Download Sociology of Catholic Theology

BISHOPS’DOCTRINECOMMITTEE
THETHEOLOGICALENTERPRISEINLIGHTOFTHENEWEVANGELIZATION
March24,2017
“TheSociologyofCatholicTheologyasanEcclesialVocation”
WilliamL.Portier
CollegeTheologySociety
Backinthe1890s,beforethe1924restrictionsonimmigrantsfromItaly,mygreat-grandfather,
BigTonyTestino,cametotheUnitedStatesfromGenoa.HelivedinItalianHarlem.Eventuallyhe
movedacrosstherivertoTenafly,NewJersey,whereheworkedontheEireRailroad.Hisgrandson,my
father,hadtodropoutofhighschoolduringtheGreatDepression.Mymotherdidgraduatefromhigh
schoolandworkedmostofherlifeasabookkeeper.WithhelpfromtheGIBill,mydadgotacivil
servicejobintheU.S.PostOffice.Thatmakesmeafirst-generationcollegestudent,theonlycollege
graduateinmyfamily.In1995BigTony’sgreat-greatgranddaughtergraduatedfromYale.That’sthe
storyofEuropeanAmericanCatholicsintheUnitedStates.
Ionlywenttocollegebecause,in1959,whenIwasfourteen,Ienteredaminorseminary.
Elevenyearslater,whenIleftbeforemakingfinalreligiousvows,alothadchanged.Nowitwas
theologicallyandsociologicallyplausibleformetostudytheologyasalaypersonandbelievethatI
mightevenfindajob.WhenIgotmyfirstacademicjobatMountSaintMary’sinEmmitsburgin1979,I
wastheonlylaytheologian.Mycolleagueswerefivediocesanpriests.Bythe90sIwasdepartment
chair.Allmyformercolleagueshadretiredordied.Laypeoplereplacedthem.Ifoundmyselfinthe
strangepositionofhopingtofindatleastonepriestforthetheologydepartment.
MystoryoffersamorevividpicturethandemographicscouldofthesociologyofCatholic
theologyasanecclesialvocation.Italsoillustratesthehistoryinwhich“evangelization”and
“evangelical”becameCatholicwords.ItillustratesthegradualdemographicshiftfromtheEuropean
AmericanimmigrantCatholicsubculture,inthelaststagesofwhichIgrewup,toavoluntaryreligious
cultureinwhichwediscussreligiousaffiliationanddisaffiliationandhowtoteachandministeramidthe
so-called“riseofthenones.”Iusedthemodifier“EuropeanAmerican”becauseweallknowthatthis
subculturemarginalizedmanypeople.Itisgood,therefore,toseeourcolleaguesfromACTHUSandthe
BlackCatholicTheologicalSymposiumheretoday.
Avoluntaryratherthananinheritedreligiousculturemeansthatyoujustdon’tknowwhether
yourkidsaregoingtogrowuptobeCatholics.Thisiswhywetalkaboutevangelization.In1967,whenI
wasaseniorincollege,agroupofscholarsatCatholicUniversityproducedthefirsteditionoftheNew
CatholicEncyclopedia.Andthoughweweregettingrestless,grandchildrenofEuropeanimmigrantsstill
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filledconvents,rectories,andseminaries.YouwillcombthefifteenvolumesoftheNCEinvainforan
entryon“evangelization.”Wehadhomeandforeignmissionariesandevangelicalcounsels,butno
evangelization.NordoIrecallanytalkof“Catholicidentity”orthe“Catholicintellectualtradition.”We
didn’thave“missionoffices.”Thosephrasesarebornofasenseofsomethingoncetakenforgranted
nowclearlycomingintoviewasitbeginstopassaway.
Withinadecade,PopePaulVI’sapostolicexhortationEvangeliiNuntiandi(1975)introduced
Catholicstothetermevangelization.Beforelong,PopeJohnPaulIIbeganspeakingofthe“new
evangelization.”AsItriedtomakesenseofmystudentsinthe80sandthe90s,Irememberdiscovering
EvangeliiNuntiandi.Itplayedacentralroleinmyeffortstothinkabout“evangelicalCatholics.”Butat
thetime,IhadnoideaofitsLatinAmericanprovenance.
PopeFrancisconsistentlyreferstoEvangeliiNuntiandias“themostimportantpastoral
documentwrittenafterVaticanII.”HisownEvangeliiGaudiumcitesthedocumenttowhichitstitle
alludesatleastthirteentimesbymycount.HerecommendsEvangeliiGaudiumas“theapostolic
frameworkoftheChurchtoday”andlocatesitstwinfoundationsinthe2007Aparecidadocumentand
EvangeliiNuntiandi.
