$125 for two-hour lunch with Pelosi
All that money for lunch with Nancy and aging hippie Jesuits. There is more pleasure eating a five dollar foot long from subway alone.
Comments:
Posted Thursday, April 14, 2011 2:39 AM By ANNE
Abortion is a crime against humanity - both the natural and moral laws. It deprives the most innocent and most helpless of their God given right to life. It is murder for convenience. It violates God's 5th Commandment - Thou shall not kill. It is time for this obstinate heretic to be excommunicated due to her SCANDAL and obstinate persistance in supporting abortion.
Posted Thursday, April 14, 2011 5:41 AM By 1abqdad
Once again, the inactivity of Archbishop Niederauer makes us all look like incompetent, hypocritical fools because our doctrines are not worth fighting for! This continuing insult to our Lord is maddening! Bishops must EARN my respect, and too many are terribly lacking in the guts department. They are called to LEAD their flocks, not to kiss up to the DNC and their liberal cohorts! When is the Vatican going to realize the damage that is done every time something like this is made public??? (I have given up on the USCCB acting on behalf of the Church!) I continue to pray and hope that everyone here will do the same... in addition to contacting their bishop, the USCCB, and the Vatican!
Posted Thursday, April 14, 2011 8:07 AM By 1abqdad
It is PAST time for an excommunication ab homine! One of the Kenedy's got the hint after their meeting with their bishop (And got out of politics!). This is disgusting and an insult to God! This will ONLY end if we follow through with what GOD has told us to do...excommunicate her ab homine and refuse her the HONOR of being publicly identified as Catholic!
Posted Thursday, April 14, 2011 9:12 AM By Larry
It's time to dissolve the Society of Jesus.
Posted Thursday, April 14, 2011 9:33 AM By MD
Give her money so she can further fund planned parenthood. Georgetown should be ashamed of itself. I wouldn't go if she paid me $125.
Posted Thursday, April 14, 2011 9:58 AM By Pax Christi
My God, just what IS it going to take for her to be excommunicated? Ann Coulter wasn't kidding about the lengths Democrats go to to keep government funding for Planned Butcherhood in her latest commentary, which is replete with zingers that are to behold. You can read for yourself by doing a Google search using "On this aborted fetus, the Democrats plant their flag" as the search words. By the way, a friend of mine and I should be shown on the KGET Channel 17 news tonight keeping vigil outside the abortion clinic in Bakersfield as part of the 40 Days for Life campaign. It will be about a 14-year-old girl claiming to have been traumatized by another friend of mine planting a cross in memory of the baby she aborted.
Posted Thursday, April 14, 2011 10:05 AM By Sarah
If one is a rich politician, such as Nancy Pelosi ("ardent practicing Catholic") or the late Sen. Edward Kennedy and other pro-abortion Catholic politicians, it's OK to be pro-abortion and pro-contraception, but for ordinary Catholics it would be a mortal sin. That's not what it says in the Catechism of the Catholic Church? Perhaps Archbishop Niederauer should do more than "counsel" Pelosi. It didn't take Bishop Olmsted in Phoenix long to convince the nun at the Catholic hospital to recant her position on abortion.
Posted Thursday, April 14, 2011 10:10 AM By Idaho Pete
Picture the word father in your mind....What image comes to mind? Strong, Assertive, Wise, Protector. Picture the name Judas...What does this bring to your mind? Betrayer. The time of PassOver is near and of Jesus betrayal by one who ate,talked,traveled and lived with Him. Assumed to be close,yet he betrayed Him. Many today called Father, wearing priestly garb and supposedly close to Him our in fact Betrayers of Him as they do not in His hour of need defend or protect Jesus , His Church or flocks. They refuse to shake off the dust of these scandalous apostates Catholics .How much longer is the laity going to allow and tolerate this insult to our Lord to go on? Its up to us.
Posted Thursday, April 14, 2011 10:30 AM By Traditional Angelo
Pelosi describes herself as a "practicing Catholic". I wonder how she practices it. I wonder what her definition of "practicing Catholic" is. By her example, satan and all the souls in hell can call themselves "practicing Catholics". She probably believes they really are! The problem is with the Hierarchy. Pelosi should have been excommunicated a long time ago. But the Hierarchy practices too much false charity.
Posted Thursday, April 14, 2011 11:28 AM By Jeff
Where is the bishop???
Posted Thursday, April 14, 2011 2:50 PM By John M
30 years ago it would've been very difficult to separate the sheep from the "goats"but today it's very easy. Always pray for the shepherds. Perhaps Ms Peosi should discribe herself as former sheep or a practicing goat.
