Catholic Intellectual Tradition

Introduction

As a Catholic institution, Canisius University believes that a college education is more than preparation for a particular profession or career. As a Catholic institution, Canisius believes that the undergraduate years provide a special opportunity to explore the great questions of life: Who am I? Why am I here? What really matters? What does the world need? How ought we to live? As a Catholic institution, Canisius shares the common intellectual heritage of the Catholic Intellectual Tradition…a conversation over time that addresses these questions.

In “The Catholic Intellectual Tradition in the Catholic University,” (2000) theologian Monika Hellwig wrote that the Catholic Intellectual Tradition (CIT) is grounded in the following principles:

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There is a transcendence beyond human existence, which we call God;
Human life has transcendent meaning and that meaning can be known;
Basic principles of moral right and wrong are given and not socially constructed;
“…[I]n Jesus of Nazareth we have an utterly trustworthy interpretation of the meaning and destiny of human life, of human relationship with God, and of what constitutes a good life” (pp. 6-7).

The Catholic Intellectual Tradition engages the fundamental questions of human life in the context of these principles. The accumulated conversation about these questions form the content of the Catholic Intellectual Tradition. Following these basic principles, Hellwig wrote that CIT includes both classic content, the accumulated wisdom of the discerning Christian community over time, and an approach to learning.

The classic content is at the heart of the liberal arts and sciences and the core curriculum, particularly in religion and philosophy, but also in English and the humanities; music and art. In addition, for example, courses in political science, economics, and the social sciences address questions of justice. Profound ethical questions about research are addressed in science courses.

CIT is also relevant to graduate programs. Ethical questions are found in every profession and can be addressed in professional preparation programs in teacher education, business, counseling, and other graduate programs. Humanity’s relationship to creation is addressed in courses in Anthrozoology and in discussions about sustainability.

All of these programs, courses, and discussions can be grounded in and informed by the Catholic Intellectual Tradition.

As an approach to teaching and learning, CIT may be found throughout the curriculum at a Catholic university, including graduate and online education. At Canisius University, this approach to teaching and learning is articulated in the principles of Ignatian Pedagogy.

Nine Core Principles

In 2014, the Association of Catholic Colleges and Universities published a booklet outlining nine core principles of the Catholic Intellectual Tradition. The booklet was created by faculty members from 10 Catholic colleges and vetted in focus groups of faculty in diverse disciplines and by masked peer review of experts in CIT. We have used this booklet as a framework in this website. For anyone who is interested in learning more, the booklet is available in the Office of Mission and Ministry.

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Nine Core Principles of the Catholic Intellectual Tradition

Commitment to Universal Truth

The Catholic Intellectual Tradition is grounded in the belief that there are universal truths that can be known. However, because human beings are finite, we are only able to partially know these truths. CIT differs from contemporary theories of the social construction of knowledge, which argues that because human knowledge is bound by time and culture there can be no transcendent truth. CIT argues that this limitation can be overcome by dialogue across time and culture that is grounded in the four basic principles articulated by Hellwig. There are ultimate truths even if we only imperfectly glimpse them. These truths can be seen through “…the processes of intellectual inquiry…in the pursuit of integrated understanding” across disciplines (ACCU, p. 3).

Because of this understanding, the Catholic Tradition values the “intrinsic value of knowledge research.” As stated in the Vatican document on the Catholic university, Ex corde Ecclesiae, “Every Catholic University, as a university, is an academic community which, in a rigorous and critical fashion, assists in the protection and advancement of human dignity and of a cultural heritage through research, teaching and various services offered to the local, national, and international communities” (p. 12).

“By its nature, Catholicism honors the intellect and appreciates the importance of knowledge in all areas” (ACCU, p. 5).

From the point of view of CIT, scholars grounded in a specific discipline can and should seek deeper meaning beyond the grasping of facts and embrace “…an interdisciplinary and holistic perspective that can lead to greater wisdom.” We can do this in our own research and study and we can invite our students to join us in this search for wisdom and meaning through our teaching.

Faith and Reason

Because Catholic Tradition believes that truth is both transcendent and knowable but that human knowledge is finite and partial, it then believes that faith and reason are not inherently incompatible. In fact, faith and reason inform each other. Any contradictions are evidence of the limitations of human thought and experience and are invitations to further inquiry and deeper understanding. As Pope Benedict XVI, himself a longtime professor, wrote, “…the world of secular rationality and the world of religious belief need one another and should not be afraid to enter into a profound and ongoing dialogue, for the good of our civilization” (ACCU, p. 4). This perspective is firmly grounded in the Vatican II pastoral constitution on the church and the modern world Gaudium et Spes (“Joy and Hope”). Catholic thinking can both teach the world and learn from the world.

The ACCU document states, “…the Catholic tradition of higher education offers an invitation to students, scholars, and staff to think seriously about religious and spiritual matters in their own lives, in that of the campus community, and across humanity” (p. 6). This dialogue of faith and reason is most commonly explored on campus in theology, philosophy, literature, and other liberal arts classes; however, such dialogue is also possible across the curriculum and in co-curricular programming as well.

