Papal Visit to the US, and Fr. Wild on Catholic Academia

An interesting article from the NYTimes about Pope Benedict's visit to the US, and the two key issues that he has addressed:

1. sexual abuse of children
2. Catholic academia

On the latter point, the Times reported (emphasis added):

Catholic universities and colleges have come under fire for inviting speakers who favor abortion rights, like Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton, Eliot Spitzer and Stanley Tucci, the actor, who was dropped from an event at Catholic University. The University of Notre Dame was criticized for allowing a campus staging of “The Vagina Monologues,” an edgy feminist theater piece.

The pope insisted on adherence to church doctrine, saying, “Divergence from this vision weakens Catholic identity, and, far from advancing freedom, inevitably leads to confusion, whether moral, intellectual or spiritual.”

For faculty members, he said: “I wish to reaffirm the great value of academic freedom. In virtue of this freedom you are called to search for the truth wherever careful analysis of evidence leads you. Yet it is also the case that any appeal to the principle of academic freedom in order to justify positions that contradict the faith and teaching of the church would obstruct or even betray the university’s identity and mission.”

The educators in the room were encouraged by the pope’s speech, and applauded his call to keep schools open for poor students.

The Rev. Robert A. Wild, the president of Marquette University, said after the pope’s speech: “What was most striking to me is what it was not. We were not being told that most Catholic schools are not faithful to our message. It was not a finger-waving exercise. It was mostly to encourage us.”

Papal Visit to the US Presages a Change in Canon Law?

The NYTimes has an article covering Pope Benedict XVI's visit to NY. The article states (emphasis added)

One expert said that the pope might actually be signaling that he was close to authorizing a change in canon law that would explicitly bar sexual abusers from the priesthood, said Nicholas P. Cafardi, dean emeritus of Duquesne Law School. A civil and canon lawyer, Mr. Cafardi was an original member of the National Review Board appointed by the American bishops at the height of the abuse scandal, in 2002.

There is a section in the church’s Code of Canon law that specifies that a man cannot be ordained a priest, or cannot remain a priest, if he has committed certain acts, like homicide, self-mutilation, attempted suicide or procuring an abortion, said Mr. Cafardi, the author of "Before Dallas: The U.S. Bishops’ Response to Clergy Sexual Abuse of Children" (Paulist Press, 2008).

It’s time to add to that list pedophilia and sexual abuse of children," Mr. Cafardi said. "I’m reading Benedict’s remarks as heading toward a change in the law of the universal church, so that this can be implemented throughout the Catholic world."

He said it was unlikely that the pope would use a papal visit to announce a change in canon law. But, he added: "He’s raised expectations now, and he’s not an unkind person. You don’t raise expectations to bash them."

To read the pertinent sections of Canon Law, see the Vatican's official English translation. The section is Canon 1041 section 4.

The canon falls in the following part of the Code:

BOOK IV FUNCTION OF THE CHURCH (Cann. 834 - 848)

• PART I. THE SACRAMENTS
  • TITLE VI. ORDERS (Cann. 1008 - 1054)
    • CHAPTER II. THOSE TO BE ORDAINED
      • Art. 3. IRREGULARITIES AND OTHER IMPEDIMENTS