Bishop D'Arcy breaks his silence on Notre Dame

Bishop John M. D'Arcy, who was very involved in the Notre Dame scandal of earlier this year (which AmP covered extensively), breaks his long silence about what the Notre Dame situation was about, and what it wasn't about, in a reflection written for America magazine (odd that he chose to publish for this publication, considering their editorial position on the affair - maybe he considers it mission territory).

For skimmers, I'll excerpt Bishop D'Arcy's concluding questions to Catholic universities:

Do you consider it a responsibility in your public statements, in your life as a university and in your actions, including your public awards, to give witness to the Catholic faith in all its fullness?

What is your relationship to the church and, specifically, to the local bishop and his pastoral authority as defined by the Second Vatican Council?

Finally, a more fundamental question: Where will the great Catholic universities search for a guiding light in the years ahead? Will it be the Land O’Lakes Statement or Ex Corde Ecclesiae?

.... On these three questions, I respectfully submit, rests the future of Catholic higher education in this country and so much else.

I will be eager to see which Catholic universities joyfully respond to the bishop's questions, and with some apprehension, I await the stony silence of many more. I cringe at the possibility that some may even try to wiggle their way out of his challenge.