Posted Thursday, April 14, 2011 3:39 PM By ANNE
ATTENTION - the US HOUSE just voted a few hours ago on Defunding Planned Parenthood and all of its Affilates. Voting to DEFUND were: Republicans 231 yeas, 7 nays, 1 not voting: Democrats 10 yeas, 178 nays, 4 not voting. Go to clerk house gov and click on HR 36 then Roll for 271 to find your House Representative. * * * SENATE just voted in favor of funding Planned Parenthood, 42 to 58. - 42 Republicans voted to defund, 5 Republicans and all 53 Democrats voted to fund PP. If yours is Catholic and voting to continue funding Planned Parenthood, send the name to your own Diocese Bishop with an explanation asap. ***** For Senate names and verification go to: senate gov legislative HCR 36. This is expected and not a loss. Not only will the Bishops be told for future reference and correction, but we will know for our own voting records. In case anyone is waiting with bated breath, Nancy Polosi voted nay - which means she supports funding Planned Parenthood.
Posted Thursday, April 14, 2011 3:44 PM By Life Lady
I don't care what Pelosi calls herself, she is not, NOT a Catholic, and she does not practice the Catholic faith, in any way,shape or form. I wonder what she does practice: more like the Scandalous faith, not Catholic. Yet her bishop who "counseled" her allows her to go around pronouncing herself as a Catholic. Well, maybe some of us who actully DO practice the true Catholic faith should show up at that luncheon, wiht a few signs and when she gets up to spout off about that, we could hold up our signs that maybe say "NOT!" when she claims being Catholic. Just hold up the sign. That should get her attention, and the attention of everyone else in the room. Just a quiet to the point sign so that she will think twice the next time she thinks she wants to claim she is Catholic. I would pay to see that!!!
Posted Thursday, April 14, 2011 3:51 PM By Brad
For all of the ways she has irked many over the years ("alright, let's hear it for the power!" -- remember that one?), I give her massive respect for one time in a run of the mill interview, she was asked what are her favorite words (plural); the chirpy beltway interviewer was clearly setting her up to dole out liberal pablum like "diversity" etc. Pelosi, without any hesitation, said, "It is not words, but one word, Jesus Christ, The Word." Total non sequitur. The interviewer literally made no comment, just paused, stunned, and moved on to next unrelated question. I was sweeping my barn listening to a little radio. I stopped and thought, wow, that is the most gospel thing I have heard a politician say during my entire life, with no close second. Not only gospel, but the actual use of "the Word", "Jesus", and "Christ" all in one sentence, in a secular interview to boot, not giving a eulogy, etc. She must've been absolutely overwhelmed by the Holy Spirit at that moment. We are all sinners (Peter standing at the brazier), but He can speak through us at any time He chooses, and when he does we do not need to prepare what we will say, the eloquence and ring of truth will be devastating.
$125 for two-hour lunch with Pelosi
Former House Speaker to host luncheon at Georgetown University alumni event in San Francisco
The Saturday luncheon, scheduled from noon until 2 p.m., is part of a four-day “John Carroll Weekend” sponsored by Washington, D.C.-based Georgetown, which describes itself as “the nation’s oldest Catholic and Jesuit university.”
“Since 1952, John Carroll Weekend has traveled to a different city each year, gathering the local Georgetown community and alumni, parents and friends from around the globe to celebrate the best of Georgetown,” says the event’s website. “The weekend of educational, social and cultural events offers participants the chance to engage with one another and with Georgetown’s outstanding faculty and university leaders, and to learn more about the host city.”
Tickets for the luncheon with Pelosi are $125 ($112 for “young alumni”), according to the website. Admission is limited to “Georgetown alumni, parents, family members, friends, students and faculty, as well as industry and political leaders…”
“According to OnTheIssues.com, Pelosi is rated ‘100% by NARAL, indicating a pro-choice voting record’ and “0% by the NRLC,” notes The Cardinal Newman Society, which monitors events and programs at colleges and universities that describe themselves as Catholic. “The site reports that Pelosi even voted NO on banning partial-birth abortion.”
Earlier this year, Pelosi, D-San Francisco, vowed to rally the public against a series of anti-abortion measures now pending in Congress. “Pelosi described the GOP push as the ‘most radical assault’ on women's reproductive rights ‘in our lifetimes,’” the Washington Post reported, based on a Feb. 10 conference call Pelosi made to supporters. “And she was equally blunt in her assessment of right-wing assaults on family planning. ‘They are at a different philosophical place,’ she said, characterizing their view as: ‘all engagement has to result in a child.’ Pelosi noted that contraception and family planning is ‘not consistent with their belief that it's all about procreation.’”
