![\"\"](\"https:\/\/4.bp.blogspot.com\/_0DySLTT4PWo\/SZRu2YmEyVI\/AAAAAAAAFG8\/AZ5B-ULAQvo\/s320\/7514f89748_cross_0212.jpg\")
<\/a>Some Boston College professors and students are raising a holy ruckus over the Catholic school\u2019s return to its religious roots by hanging crucifixes in all its classrooms, calling the move \u201coffensive\u201d and a break from the Jesuit tradition of tolerance.<\/p>\n\u201cThere is no choice if you don\u2019t think it\u2019s appropriate. You can\u2019t turn it around,\u201d said biology professor Dan Kirschner, faculty adviser for BC\u2019s chapter of Hillel, a Jewish student group. \u201cI think it is being insensitive to the people of other faith traditions here.\u201d<\/p>\n
Amir Hoveyda, head of BC\u2019s chemistry department, blasted the school in an e-mail to the Herald for \u201cnot being interested in an exchange with its faculty members.\u201d<\/p>\n
In an interview with the college newspaper, The Observer, which broke the story, Hoveyda described the crucifixes as \u201coffensive\u201d and the university\u2019s actions as \u201canti-intellectual.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI can hardly imagine a more effective way to denigrate the faculty of an educational institution,\u201d he is quoted as saying. \u201cThe insult is particularly scathing, since such symbols were installed without discussion . . . in a disturbingly surreptitious manner.\u201d<\/p>\n
BC spokesman Jack Dunn said college President Rev. William P. Leahy decided to install crucifixes in the university\u2019s 151 classrooms as a means of reconnecting the school with its \u201cCatholic mission.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAs a Catholic university, we view the crucifix as a sacred symbol and its placement reflects our commitment to our religious heritage. We hope that those who do not share our faith tradition can respect our intentions,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Dunn said many BC classrooms and lecture halls already displayed crucifixes and religious icons, such as images of the Virgin Mary and Baby Jesus. But over winter recess, crosses were put in some 40 rooms – including science labs – sparking the backlash.<\/p>\n
The display of crucifixes – some of them hand-carved works brought back by students from volunteer missions overseas – is an outgrowth of the college\u2019s Committee on Christian Art, formed in 2002 to promote Christian artworks on campus..<\/p>\n
Patrick Reilly, head of The Cardinal Newman Society, said he was \u201cthrilled\u201d by the action of Boston College, which too often \u201cseemed to shy away from any overt affiliation as Catholic.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cCatholic colleges across the country will be grateful for Boston College\u2019s taking such a clear stand in support of its Catholic identity,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Many students agreed.<\/p>\n
\u201cBoston College welcomes students, faculty and staff from all religious persuasions with welcome arms,\u201d said senior Patrick Fouhy, 21. \u201cBut at the end of the day, we are still a Jesuit, Catholic university and that is a core part of our identity. Putting crucifixes up is a nice reminder of that.\u201d<\/p>\n
But sophomore Alex LoVerde, 20, believes a crucifix \u201cpushes the Catholic religion\u201d and does not belong in a classroom. \u201cI think the Jesuit tradition is more of openness and tolerance,\u201d LoVerde said. \u201cI think that an overt display of crucifixes is not what the Jesuits would have had in mind.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
UPDATE:<\/b> A commenter left the following, which I thought was worth moving here:<\/p>\n I’m a BC grad and I have mixed feelings about the reintroduction of crucifixes to every classroom. I don’t feel strongly about it one way or the other on a personal level. I go to daily mass, as I did when I was a student, I say the rosary, I pray the Liturgy of the Hours, I try and do an examin at least once a day, as I did when I was a student. When I was at BC there were 5 opportunities to attend daily Mass, multiple student organizations devoted to prayer, and many talks and lectures dealing with Catholicism, as well as many service organizations. If none of these were sufficient to provide students with ways to affirm their Catholic identity, I’m not sure what exactly putting up Crucifixes will do, except to be in-your-face about its “Catholic Identity”.<\/p>\n
It does nothing but aggravate non-Catholics. It’s a cosmetic, surface level modification. It’s attractive as a way to reaffirm BC’s Catholic identity because it is relatively low-cost, and doesn’t require anyone to change anything about their lives. It doesn’t require people to take time to pray, or to spend resources funding service trips, or to re-examine their own lives. It might give them something to focus on during class, while they should probably be paying attention to their professor (although I understand how some lectures help students identify with the crucified…).<\/p>\n
In exchange for this cosmetic change, some non-Catholics are deeply offended. If they signed on with the understanding that Catholicism would not affect them on a daily basis, is it surprising that they respond negatively when conditions change?<\/p>\n
The Jesuits have their origins in the Renaissance, an age focused on Rhetoric, the act by which you adapt your message to your audience. Putting up crucifixes distracts from this method of enculturation.<\/p>\n
I would also note that Cardinal Newman argued that it was not the purpose of the Catholic University to make good Christians. The purpose of the Catholic University is to make good human beings. (The purpose of the Church is to make good Christians). Therefore the focus of the University ought to be on encouraging students to be the best in their fields, and secondarily on providing Catholic services to them. This is in line with the basic Jesuit and Sacramental principle; that God may be found in all things, and that reason is highly compatible with faith. If the imposition of “faith”, by means of crucifixes, results in the loss of “reason”, by the exodus of highly qualified faculty, the university will have failed in its mission to reconcile Athens with Jerusalem.<\/p>\n
Catholic identity must be truly catholic, and that means “here comes everybody.” Was it necessary that every classroom have a crucifix? <\/p><\/blockquote>\n
PHOTO:<\/span><\/b> A crucifix hangs in Boston College\u2019s Higgins Hall room 265. From the Boston Herald. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"That seems to be some of the reaction up in Beantown, at the venerable Boston College. Take a look: Some Boston College professors and students are raising a holy ruckus over the Catholic school\u2019s return to its religious roots by hanging crucifixes in all its classrooms, calling the move \u201coffensive\u201d and a break from the…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":365,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1052","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-ripped-from-the-headlines"],"yoast_head":"\n
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