July 20: A Different Declaration of Independence

Welcome to the American Catholic Daily Reader podcast. Today is July 20th, and our story is A Different Declaration of Independence. In July 1776, the United States declared its independence from Great Britain. In July 1967, Catholic universities in America similarly declared their independence from Rome.

That Declaration of Independence came in the wake of three days of meetings in Lando Lakes, Wisconsin. In attendance at those meetings were 26 Catholic educators, primarily from America's preeminent Catholic institutions of higher education. The conference began on July 20, 1967, and ended on July 23, when all 26 men signed the Statement on the Nature of the Contemporary Catholic University, now more commonly known as the Lando Lake Statement.

Those who drafted the document argued that it wasn't so much freedom from Rome that they were asserting, but the importance of academic freedom to any university, Catholic or otherwise. They believed that Vatican II's call to engage the modern world demanded that Catholic universities up the ant for academic excellence.

To their view, this couldn't be achieved when their every move was answerable to bishops and religious superiors who were not professional academics or administrators. To the author's credit, their statement recognized the preeminence of theology to a Catholic university, as well as the mission of Catholic universities to serve the universal Church.

In the years that followed, however, as many Catholic schools pursued the goals laid out by the Land O'Lakes Statement, Catholic identity often fell by the wayside. Dissent became the norm in most theology departments, and the Catholic faith ceased to inform many schools' curricula or campus life.

Academic freedom flourished, but often at the cost of faith. By 1990, the situation in some universities was so problematic that Pope John Paul II attempted a course correction, outlining the proper mission and objectives of Catholic higher education in the apostolic constitution, Ex Cordae Ecclesiae.

Despite that attempt, Catholic colleges and universities still remain divided about the place of academic freedom and the meaning of Catholic identity in higher education. Today, Catholic universities continue to wrestle with the tension between autonomy and fidelity to mission.

This story reminds us to evaluate how freedom and structure coexist in our own communities, and to ensure that the values we hold most dear remain central in our decision-making. Consider one area in your personal or professional life where independence and responsibility must coexist. How can you maintain both without compromising your core values?

Thank you for listening to the American Catholic Daily Reader Podcast. Join us tomorrow, July 21st, for another story of faith and courage in America.