New Chaplain of Yale is a Catholic Laywoman
From Yale Alumni Magazine: (HT: America magazine).
New chaplain will minister to all faiths
by Mark Alden Branch ’86
In a development that would no doubt have astonished Yale’s Puritan founders, the university has appointed Sharon Kugler, a Catholic layperson, as Yale’s seventh University Chaplain. Kugler, who has served as chaplain at Johns Hopkins University since 1993, will start at Yale this summer, succeeding Rev. Frederick Streets ’75MDiv.
The fact that a non-ordained Catholic — and a woman — could assume a post that has always been held by Protestant clergymen suggests just how much Yale and the chaplaincy have changed. Over the years, the university has welcomed increasing numbers of Catholics, Jews, and, more recently, Muslims, Buddhists, Hindus, Sikhs, and others. “We now have 30 or more active religious groups on campus, a number of them from non-Western religions,” says President Rick Levin. “It was a strong view of mine and the search committee’s that the new chaplain needs to minister to that entire community.”
That is just the kind of chaplaincy Kugler has run at Johns Hopkins. A graduate of Santa Clara University with a master’s degree in religious studies from Georgetown, she “virtually created the multi-faith chaplaincy at Johns Hopkins,” says Yale Divinity School dean Harry Attridge, who co-chaired the search committee. “She built up that program and the interfaith center there virtually from scratch.”
Kugler says that interfaith dialogue has been her mission as a chaplain. “We’re living in a world where people kill each other over religion,” she says. “I feel that my call is to be in young people’s lives when they are expanding their horizons and their brains and their hearts — and to get them to engage with people who might scare them.”
And while some may imagine interfaith dialogue to be, as Kugler jokingly describes it, “Let’s all sit at a round table, put a topic in the middle, and see how everybody comes at it,” she says she prefers a subtler approach. The interfaith center at Johns Hopkins features an ice-cream maker, a bubble machine, and occasional Crock-Pots of “Chaplain’s Chili” to bring students together — first to play, then to talk.
In announcing Kugler’s appointment, Levin made a point of affirming Yale’s roots in the “Protestant tradition.” He said that a Protestant chaplain will be appointed to lead services at Battell Chapel and to minister to Protestants “in much the same way that Father Robert Beloin serves as chaplain for the Catholic community and Rabbi James Ponet ['68] serves as our Jewish chaplain.”
For her part, Kugler says her Catholic faith is central to her personally but not to her job. She sees her non-ordained status as an advantage in her effort to work with people of different faiths. “As a layperson,” she says, “I’m everyone’s chaplain and no one’s clergy.”
I was thinking about this article in light of my last two posts. First, the claim that “As a layperson, I am everyone’s chaplain but noone’s clergy,” clearly represents enormous boundary crossings in the past decades. On this view, being lay becomes a certain advantage to being a chaplain –it allows you to transcend denominational loyalties. Lots of people have been crossing boundaries in this way–For example, some people are practicing Catholics, but consider themselves “Christian ethicists” rather than “Catholic moral theologians.” What does that mean? I think it means that they see themselves responsible for –and hold themselves out as — reflecting on moral issues with the resources of the whole Christian tradition, not as specifically carrying forward the Catholic tradition per se.
Would Pope Benedict be able to see any point to this sort of boundary crossing? Or would it be a betrayal from his point of view?
What would he think of a Catholic laywoman as Chaplain of Yale?
I cannot speak for Pope Benedict, and his reaction to the Yale chaplaincy. But as far as a sister institution is concerned, I’m under the impression that Cardinal Law did not like the idea of the Rev. Bryan Hehir heading (as Dean??) the Harvard Divinity School some years ago, and transferred him elsewhere — Catholic Charities, I believe.
If I have my facts wrong, I’d be glad for clarification.
A quick check of the Harvard website reveals that Fr. Hehir is currently the Parker Montgomery Professor of Practice of Religion and Public Life at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at said institution.
If BXVI wasn’t worried about Kugler at Johns Hopkins, why now as Yale?
Strikes me that getting young folks to talk about religion beyond some general spirityuality (especially at a distinguished university) is a terrific ministry.
Obviously, Ms. Kugler does not see her role as evangelization, but one of opening up minds to possibilities in faith. I think that’s great!
I believe this is a major event.
In today’s world it is vital that central issues of peace and charity be agreed to by all religions. How unfortunate has it been that religions have been in the forefront of wars. Sadly, there are today Muslims and Christians who feel the Crusades were a true ‘holy war.’
Many feel that there can be no peace until there is peace among the religions. A warring religion is a contradiction in terms if there ever was one. “Defendors of the Faith.” Yet years of tradition have not made that clear–especially by religious leaders themselves.
And Catholics think they are cute by declaring: Abortion, no; War, yes.
Interesting that Sharon Kugler may attempt to do at Yale what clergy of all faiths have not done–bring peace among religions. (How relevant is it that BXVI feels that we have to give more credence to the Mass of Pius V. O Tridentine how relevant art thou?)
Sharon K can make the official clergy irrelevant if not condemnable. Wouldn’t that be something. And with a woman at the vanguard.
That is a paradigm change of spectacular dimensions.
Getting a person with Chaplain Kugler’s talents and approach to bring the different elements of the community together looks like a brilliant strategic move. Since she doesn’t represent any one interest she is a free agent. And that is a great advantage in the kind of work she is doing. I just have one question: I understand the function of the ice-cream maker and the crock pot in her work ,but -I guess this really dates me-what is a bubble machine?
I personally think this is significant mainly for Yale. I was amused by the irony that Yale’s Jewish President Rick Levin felt he had to affirm Yale’s Protestant roots. Would a WASP President have felt the need to do that?