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Holy See Responds to William Peter Blatty’s Canon-Law Petition for Georgetown Univ
NC Register ^ | May 12, 2014 | OAN FRAWLEY DESMOND

Posted on 05/13/2014 9:40:05 AM PDT by NYer

WASHGINTON — Last September, William Peter Blatty, the author of The Exorcist and an alumnus of Georgetown University, sent a canonical petition to the Vatican, requesting that the Church “require that Georgetown implement Ex Corde Ecclesiae, a papal constitution governing Catholic colleges.”

If that effort proved fruitless, his petition called for “the removal or suspension of top-ranked Georgetown’s right to call itself Catholic and Jesuit in any of its representations.”

Many months later, Blatty and the 2,000 other men and women who signed his petition have received a response from the Congregation for Catholic Education, sparking cautious hope that the Holy See will press the Society of Jesus to address festering problems on the Washington campus.

In an April 4 letter, Archbishop Angelo Vincenzo Zani, the secretary of the Congregation for Catholic Education, stated that technical impediments prevented the department from granting the petitioners’ request for “hierarchic recourse.”

But Archbishop Zani offered hope that the Vatican would pursue the matter further. “Your communications to this dicastery in the matter of Georgetown University … constitute a well-founded complaint,” wrote Archbishop Zani. “Our congregation is taking the issue seriously and is cooperating with the Society of Jesus in this regard.”

(Excerpt) Read more at ncregister.com ...


TOPICS: Catholic; Moral Issues; Religion & Culture; Religion & Politics
KEYWORDS:

The Vatican describes the petition as a “well-founded complaint” and says it will work with the Jesuits to address the issues, stirring hope and skepticism.


1 posted on 05/13/2014 9:40:05 AM PDT by NYer
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To: Tax-chick; GregB; Berlin_Freeper; SumProVita; narses; bboop; SevenofNine; Ronaldus Magnus; tiki; ...
While the outcome is far from certain, Blatty and Miranda have already gained hope from the Holy See’s stepped up efforts to resolve a separate dispute at a university in Peru, formally known as the Pontifical Catholic University of Peru.

In August 2012, Pope Benedict XVI stripped the university of the titles “Catholic” and “pontifical.”

However, the university has resisted the Vatican’s directives.

Ping!

2 posted on 05/13/2014 9:40:53 AM PDT by NYer ("You are a puff of smoke that appears briefly and then disappears." James 4:14)
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To: NYer

Having attended Georgetown, I can tell you that it is no longer a Catholic institution and will never be again. The leadership of the university and the Jesuits have seen to that.


3 posted on 05/13/2014 9:50:14 AM PDT by HOYA97 (twitter @hoya97)
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To: NYer
wow--this is very interesting...

but whenever i see the name, "William Peter Blatty," i always feel a tad scared...

4 posted on 05/13/2014 9:53:33 AM PDT by latina4dubya (when i have money i buy books... if i have anything left, i buy 6-inch heels and a bottle of wine...)
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To: NYer

It surprised me that “The Exorcist” author was an expert on Canonical Law and filed this.


5 posted on 05/13/2014 10:00:40 AM PDT by Mr. K (If you like your constitution, you can keep it...Period. PALIN/CRUZ 2016)
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To: NYer
“Our congregation is taking the issue seriously and is cooperating with the Society of Jesus in this regard.”

Sounds like a brush off.
6 posted on 05/13/2014 10:04:19 AM PDT by irishjuggler
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To: Mr. K

It shouldn’t. If you read the ‘Exorcist’ you would find that Canonical Law is talked about and discussed quite a bit while the Diocese decides weather to allow an Exorcism to take place.

It is a very explicit set of steps that must be followed to allow an Exorcism to take place as the Church is very engaged as to weather an underlying mental illness is to blame for the problem.


7 posted on 05/13/2014 10:08:26 AM PDT by Jim from C-Town (The government is rarely benevolent, often malevolent and never benign!)
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To: NYer

Actually, I thought it sounded pretty positive.

I know some “good Jesuits,” and they are wonderful and probably what San Ignacio had in mind. But the order is out of control, and unfortunately, the two former popes who did attempt to reform it didn’t have the courage to appoint somebody who would really do the job. They got a less heretical person than Arrupe, but not much.

The Jesuits need a serious house cleaning.


8 posted on 05/13/2014 10:38:44 AM PDT by livius
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To: livius
I know some “good Jesuits,”

I see you are aware of the proper way to address a Jesuit when meeting for the first time:

"Are you a good Jesuit, or a bad Jesuit?"

9 posted on 05/13/2014 11:07:49 AM PDT by Jeff Chandler (Obamacare: You can't make an omelette without breaking a few eggs.)
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To: NYer
WASHGINTON — Last September, William Peter Blatty, the author of The Exorcist and an alumnus of Georgetown University, sent a canonical petition to the Vatican, requesting that the Church “require that Georgetown implement Ex Corde Ecclesiae, a papal constitution governing Catholic colleges.” If that effort proved fruitless, his petition called for “the removal or suspension of top-ranked Georgetown’s right to call itself Catholic and Jesuit in any of its representations.”

Hard to believe I continue to learn curious if unimportant facts at my age.
Soon after my daughter started her studies at Georgetown, during a visit she described the steps at the end of 35th Street as the "Exorcist Steps," because they were depicted in the movie.
Over the next2+ years I made a half dozen visit to campus and the dichotomy between a Jesuit University, and its resemblance to UC Berkeley prompted me to ask myself the same question as the subject of this thread.

That was 1990-1993. There is no reason to believe that things have not seriously deteriorated further since. When anyone speaking there insists on covering the religious details of the place, as a condition of speaking, and is indulged, perhaps it's time to suggest that they go speak at the local Gay Pride hall or Local Gay Tavern instead.

10 posted on 05/13/2014 11:30:34 AM PDT by publius911 ( At least Nixon had the good grace to resign!)
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To: NYer

It will take somebody to push it - push it - push it.


11 posted on 05/13/2014 11:36:18 AM PDT by Mrs. Don-o ( "If you do the thing you are born to do, you will set the world on fire." - St. Catherine of Siena)
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To: Jeff Chandler

The bad ones don’t answer honestly...because they know who they are!


12 posted on 05/13/2014 12:06:38 PM PDT by livius
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To: livius
The bad ones don’t answer honestly...because they know who they are!

How times have changed!
I went to lower school 3 years with the Christian Brothers, and high school was 100% Jesuit.

The worse example we experienced there was that the sophomore elderly algebra/geometry teacher was an alcoholic.
But we learned math!

Interesting times...

13 posted on 05/13/2014 12:16:21 PM PDT by publius911 ( At least Nixon had the good grace to resign!)
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To: publius911

I know. Having an alcoholic teacher was pretty scandalous, but really didn’t interfere with our education. It was a personal problem, which probably didn’t make said teacher a great teacher (although I knew a professor who could only teach when he was a bit lit up) but didn’t affect our lives.

Now we have a bunch of sanctimonious PC heretics who probably don’t touch a drop but are ruining people’s lives.


14 posted on 05/13/2014 12:19:56 PM PDT by livius
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To: NYer

Blatty to G-Town: The Power Of Christ Compels You.


15 posted on 05/13/2014 12:33:28 PM PDT by RichInOC (...your newest purveyor of wit, laughter and the Popish creed.)
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