CINO Checklist

New York, N. Y.—Faith & Family magazine may have come up with a great way of determining whether schools that nominally share the religion of Pope Benedict XVI are actually Catholic in Name Only (CINO).

“Did the president make the public profession of faith and take the oath of fidelity?,” F & F asked Catholic colleges and universities in a recent survey. F&F also asked whether the majority of the board of trustees is Catholic.

These questions would be interesting to ask of a Georgetown campus tour guide. G’town itself is not included in the F & F survey.

“Is the majority of the faculty Catholic?,” F&F asked, and “Do you publicly require all Catholic theology professors to have the mandatum?”

In light of previous survey data showing that students leave CINO colleges and universities holding fewer Catholic positions than when they arrived as freshmen at these institutions of higher learning, these questions are not inconsequential for believing applicants and their kinfolk. Also:

• “Did all Catholic theology professors take the oath of fidelity?

• “Is the head of campus ministry Catholic?

• “Do you exclude advocates of abortion, euthanasia or cloning as commencement speakers or recipients of honorary degrees? • “Do you exclude co-ed dorms?

• “Do your student health services exclude referrals to abortion clinics?”

A dozen schools achieved 100 percent scores on this survey, answering yes to every question. Those colleges and universities are:

• Ave Maria

• Belmont Abbey

• Catholic University of America

• Christendom College

• College of St. Thomas More (TX)

• Franciscan University of Steubenville

• Holy Apostles Seminary and College

• Magdalen College

• Southern Catholic College

• Thomas Aquinas College

• Thomas More College (NH)

• University of Sacramento

Malcolm A. Kline is the executive director of Accuracy in Academia.