A Lutheran-Jesuit Identity Crisis?

Inside Higher Ed is reporting that four Lutheran colleges have hired non-Lutheran presidents, a trend that is raising questions about how to maintain the colleges’ religious heritage.

Of course, Lutheran identity is distinct from Catholic identity, with apparently less concern about fidelity to doctrine. But it’s still distressing that some Lutherans are looking to some of the most wayward Catholic institutions as models for the future. The article cites Paul Pribbenow, the Lutheran president of Augsburg College, and Mark Wilhelm, associate executive director of educational partnerships for the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America:

[They] mentioned Jesuit colleges as a possible model for Lutherans. While the leaders of Jesuit colleges are all Catholics, and most are members of the religious order, the colleges also have a pluralistic identity and a commitment to vocation and service—and are a well-organized group that support each other, Pribbenow said.

Laurie Joyner, the first Catholic president of Wittenberg College, spent much of her career at Loyola University New Orleans, and said she hoped Lutheran colleges would unite around their mission in a similar way.

“I feel like I can bring a lot to the Lutheran network in terms of sharing those experiences: how do we talk about this in a way that’s very inclusive, and in a way that can really strengthen our institutions?” Joyner said.

The article is interesting for another reason: whereas Inside Higher Ed is often biased against the concerns of faithful Catholics seeking to renew Catholic education, this piece is surprisingly sympathetic to Lutheran concerns.

USF honors anti-Prop 8 attorney: David Boies says HHS mandate “a normal law”

From the California Catholic Daily:

by Gibbons J. Cooney

On November 9, 2012, the Public Interest Law Foundation of the (Jesuit) University of San Francisco will host their ninth annual gala. Each year the foundation honors, in their words “… community members who have made a commitment to supporting the public interest – like the 2012 foundation grantees and this year’s Public Interest Excellence Award recipient, David Boies, chairman of Boies, Schiller & Flexner LLP.”

The primary qualification for being honored by the foundation is that one be an active supporter of same-sex “marriage.” It is the rule, not the exception. The first honoree in 2004, was then-San Francisco mayor Gavin Newsom, who had illegally directed the county clerk of the city and county of San Francisco to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples.

Newsom was followed in 2006 by Ms. Kate Kendall, executive director of the National Center for Lesbian Rights. From the center’s website: “NCLR was lead counsel on behalf of same-sex couples, Equality California, and Our Family Coalition in the California marriage case, which sought to end the exclusion of same-sex couples from marriage in California.”

Kendall was followed in 2007 by Ms. Elizabeth Cabraser, of Lieff, Cabraser, Heimann, & Bernstein. Ms. Cabraser was the lead attorney for an amici curiae brief filed on behalf of 40 legal institutions with the California supreme court. The brief recommended the supreme court overturn Proposition 8. Ms. Cabraser donated $30,000 to the “No on Proposition 8” campaign.

Cabraser was followed in 2008 by Shannon Price Minter, legal director of the National Center for Lesbian Rights, and San Francisco chief deputy city attorney Therese Stewart. The USF website said they were honoring the two because “…Minter and Stewart successfully argued before the California Supreme Court this year that same-sex couples have the right to marry.”

Cabraser was followed in 2009 by retired California supreme court justice Carlos Moreno–the sole California justice who voted to invalidate the votes of a majority of Californians by overturning Proposition 8.

In 2011, USF honored San Francisco assistant district attorney Victor Hwang. The school justified the honor: “His work includes authoring and coordinating the filing of an amicus brief on behalf of the Asian American community in support of marriage equality…”

USF’s honoring of same-sex “marriage” advocates is thus the rule, not the exception. David Boies is a predictable choice to be the 2012 honoree. Boies is being honored because he is the co-lead counsel for the plaintiffs in the case of Perry v. Brown, (now known as Perry v. Schwarzenneger). Perry v. Schwarzenneger is the attempt by homosexual activists to overturn the will of California’s voters, as expressed by their support of natural marriage through the passage of Proposition 8. Boies has so far been successful, winning decisions in Federal Court under Judge Vaughn Walker and in the Ninth Circuit under Judge Stephen Reinhardt. The defenders of marriage are currently waiting to learn whether the Supreme Court will hear their appeal.

Support for same-sex “marriage” is not Boies’ only anti-Catholic activity. Boies is on record as denying there is any constitutional issue involved when the government forces Catholic institutions to fund abortion or contraception. Earlier this year, Boies discussed the HHS contraception mandate with Chris Matthews on MSNBC’sHardball. He told Matthews: ”You don’t exempt religious employers just because of their religion. You are not asking anybody in the Catholic Church or any other church to do anything other than simply comply with a normal law that every employer has to comply with.”

Boies’ argument is a categorical rejection of religious freedom, and it is illuminating to examine what the concrete results for specific Catholic institutions will be, should the HHS mandate stand. Here’s what the mandate would means for three Catholic elementary schools in San Francisco—schools that teach children from pre-kindergarten age through grade 8. The schools are chosen at random, and the number of employees is taken from publicly available information on their websites.

The three schools are St. Gabriel’s, St. Peter’s, and St. Vincent de Paul. If any of those schools choose to remain Catholic and not abide by the HHS mandate they will be fined. If they completely drop their health plan they will be fined $2,000 per employee per year. That would be a fine of at least $36,000 a year for St. Gabriel’s, $40,000 a year for St. Peter’s, and $60,000 a year for St. Vincent de Paul. Every year. Of course, those schools would prefer to offer health plans to their employees, but without the objectionable services. In that case they will face fines of $100 per day per employee: approximately $657,000 per year for St. Gabriel’s, $730,000 per year for St. Peter’s, and $1,095,000 per year for St. Vincent de Paul.

In USF’s own archdiocese of San Francisco the mandate, which their honoree David Boies considers “a normal law” would spell the end of Catholic education.