Ifyouwanttoknowwhatthe“newevangelization”isallabout,readEvangeliiNunitandi.The
churchexiststopreachtheGospel.JesusChristandsalvationinhimaretheGospel’scontent.But
evangelizationcan’tbelimitedtoexplicitpreaching,eitherfrompulpitsorstreetcorners.It’sprimarily
aboutwitness.TheChurch’smainjobistoshowpeoplewhatJesusChristandsalvationinhimlooklike.
Ifyougetthatfar,you’llprobablyhavetotalkaboutJesusChrist“asthemeaningoflife,thecosmos,
andhistory.”Butfirst,inbothlifeandintheclassroom,yougofortheheart.AsBlessedJohnHenry
Newmanputit:“Theheartiscommonlyreached,notthroughthereason,butthroughimagination,by
meansofimpressions,bythetestimonyoffactsandevents,byhistory,bydescription.Persons
influenceus,voicesmeltus,lookssubdueus,deedsinflameus”(Grammar,92-3).“IntheChurch,”Paul
VIwrotein1975,“thewitnessgivenbyatrulyChristianlife…mustberegardedasthebasicmeansof
evangelization.”Hecontinued:“peoplelistenmorewillinglytowitnessesthantoteachers,or,ifthey
listentoteachers,itisbecausetheyarewitnesses”(EN,40).
Theconclusionisinescapablysimpleinthoughtandagonizinglycomplexinexecution.Tocarry
outtheirmission,Catholiccollegesanduniversitiesneedfacultywhoarebothteachersandwitnesses.
InapairofrecentCommonwealarticlesonwhatmakesCatholicuniversitiesCatholic,bothJohnGarvey
andMarkRocheconvergefromdifferentanglesontheconclusionthatitisthefacultythatmakethe
universityCatholic.Onapoliticalandreligiouslandscapeofvoluntarismandpluralism,absentastrong
Catholicculture,personalwitnessisindispensableinconvincingbothcolleaguesandstudentsofsuch
seeminglyidiosyncraticintellectualgoodsas:thesearchforanintegrationofknowledge,adialogue
betweenfaithandreason,anethicalconcern,andatheologicalperspective(ECE,15).Arecentpoll
relatingthecollegeexperienceto“lifepreparedness,”identifiesthe“BigSix”collegeexperiences.Byfar
themostsignificantoftheBigSixisthisone:“Ihadatleastoneprofessorwhomademeexcitedabout
learning.”Knowledgeableandpassionateteachersaregoingtoturnstudentsontosomething.Catholic
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universitiesneedanabundanceofprofessorswhocanturnstudentsontoJesusasheismediated
throughtheCatholicintellectualtradition.
Thequestionforthesecondsessionasks,“HowdoesthelifeoftheCatholicuniversityrelateto
thewidercommunity,bothchurchandcivilcommunity,intermsofevangelization?”Primarilythrough
thefaculty,Iwouldsay.Universitiesgivecorporatewitnessinthecivilcommunityandthechurchin
manyways:byservingasagatewaythroughwhichtheircommunitycanaccesstherichesofthe
Catholicintellectualtradition,throughtheirpoliciesforhiringfacultyandrecruitingstudents,through
theirtreatmentoftheiremployees,especiallythestaffandcontingentfaculty,throughtheirrelations
withthelocalcommunity,andeventhroughcollegesports.
Butfacultyiskey.Myownuniversity,forexample,largelythroughtheenergyandcommitment
ofourlong-servingformerpresident,BrotherRaymondL.Fitz,SM,hasdeepconnectionswiththecityof
Daytonandthecommunitiesthatphysicallysurroundtheuniversity.AstheFerreeProfessorofSocial
Justice,BrotherRayheadstheFitzCenterforLeadershipinCommunityandspearheadseffortsinchild
welfare,educationbothpublicandparochial,andneighborhooddevelopment.BrotherRay’slifeand
work,incompanywiththefacultyandstudentswhoworkwithhim,offerablueprintforhowaCatholic
universityevangelizesinthecivilcommunity.
