A leading academic has said that discussing subjects philosophically is at the heart of Catholicism and that Catholic universities should be “more philosophical about contentious issues, to look at them in their fullness and to make sure we give a full range of arguments including a Catholic understanding”.
In a recent webinar hosted by The Tablet and sponsored by Notre Dame University, Australia, Professor Renee Kohler-Ryan, deputy executive dean of the faculty of education, philosophy and theology at Notre Dame, added that the importance of Catholic Universities is the sense of familiarity that comes from a “shared vision of what education is” and recognising that they are dealing with “human beings made in the image of God”.
The webinar discussed the values that make a Catholic University and the increasing importance of it in light of Pope Francis’ statement that “in an age when many universities have become businesses, Catholic Universities must take a stand”.
Dame Helen Ghosh, who has been Master of Balliol College, Oxford since 2018, and was one of the expert speakers on the panel, said that tolerance and acceptance are important at a time when “UK universities are caught up in culture wars”. She quoted Cardinal Vincent Nichols, who said that the strength of Catholicism is its “point of openness not closeness to the world”.
Dr Maureen Glackin, general secretary of the Catholic Independent Schools’ Conference, said that Catholicism is “counter-cultural” and that universities should reflect this. She said that “Catholic universities have a particular voice and a very powerful one” and that there is an “increasing place for that Catholic voice in public life”. Maggie Fergusson, deputy editor of The Tablet, who hosted the webinar referenced Fr Timothy Radcliffe who said that “the challenge of Catholics is to weigh up the convictions of the church against the questions of the world”.
Professor Thomas O’Loughlin of Historical Theology at the University of Nottingham said that it was important for Catholic Universities to convey that “Christianity is investigative and emphasises the critical pursuit of truth. It is not only the religious pursuit of truth but is more open-minded than that.”
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