Steps for Obtaining Ex Corde Mandate Are Under Consideration

Among other requirements, Ex Corde calls on Catholic theologians at Catholic institutions to obtain a mandate, or ecclesiastical license, from the local bishop in order to teach. The mandate has been widely criticized for its potential to stunt critical inquiry and limit academic freedom. The bishops’ conference approved a general plan for implementing Ex Corde in the United States in 1999, but specific procedures for securing and conferring mandates are still being worked out.

One of the groups troubled by the mandate, the Catholic Theological Society of America, issued a report in September urging caution in implementing it. The sixty-one-page report argues that the mandate poses a danger to the credibility of Catholic academics and institutions, and of the church in general, especially if bishops are allowed to grant or refuse mandates based on criteria that are "ambiguous, ideological, or idiosyncratic." The authors note that many bishops do not know the theologians at the colleges or universities in their dioceses, and may be called on to assess the work of theologians whose scholarly specialties elude them. In addition, the report notes the special status of academic theologians, who are not ecclesiastical officeholders but "teach in their own name, with their own responsibility, in virtue of their own academic and professional competence."

The theological society’s report calls for standard mandate criteria and procedures across the nation and suggests that bishops assume that theologians are worthy of mandates unless evidence arises to the contrary. If such evidence does arise, the theologian should be informed of its source. In addition, the report advises limiting the mandate requirement to tenured faculty members and to those whose service commences after implementation of the policy. The report also recommends that theologians should not be questioned about matters irrelevant to their areas of expertise; an appeals process should be developed, and bishops should explain the reasons for mandate denials and withdrawals; freedom of expression and legitimate dissent should be respected; and inquiry should be limited to the public expression of a theologian’s professional views, and should not pry into classroom teaching, discussion, "private opinions, convictions, doubts, suspended judgments, and confusions."

The procedures drafted by the bishops’ conference adhere to some, but not all, of the theological society’s recommendations. Although the draft specifies that applicants for a mandate should be presumed worthy unless the contrary is proven, it does not have an appeals process, does not limit the mandate requirement to tenured faculty, and does allow class lectures and discussions to be part of the material reviewed in mandate decisions. Critics say that the draft leaves too much up to the discretion of individual bishops, with the possible result that the mandate will be applied inconsistently. The bishops’ conference plans to vote on a final draft next June.

See the article by Richard McBrien in this issue for further analysis of the potential impact of the mandate requirement on Catholic higher education.

 Printer-Friendly Page