SLU Faculty Senate and Students Pass No Confidence Votes in Jesuit President

The Faculty Senate at the Jesuit Saint Louis University yesterday overwhelmingly (51-4) voted no confidence in the university’s president, Fr. Lawrence Biondi, S.J., acording to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. And SLU’s Student Government Association has just today expressed no confidence in Fr. Biondi in a unanimous vote.

The Faculty Council of the College of Arts and Sciences voted no confidence last month after two faculty no-confidence votes against Vice President for Academic Affairs Manoj Patankar, who was a driving force behind a controversial proposal effecting faculty tenure.

A spokesman for the university called the vote “unjustified,” pointing to Fr. Biondi’s 25 years at the helm.

The Dean of Saint Louis University’s law school resigned at the beginning of the school year with a scathing resignation letter that called into question the integrity and honesty of the institution.

“It is the ultimate irony that a Jesuit university would operate so far outside the bounds of common decency, collegiality, professionalism and integrity,” Annette E. Clark, the resigning dean, wrote in her resignation letter. “I simply cannot be part of, and I assure you I will not be complicit with, an administration that can’t be trusted to act honestly.”

To replace her, Fr. Biondi hired a new interim dean, a personal injury lawyer, who, The Cardinal Newman Society reported, represented a mother in a “wrongful life” lawsuit, claiming doctors had failed to detect that her child had a congenital condition leading to the loss of the baby’s left foot. Had she known, the woman said she would have aborted the baby.

Catholics for Obama Co-Chair at Regis University

What’s missing from this press release concerning an on-campus event from Regis University in Colorado?

Regis University’s Institute on the Common Good will conduct a dialogue on Catholic Social Teaching: The Intersection of Faith and Politics, at 6:30 p.m. Oct. 25 in the St. Peter Claver S.J., Hall Mountain View Room at the University’s North Denver (Lowell) campus.

The event, which is free and open to the public, features a presentation by Nicholas P. Cafardi, professor and dean emeritus of Duquesne University School of Law in Pittsburg. An open dialogue follows Carfardi’s remarks.

Cafardi is a well-known commentator on the intersection of faith and politics. He holds numerous academic degrees, including a doctorate. in philosophy from Gregorian University in Rome, a law degree from the University of Pittsburgh, and a doctorate in canon law from the University of St. Thomas Aquinas in Rome. He has served as general counsel for the Diocese of Pittsburgh and Duquesne University, and is one of the foremost lay canon lawyers in the United States.

Cafardi also is an acknowledged authority in the law of nonprofit, tax exempt organizations. His articles have appeared in America and Commonweal magazines, among others. His most recent work is Voting and Holiness, a collection of essays by Catholic scholars on Catholic participation in political life.

According to Paul Alexander, director of the Institute on the Common Good, the Institute is heavily influenced by the tradition of Catholic social teaching, with a focus on the ideas that each person is made in the image of God; that giving a voice to the most vulnerable members of society is a key moral duty; and that society can only function if the fullest level of human rights are recognized, with members recognizing their rights and well as their responsibilities to their own welfare and the welfare of others.

If you guessed that the important nugget of information that Regis University left unsaid was that Nicholas Cafardi is the Catholics for Obama national co-chair, you guessed right!

That’s right, the Catholics for Obama national co-chair came to speak on the intersection of faith and politics in a swing state on a Catholic campus in the week before the election, but the Jesuit university left out his affiliation in their publicity for the event.

But don’t worry, Regis University assures that “there was a strict adherence to bring a message that is totally non-political.”

This is even worse when you consider what Cafardi actually said at the event, according to CNA:

Cafardi’s remarks examined moral judgment in public life, saying that the Church must leave solutions to political problems to “the informed consciences and prudential judgment of the laity.”

He had pointed criticisms of Catholic bishops’ actions on political matters.

“Our sacred pastors will tell us the ethical and moral principles that should govern human behavior. They can tell us the values that should be defended,” he said. “No bishop, no priest, can tell you how to vote, ever. They don’t have that right. That right belongs to you, and your informed conscience.

“They don’t even have the right to hint how you’re supposed to vote, as a number of them have been doing lately in their non-endorsement endorsements,” he said, adding that no one can question the decision of an informed conscience.

Furthermore, the event came out of an attempt to schedule a rally for Obama on campus before settling on the Cafardi event, according to CNA.

“Their original intent was to have more of a rally element to it,” Paul Alexander, director of Regis University’s Institute for the Common Good, reportedly said. “We just felt we couldn’t do a rally, but we felt a healthy dialogue among Catholics was important.”

Dialogue? Regis University’s version of dialogue seems a lot like partisan monologue for a pro-abortion, pro-gay “marriage” candidate.

BC Students Petition for Contraception on Campus, Take Inspiration from Gay Activists

Generation Fluke is on the rise. And they’re gathering signatures.

Students at Boston College have reportedly begun a petition demanding that the health center on campus distribute contraceptives.

The Boston College Students for Sexual Health (BCSSH), which is not recognized as a campus organization, is kicking off a year-long effort to accrue signatures from students which they plan to present to the administration at the end of the academic year. In just a few days, they already have more than 300 signatures.

Don Orr, vice chair of BCSSH, told the student newspaper why he thought this change was needed. “The petition just seems to make logical sense,” Orr reportedly said. “How do you prevent unplanned pregnancies and STDs and STIs? You give people resources so that if they choose to be sexually active they can prevent them, and have the sexual counseling to decide what they want to do.”

In response to the petition, University spokesman Jack Dunn said, “As a Jesuit, Catholic University, there are certain Catholic commitments that we are called to uphold. We ask our students to be respectful of these commitments—even if they do not agree with them.”

Rev. Anthony Penna, director of campus ministry, reportedly urged dialogue on the issue, saying, “At Boston College, offices like Campus Ministry remain pastorally committed to dialogue about sexuality as one of God’s profound gifts to the human person and the responsibility we share in understanding and nurturing this gift, not only for our own well-being, but for the well-being of the whole community, as well.”

