secular world have been ongoing for well over half a century. The more than 200 Catholic colleges and universities that are spread throughout the United States, many of which trace their origins back to the 19th century, represent the single largest single block of religiously affiliated institutions of higher learning in the United States. As these institutions seek to preserve their religious identities, the Vatican entered the debate on August 15, 1990, when Pope John Paul II promulgated Ex Corde Ecclesiae (Ex Corde), literally, “from the heart of the [Page 165]Church.” In writing Ex Corde, Pope John Paul II sought to reinvigorate the debate over how Catholic colleges and universities can remain true to their religious missions while being viable institutions of higher learning, wherein faculty members are free to work as researchers and teachers who meet the same criteria as their professional colleagues in other institutions of higher learning.

This entry examines how Ex Corde and its accompanying documents focus on the obligation of Roman Catholic theologians at Catholic colleges and universities to obtain a mandatum, or statement from their local bishops, attesting to their fidelity to Roman Catholic teachings. At the same time, the entry reviews Ex Corde's application to faculty members who are non-Catholics who are expected to demonstrate respect for these teachings. The entry also considers Ex Corde's impact on the academic freedom rights of academicians, acknowledging by its own terms its cen-trality in higher education and making clear that it is not so much intended to limit academic freedom as it is to ensure that Catholic theologians are faithful to Roman Catholic Church teachings.

At the heart of Ex Corde, which is to be implemented by local bishops, is its requirement that all Catholic theologians obtain a mandate or, more properly, a mandatum, a statement from their local bishops acknowledging that the Catholic theologians are in full communion with the teachings of the Roman Catholic Church. This requirement does not apply to faculty in other disciplines or to administrators. This entry examines the content of Roman Catholic Church documents, focusing particularly on the mandatum requirement. The firestorm of controversy in the academic community that accompanied the adoption by U.S. bishops of The Application of Ex Corde Ecclesiae for the United States (The Application) in 1999 and their acceptance of The Guidelines Concerning the Academic Mandatum in Catholic Universities (The Guidelines) (2001) two years later is beyond the scope of this descriptive entry.