By Randall Smith

Debates about the "Catholic character" of the institution often stir up strong passions and debates at Catholic colleges and universities. Other "Catholic" organizations likely should be having these discussions, too. Indeed, when Catholic institutions stop having these discussions, it's usually a bad sign.

Some people think that a "Catholic" university should be just like any other university except with a Catholic chapel somewhere on campus.

A second group believes that a "Catholic" school should probably also teach "ethics" of some sort. Just make sure they understand not to cheat in business, lie on tax forms, or break promises. And be sure they're not racist. Whichever "ethics" tells them not to do that, teach that one.

Members of a third, somewhat smaller group have a sneaking suspicion, which they're usually not comfortable admitting out loud, that it would be good if the students were taught some "Catholic" values. What sort of "Catholic" values? For some, those would also be things like don't cheat in business, lie on tax forms, or break promises. Others might add things like "care for the poor" and be sure not to be racist.

A very small group thinks that the "Catholic" character of the university should permeate the entire education of its students. Students needn't be Catholic to be taught that Catholics hold a certain view of the nature and dignity of the human person; that Catholics believe the universe is the free act by one God who created the universe as an embodiment of His justice and love, and that we in our own way are meant to be instruments of that justice and love, aided by God's grace.

Whether non-Catholics and non-Christians accept these ideas for themselves is up to them, but it doesn't seem like an offense against their freedom to tell them that this is what Catholics believe. They might even find it somewhat compelling. Many have.

So, too, it seems reasonable enough to point out that Catholics believe the truths of reason and the truths of revelation will never contradict one another because both have the one God who is their Author. On this view, the scientist who gets to the truth of the created realm is "reading the Book of Nature" written by the hand of God Himself. And the literature professor who opens up the students' minds and imaginations is also providing something essential to a "Catholic" education. As John Henry Newman, our most recent Doctor of the Church, understood, both are crucial aspects of a "Catholic" education.

And yet, this business of "Catholic character" is often a hard sell, as hard as "selling" the persistent value of a liberal arts education. The battle for both often goes hand-in-hand. Lose the one, and you'll soon lose the other. The university, an institution dedicated to the wisdom attained by gaining a unified vision of all the arts and sciences - "a school of knowledge of every kind," as Newman described it - is, after all, a Catholic invention. Catholics should preserve it.

Some faculty resist talk of "Catholic" character because they think they will be forced to teach Catholic doctrine. But on the view I've proposed, if faculty teach the truth that is appropriate to their discipline with excellence, they already are, whether they know it or not, providing a "Catholic" education.

And quite frankly, it would be foolish to ask them to teach things for which they have not been trained. We don't ask theology professors to teach organic chemistry; so we shouldn't ask organic chemistry teachers to teach theology. It shouldn't be too much to ask, however, that theology teachers at Catholic institutions teach Catholic theology. Many don't.

Those who oppose the institution having a "Catholic character" are usually forgetting something - something that those who say they favor the Catholic character of the institution also sometimes forget. The Catholic character of the institution could be ideological, or it could be ethical, depending on how we underst...