But Lizzie Jekanowski, chair of BCSSH, countered by saying,“The administration has the official party line that we are a Jesuit, Catholic school and somehow that is mutually exclusive of meeting all of students’ health needs,” Jekanowski said. “That is not the case. The students that go here, some of them are Catholic, some of them are not. Of those who are Catholic, some make choices that align with the Church’s official stance on these issues, and some don’t.”

Students admitted that they did not expect the administration to implement BCSSH’s demands immediately.  “It’s an inch by inch process,” said one student.

Jekanowski said BCSSH takes its inspiration from gay students on campus who agitated for the GLBTQ Leadership Council and eventually received recognition and funds from the administration. “If students speak up and make this an issue, things will change. We point to the creation of GLC a lot, because that happened because students caused an uproar. What we’re starting here is the beginning of an uproar.”

Georgetown Alumni Politicians Dissent on Abortion, Marriage

Georgetown University’s student newspaper boasted recently that nine candidates for Congress, six current U.S. senators and 13 members of the House are alumni of the Jesuit university. But Cardinal Newman Society researchers have found that most of these alumni are at odds with Catholic teaching on abortion and/or same-sex “marriage.”

Some of these politicians cling to the argument that they’re personally pro-life but don’t feel they can legislate their morality. Congressional candidate and Georgetown alum John Delaney said as much on his campaign website recently.

But others like Senator Lisa Murkowski, who graduated from Georgetown with a bachelor’s degree in 1980, takes on the teachings of the Catholic Church head on. She reportedly said in one interview, “You know, I don’t adhere to all of the tenets of my faith. I’m a Republican, I don’t adhere to all of the principles that come out of my party. I’m also not hesitant to question when I think that my church, my religion, is not current.”

In response to Pope Benedict’s statement that pro-abortion rights Catholic politicians “exclude themselves from Communion,” Georgetown alumnus Senator Patrick Leahy reportedly responded, “I’ve always thought also that those bishops and archbishops who for decades hid pederasts and are now being protected by the Vatican should be indicted.”

Georgetown has welcomed some of these alumni back to campus for public events. Just last year, Georgetown hosted “An Evening with Senator Dick Durbin” for the pro-abortion rights and pro-gay “marriage” legislator to “speak about his experiences at Georgetown University and current issues in Congress.” This came after the priest of Sen. Dick Durbin’s hometown church, the future Bishop Kevin Vann, reportedly announced he would be hesitant to allow the senator to take communion.

The Georgetown alumni touted by the University’s newspaper include:

• Congressman David Cicilline of Rhode Island, who received a J.D. from Georgetown in 1986, is seeking reelection in 2012. He reportedly voted to require pharmacies to fulfill contraceptive prescription, opposed banning federal funding of abortions, and has vowed to “fiercely protect” abortion rights. Cicilline, who is openly gay, reportedly cheered on President Obama for publicly changing his position on gay “marriage” by saying, “The President’s move represents true progress for our country, and I salute his leadership.”

• Congressman Hansen Clarke of Michigan, who received a J.D. from Georgetown in 1987, lost his 2012 primary against Congressman Gary Peters in a redrawn district and will soon leave the House. He earned a 100 percent score in NARAL Pro-Choice America’s 2011 Congressional Record on Choice. He also voted twice to ensure that Planned Parenthood could continue to receive public funding. Hansen is also co-sponsoring a bill to repeal the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act.

• John Delaney (LAW ‘88), who is running to represent Maryland’s sixth district in Congress, makes a distinction between his Catholic faith and his pro-abortion rights stance. “The government shouldn’t be involved in women’s personal health care decisions,” says Delaney on his website. “As a Catholic, the personal views my wife and I have about this issue are consistent with our Church. However, that doesn’t mean those views should be imposed on others.” Delaney also reportedly supports gay “marriage.”

• Congressman John D. Dingell of Michigan, who received a B.A. from Georgetown in 1949 and a J.D. in 1952, supports Roe v. Wade. He earned a 100 percent score in NARAL Pro-Choice America’s 2011 Congressional Record on Choice. Dingell has co-sponsored legislation to repeal the Defense of Marriage Act.

• Senator Richard J. Durbin of Illinois, who received a bachelor’s degree from Georgetown in 1966 and a J.D. in 1969, reportedly used to be pro-life but changed to being pro-abortion rights. Since then he has a 100 percent voting record from NARAL, voted against restricting UN funding for population control policies, and even voted against parental notification and a constitutional ban of same-sex marriage, according to OntheIssues.org.

• Lois Frankel (LAW ‘73), running for Congress in Florida’s 22nd district, was called by The Sun-Sentinel “a sharp-tongued and outspoken liberal” who “favors abortion rights” and gay “marriage.”

• Congresswoman Mazie Hirono (LAW ‘78), who represents Hawaii’s second congressional district and is a candidate for U.S. senator, reportedly has been endorsed by the pro-abortion EMILY’s List, voted against banning federal health coverage that includes abortion, voted to expand research to more embryonic stem cell lines, and voted to require pharmacies to fulfill contraceptive prescriptions despite any violation of conscience. She also reportedly voted against a constitutional ban on same-sex “marriage.”

• Congressman Steny H. Hoyer, who received his J.D. from Georgetown in 1966, voted against banning partial birth abortion, against forbidding human cloning, and against making it a criminal offense to harm or kill a fetus during the commission of a violent crime. Hoyer also reportedly supports gay “marriage.”

• Hakeem Jeffries  (MPP ‘94), running for Congress from New York’s eighth district, reportedly is a supporter of same-sex “marriage.”

• Ann Mclane Kuster  (LAW ‘84), running for Congress from New Hampshire’s second district, has the support of Planned Parenthood and Emily’s List as an abortion-rights supporter. She also reportedly supports gay “marriage.”

• Senator Patrick J. Leahy of Vermont received his J.D. from Georgetown in 1964. He had a 100 percent pro-abortion rights voting record from NARAL in 2011. Leahy, after signing the Defense of Marriage Act in 1996, reportedly flipped to a pro-gay “marriage” position in 2009.

