It's been a very interesting year over at the University of St. Thomas, the burgeoning college run under the auspices of the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis. As part of the commencement exercises, graduating senior Ben Kessler addressed the assembled graduates, faculty and loved ones and discussed at some length his concerns about how the school was not living up to Catholic teachings, with special mention/approbation concerning birth-control use by co-eds and the earlier controversy about non-married faculty members sharing lodging on the road. Kessler has subsequently apologized for his speech, which apparently offended the wide variety of cafeteria Catholics (and non-Catholics) in attendance. By the way, it's worth noting that Kessler plans next to study for the priesthood.
Catholicism is a tough religion - to be faithful to Catholic teaching requires discipline and sacrifice and most every Catholic I know falls short to varying degrees. I know that I do. Still, it's difficult to see how ignoring Church teachings benefits anyone and it's pretty comical that young Mr. Kessler, who was named "Tommie of the Year" by his classmates for his varied exploits at the school, had to apologize for essentially telling the truth about what the Church expects of its adherents. Perhaps if he'd recommended that his classmates head over to the multiplex to watch "The Da Vinci Code," he would not have these problems. My guess is that young Mr. Kessler will make an excellent priest.
St. Thomas has a choice to make - they can be nominally Catholic, as many of the Jesuit universities now are, or they can take Catholicism seriously, as do a small number of colleges in the U.S. -- Ave Maria (FL) and Franciscan of Stuebenville (OH) are two examples. But since the college is run by the Archdiocese and not by a religious order, they will have difficulties downplaying Catholic doctrine in their day-to-day affairs. Catholicism is not for wimps.
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