Blatty’s Canon Law Case to Reform Georgetown Goes to Vatican

Academy Award-winning writer and Georgetown University alumnus William Peter Blatty’s petition for the implementation of Ex corde Ecclesiae at his alma mater has been submitted to the supreme pontiff, Pope Francis.

Ex corde Ecclesiae is a papal constitution that refines and defines Catholic identity at Catholic institutions of higher learning. The apostolic constitution issued by Blessed Pope John Paul II on August 15, 1990, sought to ensure that the norms of the faith were being observed at these institutions, and it allows for the removal or suspension of a college or university’s Catholic status if they are not maintained.