Despite her self-professed Catholicism, Pelosi has established an ongoing and well-known record of dissent on Church teachings regarding abortion, embryonic stem-cell research, and natural marriage. On December 21, 2009 Pelosi said, “I practically mourn this difference of opinion (over abortion) because I feel what I was raised to believe is consistent with what I profess, and that we are all endowed with a free will and a responsibility to answer for our actions. And that women should have the opportunity to exercise their free will.”
That statement provoked a response from San Francisco’s Archbishop George Niederauer, who said: "While we deeply respect the freedom of our fellow citizens, we nevertheless are profoundly convinced that free will cannot be cited as justification for society to allow moral choices that strike at the most fundamental rights of others. Such a choice is abortion, which constitutes the taking of innocent human life, and cannot be justified by any Catholic notion of freedom."
In a Meet the Press interview on August 24, 2008, Pelosi told moderator Tom Brokaw, who quizzed her about when human life begins, “As an ardent, practicing Catholic, this is an issue that I have studied for a long time. And what I know is over the centuries, the doctors of the church have not been able to make that definition… St. Augustine said at three months. We don't know. The point is, is that it shouldn't have an impact on the woman's right to choose.”
Within 24 hours, four archbishops and one bishop publicly upbraided Pelosi for those remarks.
Archbishop Niederauer personally counseled Pelosi about her views on abortion and other moral issues, Pelosi revealed in an interview with Newsweek magazine published Dec. 21, 2010. But Pelosi revealed she apparently had no intentions of changing her opinions, regardless of the archbishop’s advice. “I have some concerns about the church's position respecting a woman's right to choose,” Pelosi said in the interview with Newsweek’s Eleanor Clift. “I have some concerns about the church's position on gay rights. I am a practicing Catholic, although they're probably not too happy about that. But it is my faith.”
According to the John Carroll Weekend website, the San Francisco area is home to more than 5000 Georgetown graduates. “For four days in spring 2011, Georgetown will celebrate and explore the many ties and rich cultural and intellectual heritage that unite The City by the Bay with the campus by the river,” according to the website. “Sponsored by the Georgetown University Alumni Association, John Carroll Weekend will also showcase how Georgetown alumni have contributed to the many innovations for which the Bay Area is known, from information technology and social media to green architecture and the organic food movement.”
John Carroll, for whom the alumni event is named, founded Georgetown in 1789. He was the first bishop of the Catholic Church in the U.S.
‘Catholic’ U's endorse gay agenda
‘Catholic’ universities endorse wide-ranging gay agenda
…..AND it seems the Jesuits are somehow defining themselves as outside the Church. There is almost too much to unpack in one article, it is that bad:
From March 3 through 6, an Expanding the Circle conference was held at the Hotel Nikko in San Francisco. Expanding the Circle is an initiative of the California Institute of Integral Studies, and its stated purpose is “Creating an inclusive environment in higher education for LGBTQ students and studies.” Catholic universities were well represented [Indeed, shamefully well represented. What a very sad, sad thing. Souls are being placed more and more in mortal danger due to misguided, almost sick visions of charity and the triumph of false notions of inclusion over Truth and true Mercy.]
Titles of some of the workshops at the conference indicated the bias common to post-modern social science, that reality is a human construction: “Reimagining Sexual Desire and Spiritual Longing in Sacred Texts”; “Does G-d Really Hate Me: Reconstructing and Reinterpreting Challenging Religious Texts”; “(Re)vamping the Queericulum: Issues in the Teaching of Language and Sexuality”; “Imagining Queer Selves: LGBTQ Literature, Libraries, and the Coming Out Process”; and the near-parodic “Fostering Multivariate Inclusion: Multiple Marginalized Identities and the Interplay of Sexuality.”