Whatabouttheevangelizingactivityoffacultyinthechurch?Theshiftfromtheinherited
immigrantsubculturefromwhichouruniversitiesgrewtothevoluntaryreligiouscultureinwhichthey
mustnowredefinethemselvesoffersasociologicallensthroughwhichtolookatthisquestion.Forthe
sakeoftimeandthisaudience,I’lllimitmyselftotheologyfaculty.ManyyoungtheologiansIknowfeel
professionallycutofffromthechurch.Oneofmycolleaguesispresentlyusingheryear-longsabbatical
totrytofigureoutwhat,ifanything,theacademictheologyshepracticesattheuniversityhastodo
withthelifeofthechurch.Shereallywantsittohavesomethingtodowiththechurch.Idon’tthink
sheisalone.
Thiswasnotalwaysso.Recallmyopeningnarrative.Fivepriestsandonlyonelaypersonmade
upmydepartmentin1979.By1994alllaypeople,nopriests.Backthenmanyofthoselaypeoplehada
differentsociologicalprofilefromthatoftoday’slaytheologians.WhenIbegangraduatestudy,there
weresurelyyounglaypeoplewhostudiedtheologyinspiredbytheCouncilanditsadmonition“towork
hardtoacquireadeeperknowledgeofrevealedtruth”(LG,35),buttheytendedtobeoutnumberedby
formerseminariansandreligious.
Inthatsetting,nearlyfortyyearsago,DavidTracyofferedasociologicalportraitofwhathe
calledthetheologian’sthreepublics:society,academy,andchurch.Tracypromisedacademic
legitimacytoagenerationrecentlyremovedfromaninheritedsubculture,oftensuspiciousofits
strictures,seekingdistancefromthemwithasometimestoxicmixtureofdedicationanddisaffection.A
priestoftheDioceseofBridgeport,Tracy’s1969migrationfromCatholicUniversitytotheUniversityof
Chicagoperformedtheacademiclegitimacyhepromised.Backthen,however,theacademyseemedto
overshadowthechurchastheCatholictheologian’sprimarypublic.Contemporarylaytheologiansfind
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themselvesinarathermorecomplexsociallocation,oneinwhichtheirloyaltiestobothchurchand
academyoftenrenderthemsuspectinboth.
Apartfromanecclesialunderstandingoftheirvocation,whywouldyounglayCatholics,who
couldhavegottenanMBAoralawdegree,pursuetheology?Universitiesarethemostlikelyplace
wheresuchpeoplemightfindalike-mindedcommunity,necessaryresources,andevengetpaidtothink
andteachaboutJesusas“themeaningofthecosmos,life,andhistory.”Apartfromtheirlocalparishes
andpossiblyamandatum,suchdevelopmentsasgradualprofessionalization,accreditation,and
eventualseparateincorporation,maketheconnectionofCatholicuniversitytheologianstothechurch
sociologically,religiously,andlegallyvoluntary.Youngtheologianssuchasmycolleagueonsabbatical
findthemselveswithnoformalconnectionastheologianstothelocalchurchwithoutwhichtheir
ecclesialunderstandingoftheirvocationmakesnosense.Onavoluntarylandscape,thisisaconnection
thatcriesouttobenegotiated.
Iftheyhappen,suchnegotiationswillbefraught.Thehistoryofthepastfortyyearshasbred
suspiciononallsides.Ourchurchhastremendousfaultlines.Inmanyways,theyreflectourpolitical
divisions.Howshouldwerespondpoliticallyandpastorallytopublicpoliciesclearlyatoddswiththe
church’scommitmentstohumanlifeanddignity?Whatabouttheroleofwomeninthechurch?What
aboutthefactthatmanyCatholicswhoarepeopleofcolorexperiencethechurch’sinstitutionsaswhat
sociologistElijahAndersonhascalled“whitespaces”?Nevertheless,inspiteofourdivisions,itstrikes
methat,inthegenerationalcohortsoftheologianscurrentlycomingupinCatholicuniversities,our
bishops,asthepastorsandteachersofourlocalchurches,haveatremendousresourceattheirdisposal
forthenewevangelization.TheseareteacherswhospendalotoftimethinkingaboutJesusas“the
meaningoflife,thecosmos,andhistory.”Theyareteacherswhoarelikelytobewitnesses.
Bishopsandtheologianswhoarepartofthesamelocalchurchneedtogettoknowone
another.Theyneedtorecognizeeachother’sfaces,knoweachother’snames.Inavoluntaryreligious
culture,nothingformalreallyrequiresthis.Meetingssuchastoday’sareagoodstart,butarethey
enough?Thisissomethingforboththeologiansandbishopstothinkabout.
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