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The Roman Catholic World
“A dead thing can go with the stream, but only a living thing can go against it.” G.K. Chesterton– The Everlasting Man, 1925
August 3, 2009
The following article appeared as the feature story on the front page of The Wanderer, August 6, 2009 issue, which was available online on July 31, 2009.
By MARIELENA MONTESINO de STUART
Part 1
Marielena Montesino de Stuart
Ave Maria is my second “ promised land.” When my family and I freed ourselves from the grip of the Communists in Cuba and arrived in the promised land of the United States, we left behind years of persecution, political imprisonment, executions, and hunger. But most of all we left behind the inhuman practice of silencing dissent— silencing our ability to speak the truth of the injustices we suffered. Free speech, and the ability to express dissent is what separates civilized societies from uncivilized ones. It is what my father was imprisoned for — and many members of my family gave up their lives for, as devout Roman Catholics. So, it is in this spirit of freedom, truth, and loyalty to the Church, that I tell the following story.
The Wanderer - August 6, 2009 Issue. Front page featured article AVE MARIA: THE PROMISE, THE REALITY by Marielena Montesino de Stuart
Human projects rise and fall based on the ideas they present — but if these ideas are not supported by strong moral conditions, no amount of money or promises will allow them to flourish.
It is the absence of these moral conditions that has led so many devout, conservative, faithful Catholics, who once supported Tom Monaghan’s idea of Ave Maria, to now express their strong objections about Ave Maria University’s administration, under the leadership of its founder.
This outpouring of dissent, again — not from liberals, but from so many conservative faithful Catholics, through various Catholic media, is truly noteworthy. This stands in stark contrast to those inside Ave Maria, who have remained alarmingly silent. Is this silence borne out of fear?
When the university and the town of Ave Maria officially opened in the summer of 2007, the expectation, from the world, was that Tom Monaghan’s promise of an “ orthodox” Catholic university — and the town with the Catholic identity built in part to support it, would be the answer to the dream of thousands of faithful Catholics. Those who longed for a place to gather, worship, and raise their families — in an environment both possible under our Constitution, and under God’s natural laws.
Anyone who visited Ave Maria in the spring of 2007 could have easily compared it to the surface of another planet. The remoteness, and the absence of topographical prominence, other than the church and a few buildings, made it seem almost surreal. A place so barren could only be supported through the lure of big promises. How else would anyone be attracted to the middle of a swamp, teeming with alligators, panthers, bears, pythons, wild boar, and a plethora of insects almost the size of helicopters.
The promise of a self-sufficient thriving community, as promoted by Tom Monaghan in partnership with the developer, Barron Collier, seemed extraordinary. In a world where the hopes for our children’s future seem more and more bleak, the thought of a promised self-sufficient community with a Catholic identity, to help support an “orthodox” Catholic university, was much too precious to turn down.
Ave Maria
Within the first year, the disappointments and the exodus began. The moral conditions needed to support a project of the magnitude of Ave Maria were not there — not because there weren’t participants and residents supporting the moral conditions needed — but because many of the key players had gone in another direction.
The emphasis became — “Is Ave Maria a Catholic Town? Absolutely not”; “Every Family, Every Lifestyle, Every Dream” — is what the developer, in partnership with Monaghan, advertised on their web site.
“Every lifestyle”?
The faithful Catholics who came here to support Tom Monaghan’s Catholic dream did so to get away from “every lifestyle.” Why would they come to a town, in a remote location of the Everglades — which until six weeks ago did not even offer a place to buy the most basic necessities, to experience “ every lifestyle.” The marketing of this town has been an ongoing controversy — but that’s another story. The fact remains, that now faithful Catholics are afraid to come — and “all lifestylers” would rather display their style elsewhere. So, the uniqueness of the town (a Catholic identity) being publicly denied — shattered the dreams of many who came, or were planning to come.
Some of the faithful Catholic families that purchased homes in Ave Maria, with great joy, sacrifice, and enthusiasm, have subsequently sold them at a great loss. Some seem to be “ walking away” from their property. Others came, hoping to buy — then saw the disconnect between the promise and the reality, then withdrew their offers on the purchase of homes. The remarks from those who have left or are trying to leave include, “it wasn’t what we thought it would be” to “ we want to put it behind us” or “ we cannot discuss it.” The Naples Daily News reporter could hardly ever obtain an attributable statement about problems concerning the university and the town from a resident in nearly a year and a half, since the town opened.