• Katherine Savers McGovern  (LAW ‘69), running for Congress from Texas’ 32nd district, is pro-abortion rights and has criticized her pro-life opponent for letting the “government decide a woman’s healthcare decisions regarding reproduction and other female health concerns.”

• Senator Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, who received her B.A. from Georgetown University in 1980, is “pro-choice” and says on her website that she “believes that abortion is a very personal issue that must be left to a woman and her physician, and not to elected officials.” She reportedly said in one interview, “As a life-long Roman Catholic, I am personally opposed to the practice of abortion. As an elected official however, I am required by the Constitution and my oath of office to uphold the law of the land.”

• Congressman Chris Van Hollen Jr., who received his J.D. from Georgetown in 1990, voted against banning partial birth abortion, against banning human cloning, and against making it a crime to harm the unborn in commission of a crime. He also voted against constitutionally defining marriage as one man-one woman. He also applauded Maryland’s legalization of gay “marriage” as “a critical leap forward in the fight to ensure that all Americans have the equal rights they deserve.”

• Congressman Peter J. Visclosky, who received an L.L.M. from Georgetown in 1982, voted against forbidding human cloning, against making it a criminal offense to harm or kill an unborn child during the commission of a violent crime, and voted to fund embryonic stem cell research. He also voted against a constitutional amendment to affirm that marriage is between a man and a woman.

• Senator Jim Webb of Virginia, who received his J.D. from Georgetown in 1975, did not seek reelection in 2012 and will be retiring from the Senate. He reportedly said in an interview with The Catholic Herald concerning the Freedom of Choice Act, “I’ve struggled with this issue (abortion) all my life” but added vaguely that there are “extreme situations.” But he reportedly supports Roe v. Wade, and his voting record reveals that he voted against restricting UN funding for population control policies, voted against prohibiting minors crossing state lines for abortion, and voted to expand research to more embryonic stem cell lines. He also is described as opposing a constitutional ban on gay “marriage.”

Exorcist’s Blatty Horrified by Georgetown’s Crisis of Faith

It’s no Halloween tale. Sadly, The Exorcist author William Peter Blatty’s account of Georgetown University’s failings—published in today’s Georgetown campus newspaper, The Hoya—is all too true.

But now the master of suspense has Georgetown officials wondering what’s lurking around the next corner. Blatty reminds them that he and other Georgetown patriots are about to file their promised canon law petition, urging Church and University officials to attend to Georgetown’s substantial decline in Catholic identity.

Blatty also asks the Georgetown community to join his Father King Society “to unite students, faculty, parents and alumni to make Georgetown honest, Catholic and better.”

Our new society is named for Fr. Tom King, S.J., who, in 1991, assisted a first canonical petition to stop Georgetown’s slow separation from the Church. That petition asked the Church to strip the university of its Catholic label if it did not stop funding abortion advocacy. Georgetown reversed itself. Soon, we will ask the Church to do something quite different. Our excitement is palpable. Like Jesuit Father Karras, we do it for “love.”

Father Karras, of course, was one of the focal characters in Blatty’s The Exorcist. His doubts about good and evil are at the heart of Blatty’s novel, which is more an exploration of faith than a typical horror story.

Blatty’s tale of Georgetown is both: a rueful story of faith abandoned and trust betrayed, and a horrific scenario for the Catholic Church, whose Faithful sacrificed for more than two centuries to build Georgetown’s reputation.

Of course, the decimation of “Catholic” began long ago when we first looked with envy toward Harvard and reduced the Jesuit curriculum. The dissidents came later, some in Roman collars and others who found personal gain in the movement against Church authority. Georgetown galloped toward secularism; even crucifixes disappeared from classrooms.

Then, in the early 1980s, a top New York public relations firm counseled the university that it was misguided to diminish its Catholic identity. Their report showed how Catholic identity was a valuable “brand” to be exploited in fundraising and recruitment. Georgetown got the memo but pursued a cynical path. In the prose, Latin quotes and other cosmetics, Georgetown would tell the world that it was “Catholic and Jesuit.” At black-tie alumni dinners, a Jesuit would be placed at every table like a flower centerpiece. The march toward secularism and moral relativism continued.

Debate is the servant of truth. In this case, debating whether Georgetown is Catholic has itself become a deception. Some say yes, some say no. But it does not matter what we think. There is only one accrediting agency that gets the last word. In 1990, Pope John Paul II, a former university professor, finally issued a normative constitution for Catholic universities, Ex corde Ecclesiae. Georgetown has a metric, but its leaders have chosen willfully to ignore it.

Blatty has great love for Georgetown. The 1950 graduate attended the University on scholarship. He was a Hoya editor, and his son was a Hoya editor. He thanked Georgetown in The Exorcist for “teaching me how to think.”

As for Georgetown’s Catholic identity, Blatty states flatly, “It is not too late.” His canon law petition will ask whether Church officials agree.

Loyola Chicago to Host Drag Show

The Jesuit Loyola University in Chicago will host its sixth annual drag show Thursday night on campus featuringprofessional drag queen Tajma Hall.

The university website states that “The event will be filled with amateur student performers and a guaranteed great time!”

The LUC’s Student Diversity & Multicultural Affairs Facebook site invites all to “Come see performers take it to the edge of the boundaries of gender expression. A night of music, dancing, and just all-around fun will hopefully make inquiring minds out of everyone to see what is it like to live outside the binary.”

When the first drag show was held on campus in 2008,  LUC’s “Official GLBTQ Organization” asked students to “Bring your dollar bills”.

“When Catholic parents send their children to a Catholic university they should be able to expect at least basic standards of decency and morality,” wrote Cardinal Newman Society President Patrick J. Reilly in a letter to Loyola’s president two years ago.  “Events like this not only undermine the sacred trust parents have in Loyola University, but may lead to serious personal and social problems caused by confusion about sexuality.  Drag shows debase the human person and are an affront to Catholic teaching on the dignity of the human person.”

