Bishop: "AMU not a Catholic University"
Mon, Aug27, 2007 - Category: University
Rude awakening #1 for the first day of class at Ave
Maria University-
It isn't a Catholic school
Over the weekend, the spokesperson for the Diocese of Venice (Florida) was quoted as saying "[AMU] is not a Catholic university. It's a private university in the Catholic tradition."
Only institutions approved by their local diocese can be called "Catholic". This is no trivial matter. It is a measure designed to preserve accountability and chain-of-command with entities that want to be affiliated with the official Church. Surely Tom Monaghan knows this, given the brain trust of high powered Catholics that surround him. Yet, since AMU's inception, Ave Maria has billed itself everywhere as "the first new Catholic university to be built in the United States in more than 40 years". Their website talks about it as a "Catholic environment", "a vibrant Catholic university", and "an institution of Catholic higher education that would be faithful to the Magisterium".
Faithful? AMU's website states further that it "pledges faithfulness to the teachings of the Church" and that AMU "is known for faithfulness to the magisterium of the Catholic Church".
If Tom Monaghan is going to walk the talk, he can begin by ceasing and correcting his incessant and deceptive use of "Catholic university" in marketing his Ave Maria "brand". Your Bishop has spoken, Mr. Monaghan. Will you comply, or is marketing (like unionization) another one of those things "that the hierarchy doesn't know as much about" and can therefore be ignored?
It isn't a Catholic school
Over the weekend, the spokesperson for the Diocese of Venice (Florida) was quoted as saying "[AMU] is not a Catholic university. It's a private university in the Catholic tradition."
Only institutions approved by their local diocese can be called "Catholic". This is no trivial matter. It is a measure designed to preserve accountability and chain-of-command with entities that want to be affiliated with the official Church. Surely Tom Monaghan knows this, given the brain trust of high powered Catholics that surround him. Yet, since AMU's inception, Ave Maria has billed itself everywhere as "the first new Catholic university to be built in the United States in more than 40 years". Their website talks about it as a "Catholic environment", "a vibrant Catholic university", and "an institution of Catholic higher education that would be faithful to the Magisterium".
Faithful? AMU's website states further that it "pledges faithfulness to the teachings of the Church" and that AMU "is known for faithfulness to the magisterium of the Catholic Church".
If Tom Monaghan is going to walk the talk, he can begin by ceasing and correcting his incessant and deceptive use of "Catholic university" in marketing his Ave Maria "brand". Your Bishop has spoken, Mr. Monaghan. Will you comply, or is marketing (like unionization) another one of those things "that the hierarchy doesn't know as much about" and can therefore be ignored?