Why, one would ask, would a town with a promised Catholic identity and a promised “ orthodox” Catholic university elicit such parting remarks? Why would people be afraid to say why they left, or are trying to leave, to the Naples Daily News, or to anyone, for that matter? What are the people who have left, or are trying to leave, concerned about? Are they afraid of retaliation? Some may be leaving for strictly personal reasons — but those that are, or have been connected with the university, will not speak.
Dare To Dissent
Fr. Joseph Fessio’s second firing last month is evidence of retaliation. In his written statement following his firing he explains the reasons for his dismissal:
“ This morning ( Monday, July 20), Dr. Jack Sites, Academic Vice President of Ave Maria University, flew from Houston, where he was attending a meeting of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools, to San Francisco, to inform me personally that I was being dismissed from Ave Maria University. . . . He said that the reason for my dismissal stemmed from a conversation I had in November of 2008 with Jack Donahue, then chairman of the board of AMU. At that time I felt it an obligation to speak to the board chairman before the upcoming board meeting, to make sure he was aware of the urgency of the university’s financial situation. After I had informed him, using projections based on publicly available documents and statements, he asked me what I thought was the solution. I told him that there were policies being followed that were at the root of the problem, that the present administration was irrevocably wedded to those policies, and that without a change of administration the university was at great risk.”
So, Fr. Fessio expressed his concerns to a member of the Board of Trustees — regarding information of vital importance to institutional stability and fiduciary responsibility. The Ave Maria University administration reacted through retaliation, by firing him. This climate is not conducive to student protest, particularly because most of the students are in some form of scholarship or tuition assistance. It is not clear if Ave Maria University students even publish an independent student newspaper where dissenting opinions can be freely expressed. There has not been consistency in the understanding and reaction from the students, regarding the events that are taking place.
These circumstances are reminiscent of Communist or totalitarian regimes — where people’s dissent ends in retaliation, and where information is suppressed. Ave Maria is not just another urban development. It was an ambitious project with colossal plans and wonderful Catholic promises. Why would a place like this send people into silence?
The only known open support for Monaghan inside the town of Ave Maria has come from a handful of individuals. The question is: How many of these individuals — and to what extent — are beholden to Monaghan and his enterprise? And do they really get the whole picture? What the public has not seen is the other side — those residents, who feel disappointed, afraid and isolated, with no way out.
The Surprise
One underlying factor not known to many about Ave Maria, is the ownership and control that the university has over the town. The media have chronicled that many of the professors and staff that purchased homes in Ave Maria, did so by accepting incentive second mortgages of up to $ 150,000 issued by the university — which would have to be returned to the university within 90 days, pursuant to the terms contained in the contract, excerpted below:
Jury Trial Waiver. The Borrower hereby waives any right to a trial by jury in any action, proceeding, claim, or counterclaim, whether in contract or tort, at law or in equity, arising out of or in any way related to this Security Instrument or the Note. Definition of Maturity Date. The Maturity Date of this Note shall be the first to occur of the following events; when the Property is sold or transferred, upon any acceleration of the Note or first mortgage on the Property for default or otherwise, upon obtaining any subordinate mortgage financing on the Property, within ninety (90) days of the date when a Borrower leaves the full time employment of Ave Maria University, Inc. unless the Borrower is totally and permanently disabled according to the Ave Maria University disability policy, not later than three ( 3) years of any Borrower’s death or retirement from the University such period being determined based upon Borrower’s years of service to Ave Maria University, when the Property is no longer used by Borrower as Borrower’s primary residence.
This financial arrangement makes Ave Maria University the employer, loan officer, and beneficiary of the purchase.
In addition, ownership of businesses in the available retail business space owned by Monaghan in partnership with Barron Collier (under the name of Ave Maria Development) includes financial incentives, such as free leased space. These factors, in effect, make Ave Maria largely a company- owned town. Almost none of the faculty members are tenured, and many members of the staff are “ at will employees.”
Showing moral courage under such a beholden state has proven to be difficult in a financially controlled environment like Ave Maria.
