Ingrid H. Shafer, Ph.D., Professor of Philosophy
& Religion
Mary Jo Ragan Professor of Interdisciplinary Studies
University of Science and Arts of Oklahoma, Chickasha,
OK 73018
Tel: 405.224.3140 ext. 1312 (o) 405.224.3988 (h) FAX: 405.224.3044
(h)
e-mail: ihs@ionet.net web: http://www.usao.edu/~facshaferi/
http://ecumene.org/
______________________________________________________________________
29 January 2001
Dr. John E. Murray, Jr.,
President
Duquesne University
600 Forbes Avenue
Pittsburgh, PA 15282
Dear President Murray:
I am writing you as the designated
spokesperson for the National Board of the Association for the Rights of
Catholics in the Church.
We are deeply concerned about
the reports that a tenured member of the Duquesne theology department,
Dr. Moni McIntyre, has been relieved of her teaching duties and her books
have been removed from the departmental display case because she has joined
the Episcopal church and been ordained to the Episcopal priesthood.
We are appalled not only because Dr. McIntyre's contractual rights have
been violated but because her students are being deprived of their rights
to a balanced education. In addition, Catholic theology itself is
made to appear in need of protection from those who might hold opinions
that are not officially sanctioned. Theology taught in an atmosphere
of repression and fear is not true theology. It is indoctrination
and the very antithesis of an academically legitimate pursuit of learning.
If Dr. McIntyre were the
only theologian in the department, one might perhaps try to make the case
for her being a practicing Catholic. However, there are 13
members of the theology department at Duquesne and students have many opportunities
to observe a healthy clash of interpretations and perspectives. In addition,
absolutely nothing has changed since the time she was granted tenure in
regard to Professor McIntyre, the scholar and teacher. Her new denominational
affiliation cannot retroactively invalidate her research and lectures.
If her work was acceptable when she taught last fall, it is still acceptable
in January 2001.
As for theological differences
between Episcopalians and Catholics, let us keep in mind that the most
acclaimed commentary on the Lectionary, a book used by countless priests
throughout the English- speaking world as they prepare their homilies,
was written by the Rev. Dr. Reginald Fuller, born in England, an Anglican
priest, Professor Emeritus at Virginia Theological Seminary, and for many
years a member of the Catholic Bishops' subcommittee on the Lectionary.
Dismissing a faculty member from a Catholic university because she is now
an Episcopalian and a priest has the potential of undermining decades of
ecumenical progress.
In the university context,
even at private universities in the Catholic tradition, Catholic theology
is an academic field, and as such can be taught by anyone who has the academic
qualifications to do so. To expect professors of Catholic theology
necessarily to be practicing Catholics makes no more sense than to demand
that only Marxists will be allowed to teach about Marxism or Buddhists
to teach about Buddhism. University teaching involves critical thinking;
it involves teaching about a topic from multiple perspectives. Unless the
distinction is made between evangelization and academic presentation, departments
of theology will cease being legitimate academic departments, and that
would truly be a tragedy.
Very truly yours,
Ingrid Shafer, Ph.D., Vice
President ARCC
http://arcc-catholic-rights.org/
and http://astro.temple.edu/~arcc/ |