Integral Relationship to the Catholic Church

The Catholic university is related to the Church through engagement with the Catholic intellectual tradition of thinking about the great questions of life that dates back millennia. University of Notre Dame president Rev. Theodore Hesburgh, C.S.C. once famously said that the Catholic university is “where the Church does its thinking.”

The relationship of the Catholic university and the Catholic Church is also a juridical and structural one. Canisius College is a “Work” of the Society of Jesus, meaning that it is officially recognized by the Jesuits as being one of its worldwide ministries. This entails reciprocal obligations and commitments. The college also has a juridical relationship to the Catholic bishop of Buffalo because it is physically in the Diocese of Buffalo.

Hospitality and Tradition

Hospitality is fundamental to the Judeo-Christian tradition beginning with the story of Abraham who welcomed strangers to his tent only to discover later that they were God’s messengers to the parables of the Good Samaritan and Lazarus the beggar.

When asked which was the greatest commandment Jesus replied to love God above all and to love our neighbors as ourselves (Mt 24: 36-40). Jesus’s answer to the question, “Who is my neighbor” was the parable of the Good Samaritan.

This command of Jesus to love our neighbor as ourselves demands that we are open to others who are different from ourselves and with whom we may disagree. It demands a commitment to equity and inclusion.

Hospitality also requires intellectual openness and civil discourse. From this point of view, tradition and hospitality go together. Tradition is not understood as an unthinking commitment to the past. Tradition is “an understanding that one’s identity is solid and one’s practices are stable, leaving the capacity to openly entertain and fully explore other ideas” (ACCU, p. 7). The Catholic intellectual tradition in this sense invites intellectual hospitality. “[H]ospitality does not assume the superiority of the most strongly asserted positions. It does imply a true commitment to academic freedom, including a fair chance to be heard and an opportunity for dialogue” (ACCU, p. 7).

Sacramental Vision

Sacramentality is one of the most fundamental tenets of Catholicism. The sacramental vision is that the Divine may be encountered through the ordinary. When we use the Jesuit phrase “seeing God in all persons and things,” this is what we mean. This vision is fundamentally grounded in our understanding of the person of Jesus Christ, “God made man,” who is both Divine and human. Through the person of Jesus we encounter God. This understanding of the Incarnation undergirds the Catholic belief that “the world itself [is] a sacred sign of an invisible reality” (ACCU, p. 7).

For the Catholic university this means that all fields of study reflect an aspect of sacred creation and are an opportunity to encounter the Divine through the “contemplative disposition” of scholarship and study. It is the reason why the Catholic intellectual tradition engages with the world and does not withdraw from it. It is why education and learning have been important to the Church, and to the Jesuits, throughout history.

Sacramentality is the fundamental reason why we believe that an education is so much more than preparation for a particular career.

The three elements of the Catholic intellectual tradition to follow…the power of beauty, appreciation for creation, and the dignity of the human person all stem from this fundamental sacramental view of reality.

Power of Beauty

The Catholic intellectual tradition is not only found in theology and philosophy, it is also found in the arts and sciences. The Catholic intellectual tradition is an artistic tradition grounded in its sacramentality. The Divine can be encountered through art and music and contemplation of the beauty of nature. “Catholicism aspires to foster and encourage the imagination and to inspire creativity” (ACCU, p. 8).

Sometimes we struggle to articulate why a core curriculum that requires all students to encounter the arts and sciences is important to higher education. Isn’t career preparation enough? This is the fundamental reason why exposure to what we call “the liberal arts” is necessary to Catholic higher education…to inspire the imagination by exposure to the beauty of creation in all of its manifestations. Again, this is what we mean when we use the Jesuit phrase “finding God in all persons and things.”

Dignity of the Human Person

Once we embrace the principle of sacramentality we realize that all of creation is a sacrament. We can understand that faith and science are not incompatible. We can understand that the study of the physical world “…is a means to grow closer to God through understanding the universe he created. Humanity has been entrusted as caretakers of creation, and scientific knowledge provides the understanding necessary to support responsible stewardship” (ACCU, p. 8).

The Catholic intellectual tradition embraces scientific study but calls for scholars “…to engage in studies ethically and to provide insights to care for the world in which humanity lives” (ACCU, p. 8).

Pope Francis’s encyclical on the care for the environment, Laudato Si (“Praised Be You”) embraces the sacramentality of the environment. In fact the subtitle of the document is translated as “care for our common home.”

Innovation for the Common Good

All of these eight principles taken together lead to the ninth…innovation for the common good. The Catholic intellectual tradition argues that the Catholic university has an important mission to fulfill…that is to make the world a better place. CIT is not just about reading classic sources. It is about applying the accumulated wisdom of Catholic thinking over the millennia to contemporary concerns. The ACCU document on the Catholic intellectual tradition ends with the following quote that summarizes this perspective:

“Whether innovation tales place in the arts or the in the realm of the social or natural sciences, in law or in literature, in business, music, or medicine, the Catholic Intellectual Tradition ensures that such innovation is directed to the good of the human persona and toward the just society. Learning in the Catholic tradition—pure or applied—invites ‘innovation’ to promote the conditions necessary for a richer human experience and the flourishing of all in community” (ACCU, p. 10).