Catholic University Sues State to Escape Union Bargaining — A Symptom of Post-Conciliar Institutional Apostasy

EWTN News reports that St. John’s University in New York has filed a federal lawsuit against the New York State Public Employment Relations Board, alleging that mandatory collective bargaining with faculty unions constitutes an unconstitutional infringement on its religious liberty. The university, founded in 1870 and operating under a self-described “Catholic and Vincentian mission,” announced in February that it would no longer recognize two campus unions — the St. John’s University Chapter of the American Association of University Professors and the Faculty Association — both formed in 1970. The school’s spokesman claimed the decision would “allow [the school] the flexibility required to innovate while continuing to support our faculty and, most importantly, deliver on our promise to our students.” The lawsuit, filed June 1, argues that state oversight would “impermissibly entangle” the government in the university’s religious mission and prevent it from “freely govern[ing] itself in accordance with its Catholic and Vincentian mission and faith.” Union president Sophia Bell countered that the university president, Father Brian Shanley, is “violating New York state law and ignoring decades of St. John’s institutional practice and centuries of Catholic social teaching around respect for labor and workers.” This dispute, while framed in the language of constitutional law and labor relations, exposes the profound theological and institutional bankruptcy of post-conciliar Catholic institutions that invoke “mission” and “faith” while operating according to the logic of secular corporate governance.