Pope and U.S. Catholic educators set for key session

By Michael Conlon, Religion Writer

CHICAGO (Reuters) - Pope Benedict likely will walk a fine line between trampling on academic freedom and laying down the law on orthodoxy when he meets with top U.S. Catholic educators next month, experts and observers say.

The April 17 session at Catholic University of America in Washington already has prompted some speculation that the German-born pontiff might reprimand the heads of more than 200 U.S. Catholic colleges and universities.

The issues range from how far faculty theologians can stray from the mainstream in their teachings to whether politicians whose stands on abortion or other issues conflict with those of the church should be invited to speak on campus.

"My guess is that Benedict might present a strong statement about Catholic character but probably not what I would call a rebuke," said Timothy Matovina, director of the Cushwa Center for the Study of American Catholicism at the University of Notre Dame.

"There are varied views on whether a rebuke is warranted. My own is that I have some concerns but on the whole the Catholic colleges and universities perform superb service for the church, Catholics and the wider society," he said in an interview.

"The suggestion that the pope is coming to the United States with a hammer for Catholic educational issues is not only premature but also prejudicial," the Rev. David O'Connell, president of Catholic University, said in a letter published in The Washington Post.

The newspaper recently carried a story suggesting the educators were in for a rebuke from the pope on his first trip to the United States since being elected leader of the church in 2005.

LIGHT IN DARKNESS?

"Instead of condemning Catholic universities and colleges for what may be perceived as failures -- and failures do exist -- the pope might very well thank Catholic educational institutions for being beacons of light in a society that sometimes prefers darkness," O'Connell said.

Vatican observers have said the 80-year-old pontiff's style is more to make clear his own views than to hand out indictments.

John Allen, veteran Vatican correspondent for the National Catholic Reporter, said in a commentary that Americans are likely to be surprised by the pope's "broadly positive tone about the United States" because the Vatican now sees the country as a "remarkably dynamic religious society" that embraces public expressions of faith.

He suggested the pope's meeting with the educators "will come off as basically upbeat."

The Rev. Tom Reese, a Jesuit and former editor of that order's magazine, "America," said the pope's talk with the educators will be important.

"He feels very strongly about the issue of Catholic identity," he said, as it applies to the leaders of Catholic higher education.

"This is something they are trying to stress. It makes them distinctive. They are quite committed to the whole idea of Catholic identity," he said in an interview.