Via Negativa

In theology there is a well-established method which holds that God is so utterly ineffable, so utterly beyond our comprehension that there is little one can say about God, aside from what is known through revelation.  Rather, the human mind can come to understand the Divine only by saying what God is not.

There might well be a parallel method with respect to answering the seemingly vexing question "What does it mean to be a Catholic university?"  or "What should a Catholic university look like in the academic programs it sponsors and makes available to students?"

Recent history is of course marked by a variety of responses to this question.  And that is to be expected.  Surely there is a wide latitude within which a university can operate still be true to its Catholic identity.  As to the specifics, well, reasonable people can disagree.

But this pluralism cannot be without bounds.  There must be things that a "Catholic university" is not.  Hopefully we can all agree that Catholic identity cannot be found in providing an advocacy platform for views that the Catholic Church believes are not only untrue but profoundly unjust.

Hopefully we can all agree that a Catholic university doesn't look like this.