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Authority in the Roman Catholic Church: Scripture, Tradition

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Authority in the Roman Catholic Church: Scripture, Tradition OSTASIEWSKI, DANITA MISKIEWICZ, Ph.D. Looking for Love: A Critique of Doc- trinal Elements of a Curriculum Framework for the Development of Catechetical Mate- rials for Young People of High School Age Published by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), November 2007. (2010) Directed by Dr. H. Svi Shapiro. 167 pp. This study critically examines the curriculum framework published by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops which directs the four year, eight semester course of study for religion classes taught in all U.S. Catholic high schools. By examining this framework, I identify the concepts and methodology privileged by the Roman Catholic hierarchy and evaluate their efficacy in light of current insights in postmodern curriculum development. This study traces the twelve year timeline approaching the document’s pub- lication, sociological research data which supported the USCCB’s decision to produce the Framework, and pre-Vatican II text series upon which the framework has been based. It critiques the framework against the Tradition of the Catholic Church in the U.S. from 1640 to the present, the Magisterial documents of the universal and local Church on edu- cation, and Holy Scripture. It also examines the framework against a postmodern descrip- tion of the student consumers of the framework and present work in postmodern curricu- lum development. The study concludes with a recommendation to individual bishops and vicars of education to convene their own education councils before requiring use of the framework in their individual diocese. LOOKING FOR LOVE: A CRITIQUE OF DOCTRINAL ELEMENTS OF A CURRICULUM FRAMEWORK FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF CATECHETICAL MATERIALS FOR YOUNG PEOPLE OF HIGH SCHOOL AGE PUBLISHED BY THE U.S. CONFERENCE OF CATHOLIC BISHOPS (USCCB), NOVEMBER 2007 by Danita Miskiewicz Ostasiewski A Dissertation Submitted to the Faculty of The Graduate School at The University of North Carolina at Greensboro in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy Greensboro 2010 Approved by Committee Chair © 2010 by Danita Miskiewicz Ostasiewski To my late mother, Dorothy Miskiewicz Ostasiewski, who gave me the finest education primarily through her loving example and guidance but also by providing me many fantastic educational opportunities. To my husband Jim, and daughter Christina McDonald who model for me what it means to be church. ii APPROVAL PAGE This dissertation has been approved by the following committee of the Faculty of The Graduate School at The University of North Carolina at Greensboro. Committee Chair Committee Members Date of Acceptance by Committee Date of Final Oral Examination iii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS My gratitude to great teachers, starting with my committee, H. Svi Shapiro, Glenn Hudak, Leila Villaverde, and Ulrich Reitzug, to teachers of the faith, Fr. Andrew Jensen, Fr. Lawrence Frizzell, Mrgr. John Oesterreicher, Fr. John McHale, Sr. Rose Thering OP, Sr. Mary Vené OSF, Mercy Sr. Mary Raymond Alkazin, Sr. Anne Thomas SSJ, Patricia Muenzen, Paul Ander, and Loretta Fitzgerald, to my librarian and proof reader Lyndall Cantrell, my principal, George Repass, who has generously given me the time and space that I perceived I needed to complete this, and St. Julian of Norwich who sent calico Pani Meowska to keep me company as I wrote. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS Page PROLOGUE ........................................................................................................................1 CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................5 Timeline Approaching the Publication of the Framework ..........................5 A Brief History of Catholic Education and Its Corresponding Curriculum in the United States ............................................................10 The Era of the English: Pre Revolutionary War through the 1820’s ..................................................................................10 The Era of the Irish: 1829-1866 .....................................................12 Era of the Germans: 1866-1919 .....................................................18 The Golden Era: 1919-1964...........................................................22 Era of Vatican II: 1964-Present .....................................................24 Present Catechetical Curriculum....................................................25 What is at Stake? ........................................................................................27 Purpose of the Study ..................................................................................31 II. DESCRIPTION OF THE FRAMEWORK, THE SOCIOLOGICAL RESEARCH BEHIND ITS CREATION, AND THE PRE-VATICAN II MODELS ON WHICH IT IS BASED ......................................................35 The Framework ..........................................................................................37 Sociological Research Which Inspired the Framework .............................56 Pre-Vatican II Models on Which the Framework is Based .......................64 Conclusion .................................................................................................70 III. CRITIQUE OF DOCTRINAL ELEMENTS OF A CURRICULUM FRAMEWORK FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF CATECHETICAL MATERIALS FOR YOUNG PEOPLE OF HIGH SCHOOL AGE THROUGH THE LENS OF THE SCRIPTURE, TRADITION, AND MAGISTERIUM OF THE ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH .....................74 Tradition—Critique through the Lens of the Catholic Professional Educators of the Last 200 Years ...........................................................78 Catholic Book Publishing ..............................................................80 The Plenary Councils of Baltimore................................................80 The Baltimore Catechism ..............................................................82 v Critique through the Lens of the Official Magisterial Writings of the Universal Catholic Church and the U.S. Catholic Bishops .........83 Scripture—Critique through the Lens of Prophetic Imagination as Articulated by Walter Brueggemann .................................................95 IV. CRITIQUE OF DOCTRINAL ELEMENTS OF A CURRICULUM FRAMEWORK FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF CATECHETICAL MATERIALS FOR YOUNG PEOPLE OF HIGH SCHOOL AGE THROUGH THE LENS OF POSTMODERN CURRICULUM ...............116 Introduction ..............................................................................................116 Our Students.............................................................................................117 Post-Modern Curriculum Theory .............................................................121 A Problem with the Roman Catholic Church ..........................................127 Proleptic Eschatology ..............................................................................130 Proleptic Eschatology and Postmodern Curriculum ................................132 Conclusion ...............................................................................................140 V. LOOKING FOR LOVE ....................................................................................143 Introduction ..............................................................................................143 Review of Chapters I through IV .............................................................144 The True Value Expressed by the Bishops ..............................................150 Love .........................................................................................................150 The Role of the Magisterium ...................................................................153 Recommendation to the Bishops .............................................................154 Conclusion ...............................................................................................157 BIBLIOGRAPHY ............................................................................................................159 vi 1 PROLOGUE The topic of this dissertation, a critique of the newly-published curriculum framework for theology classes offered in U.S. Catholic high schools, is extremely im- portant to me and those with whom I teach. As Catholic educators, we were surprised when the bishops announced that they intended to produce a framework and feared that what was produced would be inconsistent with the way we know and express Church. There is at present a swing from the ennobling and empowering spirit of the Church as expressed in the documents of Vatican II to a rigid clerically-centered reining in of the laity. Some priests, especially those newly ordained, concentrate on doctrine and dogma and continually remind parishioners of their ordained authority. We educators feared this unending fascination with ecclesiastical authority would be reflected in the Framework, and it is. Those of us who teach Theology classes in Catholic schools are under ever in- creasing scrutiny by the hierarchy of the Church. A close friend was interviewed for a position teaching Catholic theology to high school students. The bishop of the diocese, who held an Ed.D., sat on the committee that produced the Framework. Before being of- fered the position, she was required to go to the chancery, or bishop’s office, and be in- terviewed by the bishop himself. She referred to it as an “orthodoxy check.” She knew the party line and was able to offer quotations to the bishop that surprised and pleased him and secured the position, though she is a social justice
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