Free Speech: The Open Letter
As the spring of 2009 drew near, I decided that, as a private citizen of Ave Maria, and as a family who is financially independent from the university and the town, and its governing district board, it was time that I addressed in writing some of the issues that were of concern to many, regarding the administration of Ave Maria University. These issues directly affect the residents, as investors in this town built around, and — in a symbiotic relationship — with the university. So, on February 17, 2009 the Naples Daily News published in their editorial pages my Open Letter to the Ave Maria University Board of Trustees. Here is the complete text of that letter:
My Open Letter To The University’s Board Of Trustees
As a resident of Ave Maria, and one attracted to move here in part by the advertised presence of an “ orthodox Catholic” university, I wish to present the following comments and questions to the Board of Trustees of Ave Maria University, for discussion during the Board’s meetings scheduled to take place on February 19 and 20, 2009.
My husband and I moved with our young children to Ave Maria in August 2007, seeking the orthodox Catholic environment that Mr. Tom Monaghan had promoted through the creation of a university that would follow the Apostolic Constitution of the Servant of God, Pope John Paul II in Ex Corde Ecclesiae. This is manifested through promotional materials and the use of the words Ex Corde Ecclesiae (“ From the Heart of the Church”) and the title of Pope John Paul II’s Encyclical Letter Veritatis Splendor (“ The Splendor of Truth”) in the university’s logo.
This expression of Ave Maria University’s stated loyalty to the guidelines of Catholic education set forth by Pope John Paul II was further supported by the use of the Oratory’s image surrounding the words Ex Corde Ecclesiae. As parents, we were filled with tremendous hope that this return to traditional Catholic higher education and obedience to the Magisterium, would repair the terrible damage caused by the infamous Land O’Lakes Statement of 1967, which disassociated Catholic higher education from episcopal guidance.
Upon arriving in Ave Maria, we found that the Catholic orthodoxy that had been advertised, was suddenly under attack by the same administration that had promoted it. For example, at this new so- called “ orthodox Catholic” AMU campus in Ave Maria my children and I were not permitted to kneel at the communion rail; paradoxically, kneeling at the communion rail had been routinely permitted — in fact, it was a tradition at the old AMU campus, only a few miles away in the community of The Vineyards, in Naples.
Many persons interested in moving to the new Town of Ave Maria had attended Mass at the old AMU campus in The Vineyards and witnessed the use of the communion rail — something clearly indicative of a return to a level of reverence and belief absent in so many other places.
The opposite was true at the new AMU campus in Ave Maria, where the student body had to bravely and respectfully argue for use of the communion rail, but AMU’s administration stubbornly refused to comply. When I asked the priest who claimed to be “ Chaplain” where the communion rail was, he responded that it had been removed and placed in an undisclosed location.
What followed were months of an adversarial environment involving our local Bishop’s authority. This was a shocking experience, considering that this is a Bishop universally regarded as an orthodox Catholic. This situation became worse, as AMU’s institutional identity was being questioned.
The Naples Daily News reported during the month of February 2008, that the president of AMU had said that although “ Catholic” status has not been conferred upon the university, changes to church laws might not do enough to reflect the laity’s growing influence after the Second Vatican Council, and that “ it might take a while for canon law to catch up to all that.” This clearly did not lend credence to the AMU administration’s claim to uphold Catholic orthodoxy. To the contrary, Catholic orthodoxy does not engage in power struggles with an orthodox Catholic Bishop.
Need I say that nothing, absolutely anything could have prepared me for the division and defiance I witnessed against our Bishop, or for the persecution I suffer as an orthodox Catholic, to this day, inside Ave Maria. What a profound disappointment it has been, to my family, and to others — who are interested in being loyal to the Church, and were attracted to Ave Maria by AMU’s marketing to “orthodox” Catholics.
The months passed in this suspended state, and the pressure built on all sides. As the need for Sacraments increased, something that could only be provided through obedience to the local Bishop and under his pastoral care, AMU finally reached an agreement with the Catholic Church, allowing the Oratory to be under the control and guidance of the Bishop.
Today, we feel blessed and privileged to have the Oratory under the pastoral care of Bishop Frank Dewane. Despite pressures from the AMU administration, the Oratory is presently a haven from idiosyncratic and unorthodox practices that occurred on occasion, prior to episcopal supervision.
The question now is the future of Ave Maria University, and its lack of legitimate recognition by the Catholic Church; consequently, I present to the Board of Trustees the following questions:
1. Why doesn’t the local Bishop have episcopal oversight of AMU, through permanent institutional participation in the Board of Trustees? Articles 5.1 and 5.2 of The Catholic University Within the Church, in Ex Corde Ecclesiae, indicate that “ every Catholic University is to maintain communion with the universal Church and the Holy See; it is to be in close communion with the local Church and in particular with the diocesan Bishops of the region.” It further states that “ each Bishop has a responsibility to promote the welfare of the Catholic Universities in his diocese, and has the right and duty to watch over the preservation and strengthening of their Catholic character.”
