What's up with the Center for the Study of Spirituality?

  Established in 1984 with support from the Sisters of the Holy Cross and Saint Mary’s College, the Center for Spirituality (now Center for the Study of Spirituality) was formed to address spirituality as an academic discipline. 

CFSS’s Academic Year 2023-2024 Report states it is an academic center and “a hub for scholarly and public engagement” for studying spirituality and theology. Their vision is “inspired” by the legacy of former SMC President Sr. Madeleva. Their mission “prioritizes the voices, experiences, and wisdom of women in the church, society, and the academy.” 

SMC Professor of Philosophy, Religious Studies, and Theology Dan Horan, a Franciscan priest until his recent announcement to leave the order, took over as CFSS Director in 2021. In addition to adding “Study” to the title, Horan has drawn considerable attention to himself and the Center most notably amid SMC’s trans policy controversy. Dr. Julia Feder serves as CFSS Assistant Director. CFSS staff professes to take academic excellence seriously and considers the Center a vehicle for raising and broadening Saint Mary’s academic profile.  

  The Center has not indicated it will conduct original research. It does mention supporting research initiatives. However, there has been no indication of research methodologies for assessing academic reliability, replication, and validity it would employ to achieve its aspirations. 

The bulk of work CFSS lists consists of conducting events, lectures, workshops, and interviews. However, plans are underway to collaborate with other groups in developing a preaching certificate program funded by a Lilly Endowment grant.

References to the Catholic faith are scarce and vague. We are not even sure what “church” they cite. The lack of specificity in these statements makes it difficult to determine the nature and scope of the Center’s work, the audiences or networks it wishes to appeal to, or the metrics it uses to gauge progress. 

   Is it too much to expect a center for spirituality at an all-women’s Catholic college to consistently contribute Catholic insight to its programming? Across the street at Notre Dame, they’ve had a policy to do this since 2006. As stated by then-president Fr. Jenkins, this policy is “not about censorship, but sponsorship.” He further articulated, “Catholic teaching has nothing to fear from engaging the wider culture, but we do have something to fear if the wider culture never engages in Catholic teaching.” Why is there reluctance to implement something similar at Saint Mary’s?

The process of discovery is not without its challenges. Communicating this process publicly is even more sensitive when you are addressing issues significant to the Catholic Church. Different audiences have different interests, goals, preferences, and levels of familiarity with topics. One woman’s intellectual bent is another woman’s gnostic nightmare. Venue also plays a role in how people view information. It affects the perceived quality of the research, the assessment of the presenter, and the audience’s absorption of the material. SMC is not a neutral venue in matters touching Catholic teaching. By its very nature, the College is in the Church.

   Loretto Trust’s concern is not with examining controversial material. 

Our concern is with CFSS's silence on Church teaching when controversial material is presented at a Saint Mary’s public forum such as the Center for the Study of Spirituality. This is even more troubling considering the volume and ratio of controversial programming the Center produces.

When examining controversial subjects, a simple statement by the Center indicating this material is at odds with Catholic teaching and why, would address concerns. 

    We realize that faithfully maintaining both Saint Mary’s Catholic identity and academic integrity is an immense challenge. As a Catholic college, its raison d’etre is to engage the world with open, unfettered discussion in search of truth. We also understand academic freedom requires boundaries to maintain intellectual integrity. Our Catholic faith is not limited to worship, it is meant to serve its community. If either Catholic identity or academic integrity were abandoned, Saint Mary's would fail, just as it almost did last November. 

We, therefore, appeal to the descendants of our pioneering Sisters of the Holy Cross to live their Catholic identity with active distinction and display the same courage and confidence that enabled their predecessors to endure the hardships of an untamed American frontier and establish Saint Mary’s as an all-women’s Catholic college with no equal. 

The Center for the Study of Spirituality needs a clear Catholic orientation aligned with the recognized teachings of the Church. In its present state, we wonder about its purpose in service to the Catholic identity of the College.