Canonical lawsuit on Georgetown's Catholic identity filed with Vatican
October 04, 2013
Novelist William Peter Blatty, the author of The Exorcist, has filed a formal canonical suit asking the Vatican to protect the Catholic identity of Georgetown University, the National Catholic Register reports.
Blatty, a Georgetown alumnus, collected more than 2,000 signatures on an accompanying petition, urging the “Catholic Church to require that Georgetown implement Ex Corde Ecclesiae, a papal constitution governing Catholic colleges.” If Georgetown does not restore its Catholic identity, the petition calls for “the removal or suspension of top-ranked Georgetown’s right to call itself Catholic and Jesuit in any of its representations.”
The canonical petition, a lengthy document supported by 124 witness statements, argues that Georgetown has regularly flouted Church teaching and discipline, and failed to provide students with authentic Catholic instruction. The petition has been submitted to the Vatican Secretariat of State and to the Congregations for Education and for Religious.
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Further information:
- William Peter Blatty Submits Petition to Halt Georgetown’s Drift From the Church (National Catholic Register)
- Noted author announces canonical lawsuit against Georgetown (CWN, 5/18/12)
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Posted by: jg23753479 -
Oct. 06, 2013 9:25 AM ET USA
I too say, good luck with this suit! I told my children long ago that I preferred they attend a secular university; at least there they would know just who the enemy was and be able to better resist his lies. It galled me to think I would be underwriting heresy and hatred for the Church. Happily they took my advice and remain faithful Catholics.
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Posted by: John J Plick -
Oct. 04, 2013 10:36 PM ET USA
Now this is odd. The sons and daughters of this Institution attempting to induce the Vatican to perform an unpleasant task that She should have performed @ least 10 yrs earlier. And why does the Church pretend to value its institutions in America when as it says in the Scriptures that it is he who DOES NOT discipline their son (or daughter) hates thenm?
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Posted by: [email protected] -
Oct. 04, 2013 7:14 PM ET USA
Good luck on Georgetown. It needs an exorcist.