2. If AMU has pursued episcopal oversight through other means, other than through the local Bishop (such as through the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, or directly through Rome) then AMU’s administration would be well- advised to provide written proof that such steps have been taken, in pursuit of official Catholic recognition. Or, is AMU simply not interested in taking the steps necessary to obtain episcopal recognition as authentically Catholic? Is the stumbling block yet again a reluctance to submit to the Catholic Church — to surrender power and control? Or does the AMU administration simply not care about Ex Corde Ecclesiae? If that is so, the words Ex Corde Ecclesiae — Veritatis Splendor should be removed from the university seal immediately, as it is misleading students, their parents, donors, as well as current and prospective residents of the Town of Ave Maria.
3. Why doesn’t the administration of AMU openly advertise its well- known stubborn bias for the Charismatic Movement and the “Praise & Worship” Mass, and its dislike of Sacred Music and the Extraordinary Form (Latin Mass)? Is it merely to entice traditional and orthodox students (and residents) to AMU and to the Town of Ave Maria? In other words, the type of Catholics that are drawn to Ex Corde Ecclesiae?
Why not more Catholic honesty? This defiance against the expansion of the use of the Tridentine Rite goes not just against Pope Benedict XVI’s Summorum Pontificum, but also against the advice of Cardinal Antonio Canizares Llovera, prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship.
4. Why has the administration advertised that AMU is a Catholic University, when Article 3.3 of Ex Corde Ecclesiae states: “A University may refer to itself as a Catholic University only with the consent of the competent ecclesiastical authority, in accordance with the conditions upon which both parties shall agree.” The administration certainly knows this. Again, more honesty is needed, or better — do whatever it takes to comply with Ex Corde Ecclesiae.
5. In consideration of the fact that AMU markets itself as faithful to Ex Corde Ecclesiae, to donors, students, and residents, is AMU a “Catholic institution” — or a forprofit real estate/educational corporation?
6. Why serve on a Board of Trustees of a so-called “orthodox Catholic” university, if you are not going to take Ex Corde Ecclesiae seriously — the guiding, and most recent document from the Vatican on Catholic university administration?
Ave Maria University will never achieve serious recognition in Catholic academia, unless it strictly complies, in both words and actions, with Ex Corde Ecclesiae. Since the opening of the new campus here in Ave Maria in August 2007, I have seen the expectations and the morale surrounding AMU deteriorate day by day. The current situation is not only damaging to its distinguished faculty, but also to the future of the university, as well as to the Town of Ave Maria.
In light of the serious issues and questions presented above, as well as in consideration to the faculty, current and prospective students, parents, residents, donors, and benefactors, it is incumbent upon the Board of Trustees to take the necessary steps to begin the process of requesting the resignation of the current administration at Ave Maria University, and to seek a new leadership — leadership that will sincerely and faithfully support and live up to AMU’s logo — Ex Corde Ecclesiae — Veritatis Splendor.
Respectfully yours in Christ,
Marielena Montesino de Stuart
COMPANION ARTICLES:
“AVE MARIA: The Promise, The Reality” Part 2, Part 3 , Part 4
The Chronicles of Ave Maria©
You may also read Marielena Montesino de Stuart’s commentaries through: RenewAmerica, USAToday, The Dallas Morning News, U.S. Politics Today (an EIN Service for Political Professionals-*) Poynter Online, Spero News, Daily Estimate, The New Liturgical Movement-Poland, The Naples Daily News, Les Femmes-The Truth, Culture War Notes, ProLife Blogs, The Wanderer, etc.
Topics for Discussion: Ave Maria, Ave Maria University, Ave Maria University Council, Ave Maria University Board of Trustees, Bishop Frank J. Dewane, Father Joseph Fessio SJ, Firing of Priest, Fiduciary Responsibility, Institutional Instability, Tom Monaghan, Nick Healy, Barron Collier, Ave Maria Development, Ave Maria University 2nd Mortgages, Naples Daily News, The Wanderer, Open Letter, Ex Corde Ecclesiae, Summorum Pontificum, Latin Mass, Catholic town identity, Charismatic Movement, Healing Masses.
Notice to readers
His Excellency, Bishop Frank J. Dewane and Marielena Montesino de Stuart
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