Is Boston College Catholic? No, that’s not a joke, at least not to those whose hackles start raising at the phrase “in the Jesuit tradition.” But it seems BC, and specifically its president, Fr. William P. Leahy, SJ, are moving to re-emphasize the Jesuit school’s Catholic bona fides by installing crucifixes or religious art in all 151 classrooms. The administration is also installing religious art (such as the statue of St. Ignatius, which I like, in this Globe photo) around campus.

The crucifixes were put up over the Christmas break, and reactions have started bubbling up in news coverage. At his blog, Globe religion reporter Michael Paulson notes “Cardinal Sean’s” online appreciation for the move, as well as Michael’s own Globe story, plus a Herald story that (no surprise) stresses the conflictual angle more.
Non-Catholic, primarily Jewish faculty seem to be those most offended, understandably so, in my view. It’s hard to tell how deep the controversy runs–BC’s student body is 70 percent Catholic. But I think in such matters the sensibilities of the minority, especially Jews for whom the crucifix is a symbol with terrible historical echoes, have to be taken into consideration.
The crowing by some (like the folks at the Cardinal Newman Society) and others in the conservative Catholic blogosphere about a victory for their side and against Jesuitical laxness is an unseemly triumphalism, to me. Using the cross as a battle standard isn’t my idea of what Jesus had in mind. The (apparent) abruptness of the crucifix installation without widespread consultation seems to have been a mistake, if that was the case. Though I wonder if this move could ever have been made without controversy.
All that said, I like the idea of a visible Catholic identity like this, and I think the BC move a good one. I don’t see how crucifixes in classrooms would automatically turn a first-rate university into a parochial backwater, intellectually (one of the critics’ arguments). A Catholic university can be mediocre with or without crucifixes in classrooms. And it seems to me crucifixes aren’t talismans that guarantee a school’s Catholicity or fidelity or whatever some think they will do. But they are reminders of a school’s heritage, its orientation today, and of course a larger spiritual and Catholic vision of education and life–as well as the most profound sort of mnemonic for those who believe in the Cross.
How to take other views into accountin a genuine way? I don’t know. But it is a Catholic university, and presumably students and faculty know that when they apply. I do recall hearing a fairly convincing argument as to why crucifixes should not be part of classroom decor, but the fact that I can’t recall the reasoning or its source means it didn’t make that much of an impression. (Besides, I forget everything these days.)
In any case, I welcome dissenting views or enlightenment.