Pope's Help Sought in Theology Clash at USF

Conservative Catholics upset over a bitter shake-up at the University of San Francisco say they may soon have the pope on their side.

The Rev. Joseph Fessio, founder of the conservative St. Ignatius Institute, said he has met in Rome with Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, the Vatican's chief guardian of orthodoxy, and his concerns have been passed on to Pope John Paul II.

"The Holy Father is aware of what has happened and is watching closely," Fessio said.

Earlier this year, the Rev. Stephen Privett, the new president of the Jesuit-run school, abruptly dismissed the two directors of the institute, part of a move to rein in the academy.

Since its founding 25 years ago, the institute has functioned as an enclave of strict orthodoxy at the relatively liberal university. This year, the institute offers its traditionalist curriculum to about 150 of the university's 7,000 students.

Yesterday, Privett accused Fessio and other institute lobbyists of "McCarthyite" tactics. He said he checked with his Jesuit superiors and found no indications that Rome has intervened in the bitter theological dispute.

But Professor Raymond Dennehy, a tenured philosophy professor and one of the institute's founding members, said the papal ax may soon fall.

"It's my understanding that the pope has signed a letter saying he wants the institute restored to its pristine state," he said.

In January, Privett announced he was reorganizing the institute. He ousted longtime Director John Galten and Assistant Director John Hamlon, and replaced them with history Professor Paul Murphy.

"We are trying to integrate the institute into the life of the university," Privett said. "It was too isolationist."

Last week, the embattled institute's supporters tried to get the USF board of trustees to rehire Galten and Hamlon. On Friday, the board voted 30-2 to support Privett's action.

St. Ignatius loyalists saw Privett's move as a declaration of war, and began a series of protests and a media campaign to force him to back down.

"I have been surprised and impressed with the ability of the opponents to manipulate this story," Privett said.

Privett questioned reports that the pope has already signed a document seeking a return of the old guard.

"Joe Fessio is the source of these rumors, but he'll produce no document," Privett said. "Fessio, a la Joe McCarthy, is claiming to have a draft of a document approved by the pope, but we have seen nothing."

In Rome, Jesuit spokesman Jose de Vera told The Chronicle that his religious order had not yet received any papal communication regarding St. Ignatius Institute. Such a document would go through the Congregation for Catholic Education, he said.

De Vera said the situation was "very complicated" and "moving daily."

"We do know that Father Fessio wants the Vatican to get involved," he said.

Fessio said the papal appeal "asks the Holy Father to work with the Jesuit General . . . to resolve this controversy in a peaceable way that will allow the university to be a place of true diversity and the institute to exist within it as a program with its own voice."

Fessio said the appeal "was made on our behalf by some cardinals of the church." He denied writing it with Ratzinger, but said, "I'm not telling you who wrote it."

"We've gone to the pope using the proper procedures," he said. "We are hoping for an internal resolution."

Fessio said the appeal could be working its way through several Vatican departments, including the Congregation for Catholic Education.

A native of Alameda, Fessio studied under Ratzinger in the early 1970s, before the election of Pope John Paul II and the rise of Ratzinger as one of the Vatican's most powerful cardinals.

Fessio remained close to his mentor, using his San Francisco-based Ignatius Press to publish a lengthy interview with the German cardinal called "The Ratzinger Report."

Ratzinger, meanwhile, had a hand in the pope's surprise appointment of Fessio as one of 20 international theologians to a 1987 Vatican assembly.

That same year, Fessio was fired as director of St. Ignatius Institute by former USF President John LoSchiavo. They had clashed over a $1 million contribution to the institute by the late Louise Davies, one of San Francisco's premier benefactors.

Fessio continued to run Ignatius Press, and quietly kept a hand in the institute's affairs. Now, his Vatican connections are being put to the test in the crusade to save his conservative creation.

Former institute Director John Galten, who had worked at the institute since 1977, said Privett's move is "a smoke screen to fundamentally change the institute.

"We rely on the teaching authority of the church," he said. "It is the rule by which we go."

Dennehy said the St. Ignatius program, which combined academic, spiritual and social elements, is "the last institution of Catholic orthodoxy in the Northern California."

"We formed the institute as an alternative voice on campus, one that preserved the teaching of the pope," he said. "The Jesuits were not doing that. "

Not so, said the USF president. "It's crazy to say we are disloyal to the teachings of the church," said Privett, characterizing his critics as "self- appointed guardians of authentic Catholicism."

Chronicle correspondent Jeff Israely, in Rome, contributed to this report. / e-mail the writers at dlattin@sfchronicle.com and efernandez@sfchronicle.com.

This article appeared on page A - 15 of the San Francisco Chronicle