The Catholic Weekly 19 April 2020

catholicweekly.com.au 3 19, April, 2020 FROM PAGE 1 Prof Craven’s tenure has been bookended by the Global Fi- nancial Crisis at its beginning and now the COVID-19 pan- demic at its conclusion. The main driving force behind ACU’s expansion over the last 12 years, he nominates three key achievements of his time as Vice Chancellor. ACU has grown from15,000 to 35,000 students and has added two extra campuses, is the largest Catholic university in the English-speaking world and is counted in the top 10 of the world’s Catholic universi- ties and in the top 200 of the world’s approximately 10,000 universities. “When I came to the posi- tion I realised that if we were going into a demand-driven systemand I had six campuses over a 2000 kilometre arc - if we didn’t grow we were dead,” he said. “We had to make the university scaleable and that’s been achieved.” The task was also to trans- form a university that com- menced life as a teachers’ col- lege and make it an institution of academic research. “That’s taken the longest [to achieve] but we’re there,” he said. “Over the last five years we’ve become really excel- lent in research, especially in education, theology and arts - we’ve become a real univer- sity,” he said. Finally, his goal was to ensure ACU became a truly Catholic institution. “The words ‘Catholic uni- versity’ are a compound noun,” he told The Catholic Weekly . “You can’t trade one off against the other. You have to be brilliant at both. In so many ways we’ve done that. “Therefore, we’ve con- sciously deeply grown into our Catholicmission and identity,” he said. “The La Salle Acad- emy for religious Education, regarded in the Vatican as a world standard, is just one ex- ample. The Academy, established in 2014 aims to support and enhance the preparation of teachers and leaders in Catho- lic schools. All ACU academics who teach in the areas of faith formation and religious edu- cation for teachers and leaders ONE MONTH after a US Bish- op announced there would no longer be publicMasses in the diocese to curb the spread of the coronavirus, he reversed his decision saying public Masses could resume, with restrictions. The decision breaks ranks with fellow US bishops who have shut down their dioce- san churches. In a 15 April letter to dioce- san priests, Bishop Peter Bal- dacchino of Las Cruces, New Mexico, said he would allow public Masses that adhered to the state governor’s restric- tions through either outdoor services – with people in cars – or services inside churches with no more than five people present and practicing social distancing. Both possibilities, he said, would comply with state re- strictions on public gather- ings. He said the need to do this stemmed from a prevail- ing spiritual hunger, saying: “While we run a daily count of the physical deaths, we are overlooking those who are dead interiorly.” “Depriving the faithful of the nourishment offered through the Eucharist was in- deed a difficult decision, one that I deemed necessary until I had further clarity regarding our current state of affairs, but it cannot become the ‘status quo’ for the foreseeable fu- ture,” he wrote. The bishop said he had de- termined a “safe way to pro- ceed” with the acknowledg- ment that the state shutdown ¾ ¾ Carol Zimmerman We’ve become a top university of Catholic schools are part of the Academy. Prof Craven sees the Acad- emy as fundamental to the future for the renewal of the Church. Universities like ACU are responsible for educating and forming religious educators. If we get that wrong, the re- newal of the Church will not happen,” he said. “So the La Salle institute is incredibly im- portant.” Meanwhile, ACU is vital for the training of the Church’s fu- ture leaders. People find it easy to crit- icise the bishops, he noted, “They seem to assume that bishops come imbued with theological sophistication, as speakers, as leaders. But we Outgoing ACU Vice Chancellor Greg Craven: transforming ACU into a serious research university, over- seeing its expansion and forming it as a truly Catholic institution have been the highlights of the last 12 years. PHOTO: GIOVANNI PORTELLI Bishop Baldacchino wears a mask and gloves while giving Com- munion to a passenger during the Easter Vigil PHOTO : CNS, DAVID MCNAMARA, DIOCESE OF LAS CRUCES don’t train our bishops. I think we have to become much more sophisticated in how we prepare bishops and priests and a Catholic university is a very important place to do that.” He nominated winning recognition and acceptance of ACU by two constituencies – Catholics and other universi- ties - as a highlight of his time. “It’s one thing to be accepted by the Catholic constituency, but another to be accepted by the university constituency as a non-negotiable part of a higher education system,” he said. But at a personal level, the highlight has been building ACU’s three chapels, “building expressions of Catholic culture and learning in physical form was an enormous satisfac- tion to me,” he said. Although known for not being fright- ened of debate or controversy, he admitted taking unpopular public stances – such as speak- ing up for Cardinal Pell - has sometimes come at a cost. “If you’re the Vice Chancel- lor of a Catholic university and you’re a constitutional lawyer, you have a special responsi- bility in relation to aspects of justice, especially regarding the Catholic church - and you have a responsibility as a Catholic intellectual,” he said. “This has often been underdone in all Australian universities and it’s easier to try and not get into trouble. “Yes, it does come at a per- sonal cost. I’m not a person who’s never experienced mis- givings and anxiety. Despite what people may think I don’t particularly enjoy controversy. Underneath there are masses of vulnerability. “Yes, when you get the hid- eous emails, you feel it, but some things have to be done and some things have to be said.” Bishop Baldac- chino said in his letter he did not agree with the state’s view that the Catholic Church is not an es- sential service that had to be open.” “The words ‘Catholic university’ are a compound noun ... You can’t trade one off against the other. You have to be brilliant at both. In so many ways we’ve done that.” Professor Greg Craven US bishop opens his churches could likely last for some time. BishopBaldacchino, like some Catholics who have signed pe- titions seeking the reopening of churches, said in his letter that he did not agree with the state’s view that the Catholic Church is not an essential ser- vice that had to be open. This distinction has been given to grocery stores, banks, media outlets and restaurants with only takeaway options. “While it is true that we need to take every reasona- ble precaution to reduce the spread of coronavirus, it is equally true that we offer the greatest ‘essential service’ to our people,” he wrote, men- tioning the many challenges people are enduring amid the pandemic that he said priests can address. “In the midst of financial uncertainty, fear for one’s health, pandemic-induced anxiety and confinement to their homes, people need a word of hope. We, as priests, are called to bring the Word of Life to people, we are called to minister the life-giving sacra- ments. Televised Masses have been an attempt to bridge the gap during this time, but this is not enough,” he wrote. - CNS Looking for a new Job? www.catholicjobsonline.com.au NEWS