Dear Prof. Catherine Cornille,

Congratulations!  You have completed your first semester as chair of the theology department, and it has included the very important milestone of approving a new mission statement.  This is already a great success.

As you are aware, Father Leahy has stated that his vision for Boston College is that it become “the world’s greatest Catholic university.”  This is quite a goal, and you are going to play a large part in the process.  Certainly the merger with Weston is the beginning of something great at the graduate level, but there is still an important role to play for the non-ecclesiastical faculty.  If I may, I would like to propose to you a way forward for the department.

It seems as if the department really has two sub-divisions.  I am going to speak first about comparative theology, and then second about Catholic theology.  I think having both makes Boston College a stronger academic institution.  It is important, however, that the comparative theology scholars never become religious relativists, for truth does matter.  It may be of great benefit for all the members sometime to travel to Rimini, Italy to attend the annual Communion and Liberation Meeting for Friendship among Peoples, which is, in many ways, exactly what the department should be working towards: a non-relativistic but a non-hostile discussion of comparative theology.  Of course, the comparative theology professors should draw from all traditions: Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, Buddhist, Shinto, Hindu, Jewish, and Muslim.  There should even be Protestant theology, but of the Karl Barth type, a serious scholar.  I completely trust that you will strengthen this part of the department, as it is the part you do most of your own work in.  I do think it is fitting that, since it is a Catholic theology department, the chair should always be a Catholic.  I believe this is already required.

However, my main concern is for the other half of the department.  This other half should be teaching Catholic theology, and as Ex corde ecclesiae says, that means all those teaching it should be Catholics who have the mandatum.  Does anyone have the mandatum in the department?  I am sure some would be able to get it, and maybe they already have, but no student knows coming in who they might be.  I would greatly appreciate it if those who could receive the mandatum did, and then this was known publicly, as it would make choosing classes easier for students.  Some students do want to know what the Church teaches and they do want to know who they can trust to tell them that.  At the same time, I don’t think we should just go fire anyone who does not have the mandatum.  But we need to begin heading in the right direction for the implementation of the document.  Can we at least require that all new tenure-track hires for this half of the department are Catholics who have the mandatum and require that to receive tenure they have the mandatum?  This would at least begin to restore some theological sanity to the department.

I know that moving in this direction will make you thoroughly unpopular, but it is the right to thing to do both for Boston College and for the Church, and I imagine you would have the support of the administration.

Thank you for considering my suggestion.

Daniel Molinaro

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