Last year, the University defended the drag show to The Cardinal Newman Society. Maeve Kiley, Director of Communications at Loyola University said the university “encourages open discussion” and added that the Jesuit institution, “relishes the opportunity to engage ideas and different points of view.”

The show will take place this year in the student union, which the University calls “the gateway to our campus.”

Here’s a short video of the event in 2011:

BC Professor Criticizes Hook Up Culture, Says Bring Back the Date

Boston College professor Kerry Cronin gave all the students at Boston College some homework recently. She reportedly assigned students at the Jesuit college with the task of asking someone out on a date.

In a lecture called “Bring Back the Date” presented by the St. Thomas More Society, Cronin criticized the prevalent hook-up culture on campuses throughout the country.

Cronin told students she was surprised a few years ago to learn that a number of BC seniors had never been on a date. So she decided to facilitate ways to help students understand the college hook-up culture and avoid it. Cronin also visited other universities and discovered that while each college’s hookup culture is unique, the same “rules” and understandings are universal.

Cronin said the rules of the hook-up culture are standard throughout the country, and that most students take part in it.

Some of the rules include, according to Cronin, not sleeping over at a “hook-up’s” house and avoiding social contact with a hookup after the fact.

Cronin has previously said that “the ebb and flow into the hook-up scene is motivated largely by a desire for a connection, but it is a desire that is hampered by a lack of courage. The difficult thing is having the simple courage to ask somebody if he or she would want to sit down for an hour and talk.”

Cronin encouraged students to eschew the hook-up culture and actually go on a “Level One Date.”

“Level One dating is information gathering … finding out if you think this person is interesting. Level One dating includes dates one, two, and three,” said Cronin. “I want you to go on a Level One date with somebody. Look around, there are some pretty great people around here.”

Boston College Celebrates Tip O’Neill Despite Troubling Abortion Record

Boston College is celebrating the 100th birthday of the late congressman Tip O’Neill, whose record on abortion caused at least one bishop to boycott a graduation ceremony that honored him.

The late Thomas P. “Tip” O’Neill, Democratic Speaker of the House between 1977 and 1987, would have been 100 years old this year. In the first of three events that Boston College designed to commemorate O’Neill, political analyst Thomas Mann gave a lecture in O’Neill Library last Thursday tracing political change throughout O’Neill’s career.

“Tip clearly thought that social justice and the teachings of the Catholic Church were central to what his job was,” R. Shep Melnick, the Thomas P. O’Neill Jr. Professor of American Politics, said. “His passion for the poor was central to what God demands.”

But O’Neill’s political stances on abortion were… murky at best. In a time when many Democratic politicians like Teddy Kennedy completely turned from pro-life to pro-abortion rights, O’Neill seemingly kept his public pro-life view. But the reality is a but more troubling.

Phil Lawler, the editor of CWN News, wrote a book about the Church in Massachusetts and said that O’Neill “did everything in his considerable power to ensure that the House of Representatives never held a vote on any effort to ban abortion.” As O’Neill was the Speaker of the House between 1977 and 1987, he often decided which bills could be voted on.

Lawler admitted that O’Neill “retained a pro-life record” but added that “he made it possible for dozens of other Democrats to retain their pro-life credentials without lifting a finger to stop the slaughter of the unborn.”

In 1985, Bishop James C. Timlin refused to attend the graduation ceremonies at the University of  Scranton because O’Neill was being honored. Bishop Timilin reportedly said he “cannot even appear to be supportive of a congressman who on occasion failed to support legislation which could have halted legal abortions.”

The next event to commemorate Tip O’Neill will be a luncheon talk by Yale professor David Mayhew on Friday, Nov. 2.

Scranton Hosts Gay Marriage Advocate and Atheist NBA Star

Former professional basketball player, atheist, and gay activist John Amaechi spoke at the University of Scranton “Day of Inclusion” in front of more than 100 people last week.

The Jesuit university said it was “an effort to promote an inclusive, culturally competent, and mindful environment, free of bullying and harassment.”

But inclusiveness doesn’t seem to describe Amaechi’s feelings towards religious believers. Amaechi, a self descried atheist, said in interviews he finds the idea of an afterlife “so crazy” and that “the delusion is just ridiculous.”

In another interview, he said he doesn’t tell religious believers that they’re “complete morons,” but he admitted he “may hold that thought in my head at times.”

Amaechi, who played professional basketball, was labeled by the University as “an experienced psychologist, educator, social entrepreneur, motivational speaker and human rights activist in the US and Europe.” They didn’t mention that he has acted as a spokesperson for the pro-gay “marriage” Human Rights Campaign Coming Out Campaign, a program “designed to help gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people come out and live openly.” Amaechi has said he doesn’t like the term “gay marriage” and much prefers the term “marriage equity.”

Amaechi’s invitation to the campus was a result of collaboration between the Office of the Provost, the Scranton Inclusion Initiative, the Office of Equity and Diversity, Scranton Athletics Department and Employee Wellness Program.

Amaechi spoke to the audience about tolerance, but in previous interviews he negatively compared the Catholic Church to Penn State University’s  handling of a sexual abuse crisis.

Such visible, radical transformation, organisational introspection and transparent self-critique is absolutely absent with the Catholic Church (with regard to abuse), as such PSU will be forever changed by this scandal and through continued and as I said, not yet really rolling changes, they will come through it changed for the better, with a perspective, openness and a complete intolerance for anything that even suggests a move back to the culture and climate that allowed this horror to happen.

No one, Catholic or otherwise, can make that same set of assertions about even a high-level desire for proactive, wholesale, purposeful and open transformation within the Catholic church. They are simply a more insular, less transparent organisation, who become better at protecting themselves (legally and otherwise) with every revelation and more bound and justified in their self-protection, by a sense of persecution with every allegation… they survive and become ever more capable of similar horrors in the fear that reformation (a dirty word in Catholic circles anyway) would mean they cease to be what’s most important to them… but that’s a story for another day.

