Catholic Legal Education and Interfaith Dialogue

I have just posted an essay that deals with some of the issues that have come up in the discussions on Catholic legal education, “An Explicit Connection Between Faith and Justice in Catholic Legal Education: Why Rock the Boat?” (forthcoming as part of a Detroit-Marcy Law & Religion Symposium).  As Patrick might frame it, it attempts to respond to the questions of what can be “realistically” done in Catholic law schools where mission questions have not been a focal point for a number of years and where there are now faculties and student bodies which are quite religiously diverse.  This may be counter-intuitive for some folks, but I strongly believe that one of the most important paths for Catholic legal education is to frame many of our discussions in the context of interfaith dialogue.  I don’t believe that approach takes anything away from expressing Jesus as “Way, Truth and Life” – in fact, I think this approach is often a deeper invitation to discover the beauty and depth of that Way, Truth and Life – because it includes a profound respect for the identity of the other and the richness of their traditions.  I’d be curious to know what you all think.  To follow up on one of Patrick’s comments, from the essay you’ll see that I would also be concerned about thin mission statements – but I’m not sure it’s fair to make a sweeping generalization based on whether a school’s president is of that school’s religious order or lay – I think the questions and concerns there might be more complex.   Amy