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Welcome to Monday. The financial impact of the pandemic is costing Catholic colleges and universities millions, while also laying off hundreds of workers. In the long legacy of political involvement by cardinals of the Washington Archdiocese, says NCR political columnist Michael Sean Winters, Wilton Gregory will defend the church's interests, but won't go looking for a fight.
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** Deep cuts at Catholic colleges draw backlash ([link removed])
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Layoffs and budget cuts are coming to Catholic campuses around the country as the financial impact of the pandemic begins to bite. In many cases, administrators argue that the pandemic is merely prompting reforms necessary to deal with long-term challenges of rising costs and declining numbers of high school graduates.

But critics among faculty and students are up in arms over what they see as draconian decisions made without their input that jeopardize the universities' Catholic values.

That clash is nowhere more pronounced than at Marquette University in Milwaukee where administrators are looking to close a $45 million shortfall with budget cuts that could run up to 25% in some of the university's schools and as many as 300 layoffs, according to administrators.

The university was already preparing to adapt as prospective students and their parents question the value of higher education, but then the pandemic arrived and the university lost millions refunding room and board and waiving on-campus housing requirement fees.

You can read more on this story here ([link removed]) .

More background:
* In the fall, U.S. Catholic colleges and universities were already facing unprecedented economic strain ([link removed]) and dramatically altered campus life as they imposed health and safety measures.

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** The inescapable politics of being Washington's cardinal ([link removed])
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This weekend, Pope Francis held a consistory at which Wilton Gregory, the archbishop of Washington, became a cardinal.

"The political significance of the honor is obvious: As the cardinal-archbishop of the nation's capital, he becomes the face of the Catholic Church in the political sphere and the natural point man for dealing with the incoming Biden administration," writes NCR political columnist Michael Sean Winters.

There is a long legacy of political involvement by the Washington Archdiocese's cardinals. Although not the largest archdiocese in the country, it is growing, not declining. The archbishop there is almost always a cardinal, writes Winters, because it provides the pope an "additional avenue for contact with the occupant of the White House."

"In Wilton Gregory, Pope Francis will have someone who is not afraid to defend the church's interests or its teachings, but also someone who, like Francis himself, is not going to go looking for a fight either," Winters says. "And, as America's first African American cardinal, Gregory becomes a key voice on race relations at a time when the entire nation is recognizing how much of a moral reckoning remains to be accomplished if we are to live out the meaning of our founding creeds."

Read more of Winters' column here ([link removed]) .

More background:
* In an interview with NCR ([link removed]) , Washington, D.C., Archbishop Wilton Gregory said he expects to dialogue with U.S. President-elect Joe Biden "in an honest and respectful way."

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More headlines
* At Saturday's part-virtual consistory, Pope Francis warned ([link removed]) Cardinal Wilton Gregory and other new cardinals against being "eminences," stressing that the lives of the church's highest prelates should be those of self-sacrifice and service to others.

* Yesterday was the first Sunday of Advent. Each week during Advent, composer Dan Schutte will offer video reflections. You can watch the first one here ([link removed]) . EarthBeat also will offer daily Advent reflections on how to have a "Simple Advent/Abundant Life." Check them out here ([link removed]) .

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Final thoughts

Each month at Global Sisters Report, a panel of 20 sisters reflect on issues ([link removed]) that impact the lives of Catholic women religious around the globe, in a special feature called The Life. In this month's panel, sisters share their Advent and Christmas reflections ([link removed]) . You can sign up to receive emails from Global Sisters Report here ([link removed]) .

Until Tuesday,

Stephanie Yeagle
NCR Production/Online Editor
[email protected] (mailto:[email protected])
Twitter: @ncrSLY ([link removed])

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