fpb | You couldn't make it up dept. no.31: But if they appointed a creationist as Director of Science...

You're viewing

fpb's journal
Create a Dreamwidth Account Learn More

Reload page in style: site light

Boston College is supposedly a Catholic university.

It has recently appointed an atheist, member of a Universalist church, as its Director of Theology.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

From:

fpb.livejournal.com

"Franciscan" means precious little, considering how many orders lay some claim to Francis' heritage. Some of them, I know, are more or less in schism, and in general the Pope seems to feel that they are out of control, since he appointed a Papal administrator to their head church of Assisi. Certainly the fact that someone is a Franciscan does not by itself commend my respect. (If I ever took orders, anyway, I would be a Dominican - but, alas, they have their corrupt branches too.) The Jesuits are only the most visible exponents of a rot that has taken hold of very many of the older religious orders.

From:

goreism.livejournal.com

Um, as far as I know, he's a member of the Order of Friars Minor, the largest branch (i.e., not a Capuchin or that other branch). I daresay they're still reasonably orthodox though; perhaps even more so than the Dominicans.

The Dominicans are my favorite order as well.

From:

fpb.livejournal.com

Let me put it this way: I find the election of a Universalist to a position where he can influence the reading of all Theology students in a supposedly Catholic university a very dubious step indeed. And the bland public statements from the authorities, that everything is for the best in the best of all possible world, seem to me to fit in a pattern of behaviour with which I and all orthodox Catholics are all too familiar. Given that this is a Jesuit college, that it is based in Paul Shanley's and Bernard Law's Boston, that institutions of its kind are notorious for taking their claim to academic freedom a lot more seriously than their claim to Catholicism, and that I happen to know that other unorthodox things have taken place there - well, as far as I am concerned, they are guilty until proven innocent. There is more than enough ground for suspicion there, with or without a "hermeneutics of suspicion" (see next post).