So much for tolerance.

BC to Host Pro-Gay “Marriage” Kal Penn to Discuss the Youth Vote

Boston College will host pro-gay “marriage” actor and former Obama administration official Kal Penn to discuss the importance of the “Youth Vote” this Wednesday, according to the Jesuit university’s student newspaper.  The event is portrayed as neutral, but Penn has been on the campaign trail working for the Obama reelection campaign.

Penn, after starring in movies such as “Harold and Kumar go to White Castle,” and television shows like “House,” temporarily left acting to act as former associate director in the White House’s Office of Public Engagement. He’s reportedly back to acting now but will be at Boston College to speak about civic engagement and the importance of the youth vote.

Just last month, Penn spoke at the Democratic National Convention and spoke positively of President Obama’s switch from a supporter of traditional marriage to a supporter of same-sex “marriage” by saying, “My favorite job was having a boss who gave the order to take out bin Laden, and who’s cool with all of us getting gay-married.”

This isn’t the first time Penn has been on the Boston campus either. In 2008, Penn was reportedly on campus in support of Sen. Barack Obama’s presidential campaign despite Obama’s radical support of abortion.

St. Louis University Profs Retaliate Against President’s Tenure Proposal

Professors at Saint Louis University have voted “no confidence” in the university’s president, Fr. Lawrence Biondi, S.J., in retaliation for his promising but short-lived proposal to reform tenure. The policy was announced in August but rescinded in September.

The vote was an overwhelming 35-2 during a meeting of the Faculty Council of the College of Arts and Sciences. This follows two faculty no-confidence votes last month against Vice President for Academic Affairs Manoj Patankar, who was a driving force behind the proposal. Patankar reportedly called the reaction “hysteria.”

That seemed to be confirmed by political science professor Timothy Lomperis, who reportedly alleged that the University “has now become a place of tyranny.”

The Jesuit university’s proposed policy for post-tenure reviews, which was scheduled to go into effect starting in January, stated that the reviews could result in 1) the faculty member remaining tenured, 2) the faculty member being placed on a “performance improvement plan” with another evaluation to follow, or 3) the faculty member could be switched back to a non-tenured position and/or fired with a year’s notice.

The idea of tenure as a lifetime appointment has come under fire recently from other institutions as well. Wayne State University in Detroit attempted to implement a policy that faculty members said would abolish tenure, but it too has reportedly walked that back.

And in a decision that The Cardinal Newman Society reported on, a federal appellate court sided with a private law school in saying tenure does not guarantee continued employment.

In Catholic colleges and universities, tenure has sometimes been used to protect the jobs of professors who undermine the institutions’ Catholic mission. So The Cardinal Newman Society will continue keeping a close eye on this story.

This is not the first time that Saint Louis University and Fr. Biondi have made news this school year. The Dean of Saint Louis University’s law school resigned at the beginning of the school year with a scathing resignation letter that called into question the integrity and honesty of the institution.

“It is the ultimate irony that a Jesuit university would operate so far outside the bounds of common decency, collegiality, professionalism and integrity,” Annette E. Clark, the resigning dean, wrote in her resignation letter. “I simply cannot be part of, and I assure you I will not be complicit with, an administration that can’t be trusted to act honestly.”

Clark, who had only been in the job for about a year, accused Fr. Biondi of taking law school money and using it for general university purposes, contrary to agreements made with the law school. Specifically, she said the university removed $800,000 from funds that were to go towards preparing a new building to house the law school, and she said the university “unilaterally” took $260,000 that was to have been used for faculty research stipends during the summer.

To replace her, Fr. Biondi hired a new interim dean, a personal injury lawyer, who, The Cardinal Newman Society reported,  represented a mother in a “wrongful life” lawsuit, claiming doctors had failed to detect that her child had a congenital condition leading to the loss of the baby’s left foot. Had she known, the woman said she would have aborted the baby.

Coming Out Week at G’Town Is a Busy One

Georgetown University is celebrating “Coming Out Week” with an array of activities including a “kiss-in,” an “LGBTQ BBQ,” and a Buddhist meditation for LGBTQ students and allies to relieve the stress.

A large banner on campus with the Georgetown seal can be seen in this video taken by Catholic author Dawn Eden.

She writes at Patheos:

The above video shows two large signs hanging above Georgetown’s Red Square: one advertising “The Spirit of Georgetown” and the other advertising the Georgetown University Office of Student Affairs’ LGBTQ Resource Center‘s “Coming Out Week.”You can get a better look at the “Spirit of Georgetown” sign on the university’s “Mission and Ministry” page, while a larger version of the “Coming Out Week” poster is on the Facebook page of one of the Georgetown LGBTQ Resource Center’s faculty advisers.

What strikes me about the juxtaposition of the two posters is that each one includes “The Great Seal of Georgetown University.”

Just last week, The Cardinal Newman Society reported that Georgetown University donated sports and theater tickets to be raffled off as a donation to the pro-gay “marriage” organization, Human Rights Campaign, which is currently battling defense-of-marriage ballot initiatives in Maine, Maryland, Minnesota, and Washington state.

On top of that, The LGBTQ Resource Center on campus promoted an on-campus kiss-in. “Show your pride this year by Coming Out through our closet door as a proud LGBTQ or Ally, and participating in the midday ‘Kiss-In’. Be sure to wear your ‘I Am’ t-shirt throughout the day to promote visibility and awareness about LGBTQ life on campus!” reads the website.

They also publicized a lecture by the Senior Legislative Council for the aforementioned Human Rights Campaign.
The site states that the lecturer “Ty Cobb works closely with Congress and the Obama administration on a range of LGBT issues including marriage, Don’t Ask Don’t Tell, and international issues.”