Others, while more crudely titled, were quite clear: “That’s SO Gay: Queering the Curriculum in High Schools through Community Collaboration”; “Ripe for the Picking: Queer-Themed FIGs (First-Year Interest Groups)”, and “Building a Successful LGBTQ Program at Catholic Institutions.” [There is a conscious, concerted, well funded effort aimed at peeling away as many Catholics as possible from Church Doctrine, apparently under the misguided thought that the Church sets Doctrine not on Divine Revelation, but majority rule. All this will result in is much pain for many souls, and the risk of eternal damnation for some who will go to their deaths unrepentant, thinking it perfectly acceptable for 'Catholics' to reject Church Doctrine. Tragic.] The following Catholic schools participated: College of the Holy Cross, DePaul University, Dominican University, Georgetown University, Loyola Marymount University, Marian University, Marquette University, Santa Clara University, St. Anselm College, St. Edward’s University, St. Joseph’s University, St. Louis University, and the University of San Francisco. [Can any of these institutions still be viewed as Catholic in any meaningful sense any longer?]
One of the Catholic-led workshops was called “Ways of Proceeding: Deepening the Conversation between Campus Ministries & LBGTQ Communities,” described thusly: “The panelists will share their work at Catholic and Jesuit colleges in creating spaces for LGBTQ communities to work creatively and collaboratively with those in Campus Ministry. Panelists will explore how those working in Ministry can provide frameworks of legitimacy, care, and support for the creation of safe learning environments, and create support for students, faculty and staff. We will share our experiences and ask participants to come with their own in order to have an open conversation about the positive role that Campus Ministry can play in creating an inclusive campus.”
The “Ways of Seeing” workshop was led by Donal Godfrey, SJ, former head of the University Ministry at USF; Jim Schexnayder, SJ, the resource director at the Catholic Association for Lesbian and Gay Ministry; and Sivagami Subbaraman, the director of the LGBTQ Resource Center at Georgetown University.
Another Catholic-led event at Expanding the Circle was “OUT THERE: A Conference Meeting of Scholars and Student Affairs Personnel Involved in LGBTQ Issues on Catholic and Jesuit Campuses.” [There it is again.....'Catholic AND Jesuit colleges.' Is this a tacit admission that Jesuit colleges can no longer be considered Catholic? Or is this the 'academic Jesuits' themselves placing themselves outside the Church? It's an odd turn of phrase, to be sure.]
From the description: “OUT THERE is a national meeting of scholars and student affairs personnel involved in LGBTQ issues on Catholic and Jesuit campuses….The purpose of this pre-conference meeting is to begin our exploration of how we can understand the nexus between sexual orientation, gender identity and gender expression in the context of Catholic and Jesuit values and principles in higher education. Attendees will have an opportunity to discuss their experiences and network with people from other Catholic institutions. Participants from other colleges and universities will be welcome.” Translation: here’s how you undermine the Church’s teaching regarding homosexuality on campus.
Participants in the OUT THERE event included Mike Duffy, director of the Lane Center for Catholic Studies and Social Thought at USF; Shirley McGuire, professor of psychology and president of the LGBTQ Caucus at USF; Sara Solloway, director of Student Retention and Success Programs and outreach director of the LGBTQ Caucus at USF; Sivagami Subbaraman, director of the LGBTQ Resource Center at Georgetown; and Michael A. Zampelli, SJ, rector of the Santa Clara University Jesuit Community. [It's important to get the names of those involved out there. This effort at undermining Church Doctrine needs to be known.]
Professor McGuire sits on the advisory board of the Lane Center at the USF, where she is joined by the openly homosexual Reverend Vincent Pizzuto, who abandoned his Catholic faith, and was ordained as a minister of the Celtic Christian Church in 2007. Despite his rejection of the Catholic faith, USF saw fit to name Reverend Pizzuto as director of the university’s Catholic Studies and Social Thought minor. [Good Lord!] McGuire and Pizzuto are joined on the Lane Center’s advisory board by Robert McElroy, auxiliary bishop of the archdiocese of San Francisco. [ummm......]
As I sated not too long ago, the future of Catholic higher ed is going to be found in a very few select colleges and universities remaining faithful to the Magisterium and engaged in largely from home, via internet.
Loyola Univ. works with LGBT community
The Jesuit Catholic ideal, "cura personalis," calls for the care of the whole person. Many students are embodying this Jesuit ideal by considering sexual orientation a piece of the "whole person."
Advocate is Loyola's LGBTQA organization and, since 1990, students have been working to educate the campus and greater Chicago community on queer issues.
"Overall, it's a good environment," said Advocate President Mar Curran, 21. "Loyola is a very accepting community."
Current projects include gender-neutral bathrooms to make the campus more transgender-inclusive, and a queer resource center that would work dually as an office for the organization where sensitive subjects can be discussed privately.
"We try to create a safe space for Loyola students to come and feel like they can express who they are and be celebrated for their identity, whether they identify as queer or are allies," said Curran.
