The diocese and the university confirmed that conversations between the two were proceeding, but had not been resolved. Those involved in the proceedings did not address details, considering them confidential.
“We won’t make any comment about the relationship with the diocese,” Healy said last week. “We’re very hopeful that things will get resolved and it will become clear. There are issues that are not easily understood and hard to explain and we don’t want to comment on it.”
Canon law experts suggest Ave Maria’s difficulties in securing the consecration arise from canon law, the Church regulations governing authority, ownership, and control over spiritual and practical matters.
“In one sense it’s very complex; in another it’s not complex at all,” said the Rev. Phillip J. Brown, an associate professor at Catholic University’s School of Canon Law. “Nothing can be done without the authority of the bishop.”
Any pastor for the oratory at Ave Maria must be approved by the bishop. Pastors at other Catholic colleges are often recommended by the religious orders running the schools. However, since Ave Maria University is lay-run, it is doubtful they will be given the power to make such recommendations, called the “right of presentation.”
“A right of presentation would never be granted to a new parish today,” Brown said.
Further, Ave Maria University’s canonical status differs from many other Catholic universities. Ave Maria does not meet the official definition of a Catholic university, but is “a private university in the Catholic tradition.” Officially Catholic universities must agree to follow a number of church norms on education and are usually under the administration of the bishop.