The Record Newspaper 13 July 1989

Page 1

New guidelines for training of priests • Page 4 PERTH, WA: July 13, 1989

Registered by Australia Post Publication No. WAR 0202

Number 2644

POST ADDRESS: PO Box 50, Northbridge, 6000 W.A. LOCATION: 26 John St, Northbridge (east off Fitzgerald St).

Catho TELEPHONE: (09) 328 1388

FAX (09) 328 7307

PRICE 60C

on Archbishop Foley enjoys a quip at the media conference last Thursday when he announced the goahead for the University of Notre Dame. Also enjoying the levity are the planning vice chancellor Professor Geoffrey Kiel and the president of Notre Dame University Indiana, Father Edward Molloy, Holy Cross. Behind the panel are the artist concepts of the university in its preferred Fremantle location. The drawings czn be viewed at the Fremantle City Council.

NDA's new dimension for Australia See page 7

... or how NDA will be run

The running of the University of Notre Dame Australia will be in the hands of a board of governors. They will run it according to the vision and the mission statement they have set themselves, Archbishop Foley said at the conference last week to publicly launch the university's next stage. "I would imagine that staff employed at the university would recognise that vision in the Catholic tradition," he said in reply to a question. The archbishop said he would not be a member of the board of governors a fter the initial establishment. Eventually, he said, the bishop of the day would be able to declare his understanding of Church teaching "as he always has and will do and if it seems to clash with one of the professors or lecturers at the university, that too will be noted in public". Archbishop Foley said it would then be up to the university to determine the standing of such a person within the

university. "There are constant changes in which the Church relates to a changing world," the archbishop said to another questioner, "and I believe our proposed institution will take place in the forefront of that adaptation, in being relevant to the society in which it lives."

6

Father Edward Molloy, president of Notre Dome Indiana university said his institution employed a wide range of academics, including some 40 professors in the theology department and that although in its history the university had "moments of disagreement" there had been a very harmonious rela-

Quote

There are certain parts of Church teaching that are based in the tradition of the Church and I would expect that this university will carry on vigorous research in coming to terms with an understanding of those truths, eternal truths but in a very concrete situation. Archbishop Foley said that the Church through its members speaks with many voices. "There are certain parts of Church teaching that are based in the tradition of the Church and I would expect that this university will carry on vigorous research in coming to terms with an understanding of those truths, eternal truths but in a very concrete situation."

tionship with the Catholic Church both with the local bishop and the Church at large. "I think a Catholic university has to be a place that has a margin of tolerance and the expectation that people of goodwill will disagree on occasions. The role of the theologian is different from the role of the bishop and of the pope and those need to be recognised as serving the

Church in complementary ways," he said. "There is an excessive pre-occupation in some circles on those small areas of disagreement on a particular point. "We have found out, however, that this has never led to a lack of contribution or a sense of loyalty to the well-being of the broader Catholic Church." Noting that his university had faculty members from other Christian and non-Christian traditions, Father Molloy said the broader Christian community was also in constant conversation about these same things. "It is important for us to be a place where that kind of confrontation and meeting of minds can take place. "In the best interests of the Church it is desirable to have a forum like this where great ideas can be debated. "If Notre Dame Australia has the great good fortune as ours the local bishop will consider this university a great resource in the life of the Church and not an obstacle to it."

The four targets Vice Chancellor of planning Professor Geoffrey Kiel spelt out four aims of Notre Dame Australia at the conference last week. They are: • To provide, through teaching, pastoral care and personal development for the total education of its students. • To support an academic community noted for excellence in teaching and research in major academic disciplines and the learned professions. • To support the role and work of the Church in Australia and other countries by helping to meet its need for special training in particular areas of service (eg: education, health, welfare, management, theology) and by promoting research and debate on issues relevant to the intellectual life of the Church. • To make a special

contribution to the economic and social development ot the State and the nation. NDA will be unequivocally a Catholic university but will have an open, non discriminatory enrolment policy, welcoming students and staff of all faiths, who accept its Catholic ethos. It will encourage freedom of thought and expression and seek to form strong links within the community. The university will be Catholic in its mission statement and philosophy, in its civil and canonical legal structure, in its staffing and employment policy, with its code of ethics, in its curriculum requirements for philosophy and theology to be undertaken by all undergraduates, in its community worship and prayer and in its corporate and personal commitment to social justice.


Turn static files into dynamic content formats.

Create a flipbook
Issuu converts static files into: digital portfolios, online yearbooks, online catalogs, digital photo albums and more. Sign up and create your flipbook.