From safety coordinators to support groups, Advocate assists students with an array of issues, including those involved with mental health and coming out of the closet. In addition, it sponsors an annual Intercollegiate Coming Out Ball for student members and supporters of the Chicagoland LGBTQA community.
"As an organization that strives to give support and offer education and social networking to students of differing sexual orientations, Advocate can be a useful and important contributor to student life here at Loyola," said Michael J. Garanzini, S.J., president of the university.
After controversy over a proposed drag show last fall, the organization has been working closely with the campus Jesuits to maintain an open dialogue over the relationship between queer and religious issues.
"Regarding controversial programming that Advocate may sponsor, the real question for me is how does that programming contribute to the mission of the organization," said Garanzini. "And, given Advocate's unique role, how does that mission help non-GLBTQ students appreciate the worth and dignity of its members or any person whose sexuality is not part of the majority?"
Advocate hosted a panel in February where community members discussed how gender expression and queer identity play into living and working on Loyola's campus.
The group is also a founding member of the Queer Intercollegiate Alliance, a group of Chicagoland schools' queer groups that works toward community outreach.
To support or learn more about Advocate, visit the Advocate at Loyola University Chicago Facebook page.
Archdiocese aware of D & P’s mob ties?
Archdiocese should have been aware of D & P’s mob ties
Archdiocese should have been aware of D & P’s mob ties
aemmanuel@luc.edu
Josephine DiFronzo is the president of D & P Construction —
but law enforcement officials say her husband Peter and his brother
John, alleged Chicago mob leaders, are pulling the company’s
strings from behind the scenes.
A quick and simple Google search for “D & P + Mafia” could
tell you as much.Here’s something else Google can tell you: Last week’s Phoenix
article about a D & P garbage dumpster being used to remove
debris from the construction site for the new St. Joseph Seminary
on Loyola Ave. east of Sheridan Rd. wasn’t the first story written
about the archdiocese using the waste removal and trucking
company’s services.A 2005 Chicago Sun-Times story reported D & P’s
connections to “made men.” Reporters approached the archdiocese and
inquired about a D & P dumpster on site at St. Joseph’s
Catholic Church near Orleans and Division in Old Town, but
according to that article, “Neither the contractor overseeing a
project to convert an old rectory into a parish center nor the
archdiocese’s construction office apparently was aware of D &
P’s history.” An archdiocese spokesperson was quoted, saying that
the contractor agreed to remove the dumpster and hire a different
firm, and commented that, “We don’t micromanage our projects to the
extent we would know who’s doing the waste hauling.”“We’re not making any judgments about this company,” the
spokesperson said.I should note that Henry Brothers Construction, who is actually
building the seminary, is the company that hired D & P as a
contractor. The co-owner of Henry Brothers claimed in last week’s
article that he had no knowledge of allegations of mob ties, didn’t
know the owners of D & P and had never met them. He added that
his company has been working with D & P “for a few years,” and
that the company “provides a good service at a very competitive
price.”Yet, even if the archdiocese didn’t hire D & P directly, the
fact remains that waste receptacles from a possibly shady company
were being used, ironically, at a seminary construction site across
the street from a university rooted in the Jesuit tradition of
social justice.D & P’s involvement is an awkward situation for the
archdiocese to explain. Although, I’m only assuming it’s awkward
because we never actually got an explanation. However, two things
we can read into are the speedy removal of the D & P dumpster
at the archdiocese’s request after a Phoenix reporter called to
inquire, and the lack of a response to those inquiries.This situation suggests that the archdiocese has a problem
saying, “Sorry, we messed up.” They apparently also have problems
staying clear of D & P, which the FBI claims has paid and
intimidated its way to securing contracts.To be clear, I’m not alleging that the archdiocese is in cahoots
with godfathers. Despite history repeating itself in the form of D
& P dumpsters on archdiocese construction sites, that doesn’t
necessarily indicate a mob conspiracy. Wow, that’d be a story. Just
think …I will offer this constructive criticism: Whatever it takes, the
archdiocese should stay away from D & P and make sure
contractors can clear a simple Google search before something
potentially embarrassing slips through the cracks.
Pro-abortion Pelosi and Georgetown
Pro-abortion Pelosi to Host Event for Georgetown Alumni
Written by Jack Kenny
House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), a conspicuous and consistent defender of abortion "rights," will host an event for alumni of Jesuit-run Georgetown University on April 30 in San Francisco, LifeSiteNews.com has reported.
