Catholic Ministry at Harvard: The Rise and Fall of Vatican II

"I didn't feel that we were all that radical and I always felt just semi-committed--not doing all that I could. We continually presented unpopular speakers that to some people were scandalous and we always tried to maintain contact with those elements of the Church which represented the poor and the oppressed." --Richard J, Griffin

On October 9, 1974, Cardinal Humberto Medieros, Archbishop of Boston, fired Richard Griffin, Sister Anne Kelley O.P., and Carole Bohn from their positions as Catholic chaplains to the Harvard-Radcliffe community. Medieros' action, which drew strong objections from various segments of the Catholic community, ended what can be described at best as a discordant relationship between the three ministers and the Church hierarchy. Even the manner by which the three-minister-team was relieved proved to be controversial and alienating.

In the summer of 1974 the Cardinal appointed a committee, chaired by Rev. John P. Boles, to investigate and assess the needs of the Harvard-Radcliffe community. However, the committee's assessment did not include input from the H-R community, and so when Griffin, Kelley and Bohn received notice of their dismissal notice, which they claim contained no explanation for the firing, the board of the Harvard-Radcliffe Catholic Student Center Inc. at St. Paul's Church immediately voiced its objections to the Cardinal.

The board expressed its "strongest displeasure with the abrupt firing" as well as an objection to the method of the dismissal, which it said was "in violation of the minimal standards of due process," thus undermining "confidence in ecclestiastical administration." The entire matter was further exasperated by the replacement of Rev. Msgr. Edward G. Murray as the pastor of St. Paul's with Fr. Boles, the chairman of the investigating committee.

Cardinal Medieros simply responded to the protests surrounding the ousting by saying he had the right to appoint "any priest to any position I see fit" and that, "the laity does not have a say in the appointment of priests and it will be a sad day when they do." His actions, however, carried ramifications far beyond mere clerical appointments. For the leftist leanings of the H-R ministry were in constant friction with Church superiors and its termination is symptomatic of a swing in the Catholic Church from a tolerance of the more radical activist posture of the late sixties and early seventies, to the more conservative and reflective Church of today.

But even in a period when public activism of priests and nuns was at its peak, highlighted by the anti-war activities of such clerics as the Berrigan brothers and the Congressional election of Robert F. Drinan S.J. (D-Mass.), the ministers at Harvard encountered much resistance to their work.

"My time at Harvard was marked with almost continual conflict," reflects Griffin. "There was perhaps a grace period of a few months after my arrival in 1968, but after that both the pastors at St. Paul's and the Archbishop--Medieros rather than Cushing--provided consistent resistance to our efforts."

That resistance, coupled with the firing, eventually led Griffin to leave the priesthood (the Jesuit order) in February of 1975. His departure from his vocation points toward what Kelley sees as a trend among Catholic left leaders. "A lot of the leadership of the Catholic left has left, they have maintained their leftness, but have lost some of their Catholicness," she said.

Kelley has remained with her Dominican order and is currently working with the Boston anti-poverty community action agency. Griffin, since leaving the Jesuits, has been teaching and writing, and Bohn is presently enrolled in a doctoral program at B.U., doing part-time counselling at the Harvard Divinity School.

While the Griffin-Kelley-Bohn team was serving the Harvard community, they provided a ministry which was significantly different in nature from the present team of Boles, Rev. Thomas F. Powers and Evelyn Ronan S.N.D.

"I came to see myself emphasize the political and social implications of being a Catholic-Christian," Griffin said, "and I felt a special obligation to those in the community who found difficulty in being a Catholic."

Kelley concurs with Griffin's assessment but also saw the nature of her ministry shift to deal directly with the relationship of the feminist movement to the life of the Catholic woman. "While I perceived our total ministry as an attempt to present an alternative style of ministry--an attempt to be democratic and collegiate in our decision-making, I personally became increasingly aware of the oppression of women in church history."

"If women took their Catholicism seriously they would really have bad self-images. And while I'm rather proud of the service women have given through religious orders, the fact remains that the leadership and decision-making power in the Church is in the hands of the clerics," Kelley said. "And the attitudes and views towards women are limited to the role of motherhood qualities; childbearing and rearing and keeping a happy home."

"When I first came to Harvard (in the Spring of 1970) the strong Catholic left was at its peak, there was of course the war and the UFW strike, but by the time we were fired I knew it was time for a change. I no longer wanted to be an official representative of the Catholic Church because it was so oppressive. There is must so little understanding and sympathy for public roles of women from the hierarchy of the Church."

The issue of oppression which Kelley speaks of not only goes unrecognized by the Church hierarchy but to a certain extent according to both Kelley and Griffin it is not confronted by the Catholic women at Radcliffe. Griffin says he feels that the feminism of Kelley and Bohn "kind of scared off Radcliffe women--women who had conservative Catholic backgrounds were somewhat intimidated." Kelley agrees that growing up as a Catholic woman is an experience that leaves an indelible mark, and that while there is a strong resentment to that experience on the part of older women, "the resentment is not as strong with younger women who haven't thought it through yet."