Even the Buddhist Meditation Sangha organization is getting in on the act tonight by co-sponsoring a “tailored meditation instruction and practice to target stress and other issues, along with peer-facilitated discussion of the power of mindfulness in our lives as LGBTQ and Ally humans.” They remind all that “No meditation experience is necessary.”

Not mentioned anywhere on the LGBTQ Resource Center website is a lecture promoting the Church’s teachings on sexuality.

When Theologians Attack Paul Ryan

A number of theologians, many from Catholic colleges, are distorting Church teaching in favor of left-leaning politics to take political shots at vice presidential nominee Paul Ryan.

Bishop Robert Morlino has previously explained that there is no basis in accusations that Ryan dissents from Catholic teaching simply because he supports slowing the rate of growth in some programs aimed at helping the poor. “Catholics and others of good will can arrive at different conclusions,” wrote Bishop Morlino. “These are conclusions about the best means to promote the preferential option for the poor, or the best means to reach a lower percentage of unemployment throughout our country.”

Nevertheless, in the past week, a theologian at Marquette University, Daniel Maguire, reportedly declared Paul Ryan “a really stupid fraud” and a “mean spirited little man.” Professor Maguire targeted Ryan for scorn in a speech recently to a group of senior citizens.

As regular readers of Campus Notes know, Maguire is a former priest who reportedly once called partial birth abortion “a necessary procedure.” He’s also attacked the bishops for opposing same-sex “marriage” and reportedly called them “moral heretics” for their opposition to the HHS mandate. In 2007, the U.S. bishops’ doctrine committee declared that the pro-abortion teachings of Maguire “cross the legitimate lines of theological reflection” and represent outright “false teaching.”

Maguire also said Ryan’s budget “targets” programs like Medicare, Medicaid, and food stamps among other programs aimed toward helping the poor. “Where your budget is, where your treasure is, I get a look inside your heart,” he said. “And it is ugly.”

Maguire, who is teaching a “Christian Faith in Cultural Contexts” course this semester, called taxes “a beautiful way of participation in a common life” and insisted that “the world’s religions are left-wing movements.” Maguire accused Ryan, along with other Republicans, of simply taking “refuge in religion, the last refuge of scoundrels.”

And he’s not the only theologian targeting Ryan. Dozens of theologians released a signed letter blasting Ryan and his policies as “a threat to the Church’s Teachings.” The letter at On All of Our Shoulders states that Ryan’s political positions are not what they called “legitimately Catholic.”

The letter states that Ryan’s economic plan is “fundamentally at odds with the teachings of the Catholic Church.”

Robert P. George, the McCormick Professor of Jurisprudence and Director of the James Madison Program in American Ideals and Institutions at Princeton University, blasted the letter as “deplorable” at First Things.

The complete list of signatories includes:

Vincent J. Miller, Gudorf Chair in Catholic Theology and Culture, University of Dayton

Jana Bennett, University of Dayton

Charles Camosy, Fordham University

Meghan Clark, St. John’s University

David Cloutier, Mount St. Mary’s University

Daniel K. Finn, Professor of Theology and Clemens Professor of Economics and the Liberal Arts, St. John’s University, Collegeville, Minnesota

Joseph J. Fahey, Catholic Scholars for Worker Justice

Charles M. A. Clark, Professor of Economics, St. John’s University

Charles K. Wilber, Emeritus Professor, Department of Economics, University of Notre Dame

Amata Miller, Professor of Economics, St. Catherine University

David O’Brien, University Professor of Faith and Culture Emeritus, University of Dayton

M. Cathleen Kaveny, John P. Murphy Foundation Professor of Law and Professor of Theology

John Langan, S.J., Joseph Cardinal Bernardin Chair in Catholic Social Thought Kennedy Institute of Ethics Georgetown University

Paul Misner, Marquette University

Thomas Reese, S.J., Woodstock Theological Center

Tobias Winright, Saint Louis University

Bryan N. Massingale, Marquette University

John Sniegocki, Xavier University

Todd Whitmore, University of Notre Dame

Christine Firer Hinze, Fordham University

William A. Barbieri Jr., The Catholic University of America

Dolores R. Leckey, Woodstock Theological Center

Richard R. Gaillardetz, McCarthy Professor of Systematic Theology, Boston College

Alex Mikulich, Jesuit Social Research Institute, Loyola University New Orleans

Susan A. Ross, Loyola University Chicago

William L. Portier, University of Dayton

John Inglis, Chair and Professor, Department of Philosophy, Cross-Appointed to Department of Religious Studies, University of Dayton

Jerry Zurek, Cabrini College

Eugene McCarraher, Villanova University

John Francis Burke, Wolfington Center, Cabrini College

Ronald Pagucco, College of St. Benedict/St. John’s University

Una M. Cadegan, Department of History, University of Dayton

Jeannine Hill Fletcher, Fordham University

David L. Coleman, Chaminade University of Honolulu

Anthony B. Smith, Associate Professor, Department of Religious Studies University of Dayton

Prof. Peter Beisheim, Ph.D. Stonehill College

Gerald J. Beyer, Ph.D., Dept. of Theology and Religious Studies, Saint Joseph’s University

Paul Lakeland, Fairfield University

Dennis M. Doyle, Ph.D., University of Dayton

Andrew Skotnicki, Manhattan College

James E. Hug, S.J., Center of Concern

Dolores L. Christie, Moral Theologian, Cleveland Ohio

Brian P. Flanagan, Marymount University

Bradford Hinze, Fordham University

Peter Steinfels, University Professor, Fordham University

Alexus McLeod, University of Dayton

Kathleen Maas Weigert, Loyola University Chicago

MT Davila, Andover Newton Theological School

Sidney Callahan, Ph.D  Hastings Center

Dr. Elizabeth Johnson, CSJ, Fordham University

Nancy Dallavalle, Associate Professor and Chair, Department of Religious Studies, Fairfield University

