Posted on 12/06/2007 12:33:16 PM PST by Caleb1411
A decade ago, Prof. Frank Mach of the University of St. Thomas made a startling prediction in a paper he wrote for a conference on the institution's Roman Catholic identity. He suggested the university was on course to largely sever its ties with the church.
By the time St. Thomas' bicentennial rolls around in 2085, Mach wrote, any remaining link between St. Thomas and its Catholic roots "is likely to be vague and mostly symbolic."
In fact, events seem ahead of schedule.
Since St. Thomas' founding in 1885, the archbishop of the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis has held the position of chairman of its board of trustees. But Mach noted that "a vote of the trustees and a subsequent stroke of the pen," could make such connections with the church "vestiges of the past."
On Oct. 25, 2007, the vote that Mach foresaw took place.
St. Thomas' trustees voted to eliminate the archbishop's automatic position on the board. As a result, come next spring, for the first time since Archbishop John Ireland founded the institution, a sitting archbishop will not chair the St. Thomas board.
Moreover, he may not even have a seat on it.
In future years, the trustees can elect as chair whomever they wish: a layperson, technically even a Buddhist.
The vote severing this legal link with the archdiocese is the latest development in a long-running struggle for St. Thomas' soul.
Some of the institution's strongest programs, such as the Catholic Studies department and the law school, still maintain a strong Catholic identity. But external pressures and internal inclinations to secularize abound.
Some speculate that Archbishop Harry Flynn's upcoming retirement was a major factor in the board's vote. During Flynn's 12 years as chair, little has been done to resist the slide to secularization.
(Excerpt) Read more at startribune.com ...
Sad commentary of our society.
Even sadder commentary on this Archdiocese (and much of the Church in America)...
During Flynn's 12 years as chair, little has been done to resist the slide to secularization.
Flynn’s got some “splainin’ to do to GOD!
Now that's entertainment.
Ping
Doesn’t Flynn have a coadjutor now? That is, somebody to “help” him while he times out to retirement? I believe the new guy is very orthodox, so maybe things will get straightened out once Flynn is gone.
We need some conservative “coadjutors” on the Supreme Court to help the bittter old Marxists on their way out the door.
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