From Communion Toward Synodality

Abstract

At the intersection of theology and education, this dissertation investigates the distinctive character of the participation of Catholic colleges and universities in the mission of the Catholic Church. In 1967, less than two years after the final session of the Second Vatican Council, Catholic educators assembled in Land O’Lakes, Wisconsin to discuss the nature and role of Catholic universities in the modern era. While representing a necessary and natural stage of development for Catholic higher education, the Land O’Lakes statement—and, particularly its assertion of “true autonomy”—lacked sufficient theological foundation. In response to perceived abuses stemming from an undue emphasis on institutional autonomy, Pope John Paul II published the apostolic constitution on Catholic universities, Ex corde Ecclesiae (1990). This document proposed an ecclesiology of communion as a more adequate theological foundation. Although communion ecclesiology represented a real advance on several fronts, ultimately, the inability of this theological foundation to resolve challenging issues regarding the distinctive mission of Catholic institutions became evident. Consequently, a more adequate ecclesiological foundation is required. This dissertation proposes that ecclesial synodality, as it has emerged in the papacy of Francis, provides a more constructive ecclesiological foundation for considering the relationship between Catholic higher education and the church. I propose that Catholic colleges and universities can serve as institutions to foster the practice of synodality in the church.