Ivy and Catholic

CATHOLIC ONLINE, April 6 — A “Catholic renaissance” is under way at Princeton and other elite secular universities, reported papal biographer George Weigel in a recent syndicated column that was carried by the Catholic news site.

Weigel applauded Father Tom Mullelly, Princeton’s chaplain, for winning a place for a tabernacle and the presence of the Blessed Sacrament in the university’s nondenominational chapel.

Known as the Aquinas Institute, the Catholic chaplaincy has funded courses in the Princeton religion department on post-Vatican II theology, John Paul II’s “theology of the body,” and theologian Hans Urs von Balthasar.

“You won’t find any of these things, alas, on too many putatively Catholic campuses,” Weigel concludes. “But you’ll find them at Princeton.”

Deacons, Again

CHRISTENDOM COLLEGE, March 29 — Christendom’s Notre Dame Graduate School has been selected by the Diocese of Arlington, Va., to provide theological formation for candidates in the diocese’s newly revived permanent diaconate program.

The last permanent deacon class was ordained in 1989, after which the program was suspended due to the fact that the diocese judged that it had sufficient numbers of both priests and deacons at that time.

Since then, the northern Virginia diocese has experienced rapid growth and now reports a need for deacons.

The deacon candidates will have their own classes in order to orient the four-year program to this particular vocation.

Teaching Abortion

THE KANSAS CITY STAR, April 1 — The Kansas House of Representatives has approved a measure supported by the pro-life movement that would require teaching public high school students the details of various abortion procedures, including partial-birth abortions.

The bill requires that schools teaching students about pregnancy include information about fetal development, including through pictures or drawings of the baby developing at four week stages, and that unborn children can feel pain during an abortion.

“It’s important that they be aware of what the fetus looks like,” said a Democratic co-sponsor of the bill.

New Chancellor

BETHLEHEM UNIVERSITY, April 5 — Archbishop Antonio Franco has been named chancellor of Bethlehem University, an office that he holds by virtue of the fact that he is apostolic delegate to Jerusalem and Palestine and apostolic nuncio to Israel and Cyprus, posts that he was named to by Pope Benedict XVI earlier this year.

In his role as chancellor, Archbishop Franco is the direct representative of the Holy See regarding university matters and chief adviser to de LaSalle Christian Brother Daniel Casey, vice chancellor, a role that is equivalent to president of an American university.

Archbishop Franco succeeds Archbishop Pietro Sambi, the new papal nuncio to the United States.

Southern Expansion

THE GWINNETT DAILY POST — The suburban Georgia daily featured the Atlanta campus of Alabama’s Spring Hill College, which has been in operation since January.

Tapping into the growing Catholic college market in the south, the Jesuit college based in Mobile offers a variety of bachelor’s and master’s degree programs in Atlanta, including theology.

Focusing on adult students who work by day, most classes meet in the evening.