Robert Masson, Department of Theology, Marquette University

Rev. Christopher Promis, C.S.Sp. Congregation of the Holy Spirit

Kevin Ahern, Pax Romana-ICMICA Vice President

David DeCosse, Santa Clara University

Rev. Joseph Veneroso, M.M., Maryknoll Fathers & Brothers

Mary Jo Iozzio, Barry University

Terrence W. Tilley, Fordham University

Michael E. Lee, Fordham University

Dana L. Dillon, Providence College

Christopher Pramuk, Xavier University

Joan Kirby, RSCJ

Michele Saracino, Manhattan College

Virginia Ryan, College of the Holy Cross

William M. Shea, Assumption College

Jeffery Nicholas, Department of Philosophy, Providence College

Marcus Mescher, Boston College

Teresa Berger, Yale Divinity School

Fr. Anthony Ruff, OSB, St. John’s University, Collegeville

John Merkle, Ph.D., Department of Theology, College of Saint Benedict and Saint John’s University, Minnesota

Anthony J. Godzieba, Professor of Theology & Religious Studies, Villanova University

Mark J. Allman, PhD. Merrimack College

Mary C. Boys, Union Theological Seminary

Vincent M. Smiles, Professor of Theology, College of St. Benedict & St. John’s University, MN

Amanda Osheim, Loras College

Lois Harr, Campus Minister

Christopher P. Vogt, St. John’s University (NY)

Robert DeFina, Villanova University

William Quigley, Loyola University New Orleans

Andria Wisler, Director Program on Justice and Peace Georgetown University

David G. Schultenover, S.J., Marquette University

Dr. Kathleen Deignan, CND Iona College

Fr. Ty Hullinger, St. Anthony of Padua, St. Dominic, and Most Precious Blood Parishes, Baltimore, MD

Regina Pfeiffer, Chaminade University of Honolulu

Gregory J. O’Meara, S.J.,  Associate Professor Marquette University Law School

John R. Morris, O.P.

Tom Cornell, Catholic Worker

Brian Edward Brown Ph.D. J.D., Professor: Department of Religious Studies Iona College New Rochelle N.Y.

Jean Lim, Theology Department, Xavier University

Annette Kane, Executive Director,  National Council of Catholic Women (retired)

Johann M. Vento, Georgian Court University

Francis Schüssler Fiorenza, Harvard Divinity School

Jennifer Beste, College of St. Benedict and St. John’s University

Robert M. Doran, S.J., Professor of Theology, Marquette University

Thomas Massaro, SJ. Dean of Jesuit School of Theology of Santa Clara University

David Suter, Saint Martin’s University

Joe Holland, St. Thomas University

Richard G. Malloy, S.J, Ph.D.  The University of Scranton

Suzanne Franck

Kathryn Getek Soltis, Villanova University

Sandra M. Schneiders, Jesuit School of Theology

Dennis Beach, OSB; St John’s University MN

Joseph Falkiner, O.P.

Tom Matyok, The University of North Carolina at Greensboro

Danielle Poe, Department of Philosophy, University of Dayton

Thomas Petersik, PhD, Catholic Scholars for Worker Justice

Prof. Steve Rosswurm,  Lake Forest College

Prof. Ian M. Langella, Shippensburg University

Kevin M. Lynch, Ph.D, Central Connectivcut State Univ.

Paul Lubienecki, Case Western Reserve University

Fred Glennon, Le Moyne College

Prof. Sixto J. Garcia

Brian Doyle, Marymount University

Liesl Miller Orenic, Dominican University

Hugh McElwain, Dominican University

John E. Thiel, Professor of Religious Studies, Fairfield University; Past President, Catholic Theological Society of America

William P. George, Ph.D.

Alexander A. Di Lella

Leslie Woodcock Tentler, Department of History, Catholic University

Rev. Raymond G. Decker, Ph.D., Catholic Scholars for Worker Justice; Retired Professor, St. Patrick’s Seminary, Menlo Park, CA.; Loyola Law School, Los Angeles

Prof. Margaret Susan Thompson, Syracuse University

Charles T. Strauss, Valparaiso University

MaDonna Thelen, Dominican University

Judy Coode, Maryknoll Office for Global Concerns

J. Milburn Thompson, Ph.D., Professor of Theology, Bellarmine University, Louisville, KY

Loreto Peter Alonzi, II.  Dominican University, River Forest

Diane Kennedy, Dominican University

Mickey Sweeney, Dominican University

Philip Gleason, University of Notre Dame, Emeritus

Marcella Hermesdorf, Dominican University

Bernard Evans, St. John’s University, Collegeville, MN

Prof. John F. Marszalek

Samuel J. Thomas, PhD, Michigan State University

John Trumpbour, Harvard Law School

James P. Bailey, Department of Theology, Duquesne University

Tom Dickens, Professor of Religous Studies, Siena College

Francis J. Ambrosio, Georgetown University

Alan C. Mitchell, Georgetown University

John F Haught, Georgetown University

Joseph A. McCartin, Georgetown University

Kathleen McNeely, Director- Maryknoll Office for Global Concerns

Elizabeth Collier, Dominican University

Jay P. Dolan Professor Emeritus of History University of Notre Dame

James Walsh SJ, Georgetown University

Nancy Sylvester, IHM, Institute for Communal Contemplation and Dialogue

Rene McGraw, St. John’s Abbey, Collegeville, MN

Paul E. Dinter, Ph.D., Manhattan College

Elisabeth Schüssler Fiorenza, Krister Stendahl Professor, Harvard University

Holly J. Grieco, Ph.D. Siena College

Marian Diaz, University of Dayton

Mary Ann Hinsdale, IHM, Ph.D.Associate Professor of Theology, Boston College

Maria Riley, OP

Janet Welsh, OP, McGreal Center of Dominican Historical Studies, Dominican University

Andrew Weigert, University of Notre Dame

Bro. Steven O’Neil, SM, Marianists International

Father Brian Jordan, OFM, Holy Name Province

John A. Coleman S.J., Saint Ignatius Church, San Francisco