Aside from its more political emphasis, the ousted ministry was also markedly different from the present Student Center's chaplaincy in its relationship with St. Paul's. Griffin said, "I felt that I could provide a different angle--something distinctive from the parish clergy. As a Jesuit I had more freedom than the parish clergy and I became very doubtful of the parish as an institution. It was too closed to the dissident Catholics who were concerned with social issues and who were not receiving support from the institutional Church."

The democratic and reform ideals, the concern for social issues, and the emphasis on an active laiety that emerged from Pope John XXIII's Vatican Council in 1963 failed to take root in the seventies. With this failure, the support for liturgical and ministerial creativity began to dwindle also. "We had stressed creativity in our early years," Griffin said, "but the pressure and support for it decreased as time went on. The younger students in the community were not as conscious of the Church reforms brought on by Vatican II. I started to notice a new emphasis emerging, one which was more interested in a private piety and less interested in the larger social issues which some felt were being dragged in from the outside."

It is that private piety which the new team of ministers has encountered. Rev. Thomas F. Powers, one of three newly appointed chaplains said that his ministry has met little resistance from those who had originally opposed Medieros's firing. "The past really hasn't been a part of the present at all. We seemed to have moved in at a time when there's an interest in developing programs. There's been a shift in focus of the student population from a definite issue orientation of the late 60's, to the present period which seems to be more reflective."

As the attitude of the undergraduate community becomes more reflective, the nature of the Catholic Center's ministry becomes more internalized also. The political and social issue orientation of the ousted chaplains has given way to a ministry which is attempting to reach a broad base of students in programs closely tied to St. Paul's.

"We've done a lot of programming and a lot has come quickly," Powers said. "The most surprising thing we first encountered was the enthusiasm of the community, and rather than creating momentum we got swept along with it."

"So far this year we've had a lecture series, two retreats, a service program involving participation with the elderly, projects in refurbishing the centre and the basement of St. Paul's and a newsletter. In fact on Easter Sunday we had 150 people at a 5 a.m. sunrise service and that impressed me," Powers said.

The frustration and anger which Kelley and Griffin struggled with in their ministerial positions has not carried over into Powers' and Ronan's tenure. Griffin's fear that the new team "won't be able to take a stand on issues against the party line because they are so closely tied to the party" is not a major concern for the new ministers. And Kelley's statemetn that "I have spent so long being angry that I'm not at all optimistic for change and I see no signs of increased sensitivity," is not at all echoed by Ronan.

"I personally don't share the frustration with the women's role in the Church--I've found total freedom to contribute in almost any way possible,....within reason. In fact I've found quite a mixture of attitudes in the Radcliffe community--some are frightened by all this pressure from the expectations put on women now, and some are experiencing a conflict because they find in themselves that the strongest desire is a natural desire of marriage and motherhood which if sketched out is a sterotypical role of the woman."

And, unlike Kelley, Ronan feels the role of the woman in the Church is indeed being recognized. "It's not happening in such a way as to make the front page but from year to year the mentality is slowly changing," Ronan said.

Even the way that Ronan and Powers describe their ministry differs drastically from Griffin's reflection on his role. Both exude a deep introspection and piety reminiscent of the traditional parish priest. Ronan speaks of the "challenge of the tremendous scope of the vineyard at Harvard" and of her "constant concern with outreach and touching the lives of the students here."

The emphasis on welcoming each Catholic individual and developing strong interpersonal relationships is paramount to the present ministry. And while Powers recognizes the necessity of maintaining a "committment to peace and social justice" he also perceives the demand on him to be more of a spiritual nature.

The efforts of Griffin, Kelley and Bohn have not been totally forsaken in this period of new spiritualism. The board of the Harvard-Radcliffe Student Center, still angry over Madeiros' actions, felt it was necessary to appoint a minister who would supplement the Cardinal's appointments and thus avoid a complete change in the nature of the ministry. To this end Mary Roodkowsky, a degree candidate at the Divinity School, was named last spring as a lay chaplain.

"Mary to a certain extent continues our emphasis on women's rights, the questions of hunger in the world, etc. She is the Avignon or anti-Pope of the Harvard-Radcliffe chaplaincy," Griffin said.

Roodkowsky like Griffin sees a basic problem with the activist Catholic movement, a problem stemming from the failure of Vatican II's reforms to materialize. "The further away from Vatican II we get the easier it becomes to pursue either a shallow spiritualism or to say it's all bullshit, religion is the opiate of the masses and Marx and Freud were right," Roodkowsky said.

"There's a third alternative though, one which integrates the theories of Marx with a deep religious commitment. And I believe that students are still anxious to make that commitment but simply don't have the support. Without the movement of the sixties and seventies it's a lot harder on students."

The obstacles contronting a politically active Catholic posture at Harvard seem to be significant enough that such a posture is being avoided. And the current trend of Catholics at Harvard is manifested instead in the increased Sunday church attendance.

"On the gloomiest day in the middle of winter to see the students coming down the streets to 5 p.m. Mass is just a magnificent sight--it speaks to the vitality of the Church," Ronan says.

"I don't feel you can judge Christian commitment just on the basis of church-going," responds the ex-Rev. Griffin.

And Kelley adds, "The three of us and people we served were Vatican II inspired Catholics and I guess we were a bit naive in the way we thought we could effect change."