Catholic Law Schools: Thoughts on History and a Suggestion

I’ll throw in my two cents for our discussion on the recent National Catholic Reporter piece on Catholic Law Schools. 

First, a couple thoughts on “how did we get here?”  Some might describe the trajectory of the history of Catholic legal education as the gradual loss of a beautiful synthesis between legal education and the Catholic intellectual tradition – and I can see how this leads to a certain pessimism.  But I just can’t find much evidence for that story – please help me out if you have other sources which could support that theory.  I think the more solid account is that Catholic legal education was about access for an ethnic minority that otherwise would not have made its way the professional sphere.  I think this changes how we see our project significantly.  Efforts to work out what the Catholic intellectual tradition means for legal education then becomes a challenging and rather new project, in large part flowing from the teachings and insights of the Second Vatican Council.  I think that makes a big difference in the tenor of our conversation.

On the question of why the symbol of the cross is problematic and even offensive for some: history is helpful here too.  As theologian Mary Boys put it in a beautiful article—“The scandal of the cross consists in this: Christians in their history have made it a sign of conquering hate rather than sacrificial love.” (Mary C. Boys, The Cross: Should a Symbol Betrayed Be Reclaimed?, Cross Currents, Spring 1994: 44:1).  I’m with John Paul II in the need to recognize the ways in which we have completely blown it as a community—we need to both recognize the damage and working for healing.  Religious symbolism is complex for many reasons, and I don’t think it is necessarily an expression of an outright rejection of Catholicism or the tradition as a whole. 

I don’t mean to say this is the end of the story.  Last year we had a beautifully profound and transformative discussion with some of the faculty here about the meaning of the cross.  Our discussion included articulation of both the fears and anxieties that the symbolism of the cross has generated for non-Christians, as well as its profound and central meaning for Christians.  Even on these tough topics, we can listen to one another and learn from each other—even with the painful weight of history and need for reconciliation on many levels.

And with that, I’d like to make a suggestion.  What would happen if the focus of our conversations about Catholic identity and education became… love?  I have the sense that love might help us find a way through and beyond students’ and colleagues’ awkwardness in how they express themselves, so that we can understand what might be fear, anxiety, or perhaps just lack of understanding behind their comments or questions… I have seen how love does create a space of trust which leads to a genuine exchange of gifts through which Catholics and non-Catholics can learn from each other.

My favorite litany of Mary is not “mirror of justice,” but “refuge of sinners”—because how many times have I experienced God’s unconditional love in the very midst of my own limitations and lack of love?  Often when I walk into school I ask Mary for something of her love, so that whoever crosses my path—colleagues, students, whoever—of whatever religious background or political stripe—can find in me a space—even a refuge—of welcome and understanding.  And I believe this then can create the most fertile ground for an exchange on the place for the treasures and depths of the Catholic intellectual tradition in the law school curriculum.

Amy