On Friday, Sept. 16, Fordham held the event “Learning to Listen: Voices of Sexual Diversity and the Catholic Church.” As noted in Faith Heaphy and Ray Walsh’s article, the event challenged traditional Catholic teachings in regards to sexual orientation, largely addressing sexuality in the church for the first time on campus. Seeking to reinterpret how the Church views those who identify as LGBT, Fordham theologians and individuals from a variety of backgrounds have been making new revelations that contradict the beliefs some religious organizations uphold as true and moral.

As Fordham continues to distinguish itself as a university that places great emphasis on academics, evidenced by the recent ranking of our schools as 53rd in the nation by U.S. News and World report, we must determine how we will balance our intellectual pursuits with the principles of faith upon which we established our Jesuit school.

Some feel the conversation of sexual diversity within the Catholic church is one that is long overdue, an issue addressed in the opinions piece “Does America Need Fatima?” on the opposite page. Ideals and standards within our society are changing and this topic demands attention in an open, academic setting.

Others believe that such discussion undermines the authority of church leaders and denies Catholic teaching. Patrick J. Reilly, president of the Cardinal New Society, wrote the following in a September 8 letter to conference organizers:

“[P]astoral care for homosexuals begins with a proper understanding and embrace of Church teaching outlined concretely in the Catechism of the Catholic church, which clearly explains that homosexual acts are intrinsically disordered.  That this Fordham University conference excludes Courage [an outreach group to homosexual Catholics] and advertises topics with no reverence for Church teaching implies strongly that this event is more intended to challenge the Magisterium than to support it.”

As we move forward as a university, many of us ask if we should prioritize our commitment to religious values over our pursuit of learning. We should be careful to not secularize ourselves in the name of academics, yet we must not shy away from confronting controversies that devalue the life of an individual.

This balance between a commitment to faith and to learning may soon become entirely isolated aspects of our university, or they may continue to co-exist in further dialogues, making us stand apart as a school. Regardless of our future identity, we hope that our university will carry on conversations that challenge and thus, strengthen our beliefs.