Shooting Down Conventional Wisdom

During a visit to a relative's house, I came across an issue of the Catholic Herald on the table. Now I do not subscribe to the Herald, mind you. I was informed by a close friend in the know that the paper has a long way to go, in terms of aligning the content of its pages to the cutting edge vision of the Holy Father when it comes to liturgy, ecclesiology, etc. Generally, that observation has been verified whenever I do chance upon an issue. Sadly, many diocesan newspapers, and Milwaukee's is no exception, are heavy on the fluff and sentimentalism and light on the substance. Back to the issue: as I was flipping through its pages, I was stunned that the paper featured an extensive and fulsome encomium on the glories of the recently retired Father Robert Wild S.J., the former president of Marquette University.

"What's the big deal," you might ask. Of course. Well, a bit of history might help, and for that we can turn to papal biographer George Weigel for some clarity. Curious readers should review this brilliant article by Weigel in 2004, in which he takes Fr. Wild to task for overseeing a years-long breakdown in Catholic identity at Marquette University. Please, read Weigel's piece. It is well-worth it.

There is a poignant anecdote to this story. The Catholic Herald used to carry Weigel's articles. I don't believe they are picked up anymore... one can only wonder why not. When Weigel's piece on Fr. Wild came out in 04, the Catholic Herald, preferring to ignore constructive, serious criticism of a phenomenon that has overtaken most mainstream Catholic universities in America, opted not to feature it. How dare Weigel criticize anything having to do with the Archdiocese of Milwaukee! My father called the office and politely asked why the article did not appear. He was told that this one article, which just happened to be critical of Marquette, was "lost in cyber space" before it could appear in the Herald. Um, ok. Do you really believe that? If you do, then you probably believe that Marquette University is a bastion of rock-ribbed Catholicism and that Father Wild is responsible for it being so.

For further evidence of Marquette's shameful track record of betraying its Catholic identity, read this post, in which I interviewed a Catholic friend who attended Marquette. This fellow offers some pretty tough reflections on the total dearth of authentic Catholicism promoted on the grounds of Marquette, and the moral decay among its students. Lest anyone think that he is just an angry, "right-wing" Catholic, I can assure you he is not. He's extremely intelligent and balanced, and is presently an MD and an officer in the Navy. Here's an excerpt from that interview:

Overall, strong Catholic culture is not something I associate with Marquette. But again, I wasn’t actively looking for it. I had poor friendships, and I was a member of the crew team—a club that was known for its annual “hook-up or throw-up party.” At this party, the upperclassmen had a policy that you couldn’t leave the party without hooking up or throwing up, whichever came first. It made the school newspaper after a female student on the team came forward and claimed she was date-raped at the party. The drinking culture and the basketball fanfare really took center stage over any Jesuit presence. I think this was the fault of the Jesuits and the student body as a whole.

Okay, so Marquette, under the watchful eye of Fr. Wild, suffered a staggering lost of its Catholic identity. Sure the cash kept flowing, and boy, did it flow with Fr. Wild! But the moral fabric and soul of the university? Gone baby, gone.

As Weigel accurately points out, the greatness of a true Catholic university, contrary to what Fr. Wild and apparently the writers at Catholic Herald think, is assayed in how it forms students in truth, not simply in how much cash is raked in. Serious Catholics, of course, know this. Delusional ones ignore it. That's why I could only roll the eyes when I saw the glowing bon voyage screed standing out in the pages of the Herald. Some things never change. In certain quarters, it's easy to follow the conventional wisdom and pretend that everything is peaches and cream.