On April 18 the College of Cardinals will meet in the Sistine Chapel to select a new pope. While a new pope is unlikely to have an immediate effect on Georgetown, his papal decrees, appointments of cardinals and interpretations of Catholic theology could alter the relationship between Georgetown University and Catholicism.

According to university spokeswoman Laura Cavendar, “right now, the university is focused on appropriately remembering Pope John Paul II, his ministry and his legacy.” Already, however, speculation has begun on who the next pope will be and what it will mean for Georgetown’s campus.

While Georgetown University calls itself America’s oldest Catholic university, the university no longer has legal ties to the church. The university, a non-profit corporation, is owned by a board of directors.

Of the 41 members of the board of directors, only six are Jesuit priests. Fr. Brian Hehir, the president of Catholic Charities who is a priest but not a Jesuit, and Sr. Dorothy Ann Kelly, an Ursuline nun, are also on the board. The remaining 33 members of the board are lay persons, although many of them are Catholic. The university identifies itself as a Catholic and Jesuit, student-centered research university.

The relationship between Georgetown University, the Catholic church and the Jesuits, is “a goodwill agreement, not a legal one,” according to the Rev. Brian McDermott, S.J., the rector of the Jesuit community at Georgetown and a member of the university’s board of directors.

With a new pope, that goodwill could turn sour. When John J. DeGioia became president of the university in 2001 he quoted Fr. Erich Przywara, S.J., a noted Catholic theologian, who said that the Jesuit university is “on the border line where the Church meets the world and the world meets the Church.”

A new papacy might feel that the border has moved too far.

Throughout the years, Georgetown has had several very visible struggles with its Catholic identity. How a new pope could react to these struggles is a wild card for administrators.

In 1987, GU Pride, the campus club for gays, lesbians and bisexuals, applied for university recognition and was turned down. Georgetown’s Catholic identity was cited as the primary reason for not recognizing GU Pride. In response, a group of gay students from the law center sued the university in D.C. court. The court ruled that the university had to recognize the gay student organization. Georgetown initially planned to fight the ruling in appellate court, but abandoned the appeal after receiving excessive negative coverage in the media.

Despite the court ruling, in 2002 then-Vice President for Student Affairs Juan Gonzalez refused to create a Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Resource Center, saying that the center would “unavoidably lead to advocacy of sexual behavior outside the context of traditional marriage.”

The university’s nuanced stance toward homosexuality has not caused as many problems as the university’s positions toward abortion rights advocates.

In 1992, under President Leo O’Donovan, S.J., Georgetown recognized GU Choice, an abortion rights advocacy group. GU Choice received university recognition and funding until O’Donovan was summoned to Rome and ordered to terminate funding.

H*yas for Choice, the successor organization to GU Choice, receives no university funding and in the past has cited difficulty obtaining a table in Red Square – the university’s free speech zone.

The university has to toe an uncomfortable line between a rigidly moralistic church and its students – many of whom feel that the policies unduly restrict freedom of speech and expression on campus.

The conflict between official Catholic doctrine and the values of students and faculty came to a head during the 2003 commencement address. Cardinal Francis Arinze, now considered a leading candidate for the papacy, offended some graduates and professors when he said the family is “scorned and banalized by pornography, desecrated by fornication and adultery, mocked by homosexuality, sabotaged by irregular unions and cut in two by divorce.”

Although the statement corresponds with Catholic doctrine, nearly 70 faculty members signed a letter of protest, arguing that his remarks were not appropriate at a commencement ceremony.

Privately, several university officials expressed concern that if Arinze were to become the next pope it could produce a backlash from faculty and students.

While Georgetown might react negatively to changes in the Vatican, the Vatican is unlikely to address Georgetown in any direct way.

“They don’t think about Georgetown a lot in Rome. They expect Cardinal McCarrick to do that,” said McDermott. Cardinal Theodore McCarrick is the archbishop of Washington.

The church operates under the principle of subsidiarity, whereby Cardinals, who are more familiar with their regions, are left to do much of the governance. One of the legacies of Pope John Paul II was a centralization of the papacy. A new pope may move to give more power back to the Cardinals, in which case the role of cCarrick would be increased.

McCarrick visits campus often and has a good relationship with Georgetown. McCarrick, who is 74, will be required to submit his resignation to the new pope when he turns 75. The new pope will determine whether or not to accept his resignation. If the resignation is accepted, the new pope would appoint cCarrick’s successor.

The appointment of Washington’s archbishop is one of the most immediate ways in which a new pope will influence campus.

Occasionally, the pope will also issue decrees about higher education. In 1990, Pope John Paul II issued a decree called “Ex Corde Ecclesiae” – “from the heart of the church” in English – which outlined priorities and obligations for Catholic higher education. Many Catholic universities viewed the decree as a threat to academic freedom.

Statements about higher education do not sit atop a new pope’s agenda. John Paul had been pope for nearly 12 years before he issued “Ex Corde Ecclesiae.” When the Vatican issues its next statement about higher education, it could be more significant to Georgetown than the selection of a new pope.

In a statement to the Georgetown Community, Fr. Phillip Boroughs, S.J., vice president of mission and ministry, said “in the coming days, let us remember in prayer all those gathering in Rome at this historic time.”

In the meantime the university can do nothing but observe. And pray.