American Catholic leadership, among the bishops as well as among university presidents and Catholic intellectuals, has come to the realization in recent years that Catholic institutions of higher learning are on the precipice of almost certain, and quite likely irreversible, secularization. The reasons are many and complex and have been well documented in the literature, among which are the collapse of an American Catholic subculture, the decline in religious vocations from which leadership for these institutions has historically been drawn, and the desire of Catholic colleges and universities to seek recognition and distinction within the wider academy, causing them increasingly to measure themselves against their secular counterparts.
This trend toward secularization is a source of growing skepticism and concern. With the possible exception of a theology or religious studies department, the academic discourse of Catholic institutions is now generally pervaded by a secular ethos. Orji cites Wilson Miscamble, CSC, in this regard: “While [the buildings on a Catholic college campus] are quite real, what goes on within them has increasingly lost its distinctive content and come to resemble what occurs in secular institutions of higher learning. Students emerge from Catholic school rather unfamiliar with the riches of the Catholic intellectual tradition, and with their imaginations untouched by a religious sensibility” (99). Contemporary observers have pointed out that the distinctiveness of a Catholic institution of higher learning must lie, ultimately, in its contribution to the intellectual life of the church and the wider society rather than in ministry and service learning efforts. And this realization is coming at a time when the Catholic intellectual capital of these institutions is, by many markers, at an all-time low.
What, then, is the way forward? Cyril Orji makes an important contribution with this book. Divided into two parts, this book, in part 1, explores the concept of the “Catholic intellectual tradition” and reviews the history of Catholic higher education and the reasons for the contemporary crisis. Part 2 explores the work of the great Jesuit thinker Bernard Lonergan. Drawing heavily on the recent work of John Haughey, SJ, Orji proposes that Lonergan's articulation of the Catholic intellectual project provides a useful framework for these institutions going forward. In his study, Orji stresses Lonerganian principles such as authenticity, the unity of faith and reason, the importance of history, the unity of knowledge and method, and the call to conversion. Orji concludes with a helpful final chapter on institutional identity and the ways in which institutions provide an ethos that builds character and shapes one's perception of the world.
The text needed more careful editing. There are numerous inelegancies of phrasing throughout the book, some misspellings, and even a couple of historical inaccuracies. The same phrase is repeated twice in numerous sentences; Ex Corde Ecclesiae, John Paul II's apostolic constitution on Catholic higher education, is consistently misspelled Ex Corde Ecclesia. Finally, we are told that Cyril of Jerusalem followed Ignatius of Antioch and Augustine of Hippo in his use and understanding of the term “Catholic” (25). Since Cyril of Jerusalem died in 386 and Augustine was not baptized until 387, it would be more correct to say that Augustine followed Cyril, rather than vice versa.
These mild criticisms notwithstanding, Orji has made a substantial contribution. What remains to be seen is whether the American bishops and the Catholic academic leaders can collaborate in developing a constructive plan for moving forward with the rebuilding of Catholic intellectual life in these institutions before the flame has been all but completely snuffed out.
