Bishops Seek College Controls

NEW YORK — America’s Roman Catholic bishops are moving toward tighter control over what the nation’s Catholic colleges and universities teach.

Last week, the U.S. hierarchy’s 54-member board approved a policy proposal that will be voted on at a November meeting of all of the nation’s bishops.

The proposal is largely similar to a 1998 draft that provoked strong attacks from Catholic educators.

The proposal requires that theology teachers have the endorsement of bishops in order to teach. That would make them subject to removal in cases of conflict.

The proposal also says that “to the extent possible,” the majority of board members and teachers should be committed Catholics. And college presidents are expected to take an oath of fidelity to the church and its teachings.

The policy would apply to 235 Catholic colleges with 670,000 students. If two-thirds of the bishops approve the text, it will go to the Vatican for endorsement.

The Rev. Charles Currie, executive director of the Jesuit college association, said he hopes it does not pass in its current form.

“We look forward to working with the bishops over coming weeks and hope to come up with something everybody can be relatively happy with,” he said.

The Assn. of Catholic Colleges and Universities contends that the proposed controls could endanger public aid, threatening the survival of some schools, and would violate academic procedures and civil law.

This is the latest turn in a nine-year struggle in which the U.S. bishops have tried to balance the views of the pope with those of American advocates of academic freedom.

Catholic conservatives say some church-affiliated colleges are nearly indistinguishable from secular campuses.