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As nonreligious celebrate the election of an atheist as chaplain head at Harvard University, the university said the position will not affect the centre’s Catholic mission.
However, Bishop Robert Barron, the auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, is not impressed by the election outcome.
In the New York Post, Barron said, “What does bother me is the complete and abject surrender on the part of the presumably religious leaders at Harvard who chose this man. If a professed atheist counts as a chaplain — which is to say, a leader of religious services in a chapel — then “religion” has quite obviously come to mean nothing at all.
“I’m sure Epstein is a nice fellow. I have nothing against him.
“But I do want to urge his presumably religious colleagues at Harvard who elected him: Show a little self-respect.
“Being a chaplain has something to do with the worship of God — and you shouldn’t be ashamed to say it.
“All of this has been a long time coming.
“The elite distortion of religion to the level of chatting amicably about improving one’s moral life and inner feelings.
“Immanuel Kant famously opined that authentic religion had nothing finally to do with doctrines, dogmas, prayer and liturgy. Rather, faith was all about the cultivation of morality.
“The popular version of Kant’s teaching is on display today whenever someone says, “You know, it doesn’t finally matter what we believe, as long as we are nice people.
“As a Catholic churchman, I believe in an all-powerful, omniscient and loving God, who brought the entire universe into existence from nothing and who now sustains it and draws it to himself.
“This God chose the people of Israel, whom he gifted with divine law, covenant, prophecy and temple. In the fullness of time, he became incarnate in a first-century Jew called Jesus of Nazareth, who died on a Roman cross, rose from the dead and now invites all people to come under his lordship.
“Say what you want about all of that. Affirm it, deny it, argue about it. Tell me I’m crazy for believing any of it. But by God, it’s a religion. Of course, different religions make varying doctrinal claims, but at the very least, they affirm the existence of God,” Barron wrote.
In a statement, the Harvard Catholic Center said, “We are happy to restate our commitment to proclaim here at Harvard and beyond that Jesus Christ is Lord, most fully revealed in the Catholic Church.”
The Harvard Christian Alumni Society also published a statement saying, “This was not a top-down appointment but a bottom-up vote choosing one rotating representative from a group of peers,” the group stated.
“Previously, this role has been filled by chaplains of various backgrounds including Christians and Muslims.”
Quesada said that the chaplain president term lasts for one year. But the role can be extended by a year for courtesy purposes. Catholic Chaplains have held the role as president in the past, he noted.
Greg Epstein, 44, who identifies as a “humanist rabbi” and described as a “devout atheist”, has been chosen as president of chaplains for the religious community at the Ivy League college.
The various Harvard chaplains, a professional community representing many of the world’s religious traditions, unanimously elected Epstein to represent them.
Epstein told The New York Times, “There is a rising group of people who no longer identify with any religious tradition. But they still experience a real need for conversation and support around what it means to be a good human and live an ethical life.”
Epstein heads the school’s humanist chaplaincy, which represents humanists, agnostics, and atheists. The Times reported his work as “reflecting a broader trend of young people across the United States who increasingly identify as spiritual but religiously nonaffiliated.”
“His role is not as the chief chaplain,” said Nico Quesada, the Harvard Catholic Center marketing director. “It is actually as the president of the Harvard Chaplains.”
Quesada told CNA that Epstein’s role as president of the university’s chaplains will be purely administrative.
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