Suhrbur told the publication Inside Higher Ed that if the decision stands it would open up “a lot of opportunities” not only at Catholic colleges but at all kinds of institutions that have ties to various churches.
The case is the second this year. In January the board approved a unionization effort at Manhattan College in New York City on the grounds the school was insufficiently religious.
Reilly said the case is “extremely important” because the labor board has twice been instructed by the federal appeals court to stop ruling that colleges are not sufficiently religious.
While the affected Catholic colleges should be able to win the decision on appeal, Reilly noted that the process is expensive and does not end the labor board’s “violation of religious freedom.” He suspected these cases will have to go to the Supreme Court to force the labor board to act “in a constitutional manner.”
Discussing the general state of Catholic academia, Reilly said it is not surprising that Catholic colleges and universities are getting pressure “on all sides” for “trying to be both secular and Catholic depending on the audience.”
“We’ve seen the pressure from the bishops to be more Catholic and now we’re seeing the pressure from the secularists to stop claiming exemptions as a religious institution if they’re not going to be really Catholic.”
According to Reilly, restrictions on religious schools have been “greatly exaggerated” by all sides in the debate on Catholic identity.
Those who defend secularization have wrongly argued that the process is necessary in order to receive federal funds and fairly compete with Catholic schools, while those who shun any federal aid have said the same.
While secularization measures may be “helpful” for obtaining state aid, this is “clearly not necessary with regard to federal funding,” he said.
Reilly said that the institutions praised in “The Newman Guide to Choosing a Catholic College” are “fully Catholic” and have no difficulty obtaining funding or participating in these programs, though he granted that there may be potential problems in the future “if strings are attached to federal aid.”
Kevin J. Jones is a senior staff writer with Catholic News Agency. He was a recipient of a 2014 Catholic Relief Services' Egan Journalism Fellowship.