Abstract
In 1990 the Vatican issued 'Ex corde Ecclesiae,' (EcE) the constitution for all Catholic universities. The purpose of the document was to strengthen the authority of the Roman Catholic Church toward Catholic universities in the world and also to unify the identity of these institutions as Catholic universities. The constitution brought about a heated debate concerning 'autonomy' issues, especially in the United States. This paper discusses the issues of 'autonomy' and 'accountability' in American Catholic universities through the debates of EcE. Although there is a similar tendency in recent years for both state universities and Catholic ones to be held 'accountable,' the latter cases are in fact completely different from the former ones. The differences related to the EcE are can mainly be found in terms of four points. First, the EcE made faculty members and administrators on Catholic campuses recognize their identity and, based on this rigid identity, it contributed in some degree to the unity of Catholicism. As is obvious in the case of Boston College, for example, there have been many discussions inside or outside campus, and these events, at least, had all members in the campus recognize that they live or work in a Catholic university. Secondly, the EcE is the focal point where the Roman Catholic Church has discussed 'the relationship between the Catholic universities and the Church' for more than twenty years. This is in opposition to the statement of Land O'Lakes in 1960s which pursued general 'autonomy' in Catholic universities. While the statement of O'Lakes connoted the opportunity of the contradiction between the universities and the church, recent documents from Catholic universities show that they recognize the church less and less as an opponent of the universities. Rather, as the EcE suggested, all Catholic universities are located inside the churches, and it is the church which deals with 'academic freedom' issues. Accordingly, and thirdly, the word 'autonomy' in Catholic universities does not mean an extension of 'academic freedom,' which is spontaneously built as an individual right. Rather, it is 'autonomy' brought by the Roman Catholic Church with a rigid Catholicism. Moreover, it should not be 'autonomy' toward the churches, but be one toward the society that is likely to thin down Catholic identity. This is the original structure between 'autonomy' and 'accountability' in Catholic universities. Universities, in general, of course, have identities or missions connected to research and education, and are also connected to 'academic freedom.' Hiding behind these missions, they have kept their 'autonomy' against external pressures. If universities share their missions with the church, they cannot be opposed to the church. Although the case is strengthened towards 'autonomy' between the society and the government, this also increases the ambiguity between the churches and universities. Accordingly, the case of Catholic universities demands a redefinition of the concept of 'autonomy.'