Pelosi, the mother of three Georgetown alumni, was the commencement speaker at the Washington, D.C., university in 2002, despite her career-long advocacy of the legal "right" to abortion. The former Speaker of the House has a perfect 100-percent rating from the pro-abortion NARAL-Pro Choice America. The event she will host in San Francisco, titled a "Conversation on Innovation," will feature business professor Clay Christiansen. It is part of the Georgetown University Alumni Association's John Carroll weekend. John Carroll was a Roman Catholic bishop who was a delegate from Maryland at the Third Continental Congress and one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence.
The Cardinal Newman Society, a Catholic university watchdog, drew attention to Pelosi's role in the event and has pointed out her 100-percent pro-abortion record. Pelosi, a Catholic, has repeatedly flaunted her defiance of the church's stand on abortion and was one of a group of Catholic lawmakers who sent a letter to the Vatican protesting Pope Benedict XVI's publicly expressed approval of denying Holy Communion to those who publicly support the legalization of abortion and have thus ex-communicated themselves from the church. Pelosi has claimed her pro-abortion stand is consistent with the Catholic faith.
Yet clerics in her hometown of San Francisco as well as in the nation's capital have been reluctant to deny Communion to Pelosi as well as other prominent Catholics who are "pro-choice." The entire leadership of the national Democratic Party and every Democratic nominee for President since George McGovern in 1972 have been pro-abortion. The number of Catholics in Congress who support abortion "rights" is an ongoing scandal for the church, as was the presidential candidacy of Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) in 2004. Kerry, who protested that he was a former altar boy and remains a Catholic, claimed he could not vote to impose the church's anti-abortion stand on a religiously diverse America. Rather, he defends the U.S. Supreme court's imposition of a pro-abortion ethic on the nation, thereby nullifying any and all state or federal restrictions on abortion that the Court deems an abridgment of a constitutional "right" nowhere mentioned in the Constitution. For years supporters of abortion "rights" have sought to codify the Supreme Court's 1973 Roe v. Wade ruling by passing the Freedom of Choice Act, establishing the "right" to abortion by an act of Congress, in case the court should one day overturn its Roe decision.
The Georgetown University Alumni Association did not respond to a LifeSiteNews.com request for comment.
Catholic's Support Planned Parenthood
How Catholic Universities Support Planned Parenthood
How Catholic Universities Support Planned Parenthood
The U.S. House of Representatives has voted to de-fund the nation’s largest abortion provider, Planned Parenthood. Now, it looks as if the Senate will be voting on the issue, as well.
Meanwhile, a new report, “A Scandalous Relationship: Catholic Colleges and Planned Parenthood”, by the Manassas, Va.-based Cardinal Newman Society, reveals more than 150 current and past connections between Catholic colleges and universities and Planned Parenthood.
The Cardinal Newman Society broke the connections down into seven different categories: Counseling and Medical Referrals; Internships and Fellowships; Job Referrals; Faculty, Staff, Leaders; Campus Clubs and Events, Academic Activities and Referrals; and Student and Alumni Recognition.
The report includes many well-known Catholic colleges and universities, including the University of Notre Dame, Georgetown, Marquette University Law School, Boston College, Seattle University, St. Louis University and many others.
The following is just a sampling. For the complete report and all of the examples, visit the Cardinal Newman Society.
Marquette University Law School (WI) includes a “Milwaukee Survival Guide” on its website, recommending the services of Planned Parenthood and the National Organization for Women.
Mount St. Mary’s College’s (CA) Counseling and Psychological Services offers a list of “Pregnancy and Parent Resources,” which includes the Santa Monica Center of Planned Parenthood, the Los Angeles Center of Planned Parenthood, and Catholics for Choice.
Assumption College’s (MA) Student and Development and Counseling Center recruited students in 2007 for summer internships with the Planned Parenthood League of Massachusetts.
The University of Dayton’s (OH) Women’s Gender and Studies Program identifies “placement opportunities” for student “service learning,” including Planned Parenthood.
Both the University of San Diego and the University of San Francisco’s Career Services offices list Planned Parenthood among resources for future careers.
Gonzaga University (WA) highlights the credentials of a member of the Board of Regents, including her service on the Board of Planned Parenthood.
The College of St. Catherine (MN) communications students’ COMM Club announced in April 2007 their plans for a support rally for Planned Parenthood.
The Cardinal Newman Society notes that all of this information was publicized on the Internet, and therefore probably only represents the tip of the iceberg.
“What is publicized on the Internet often indicates more extensive concerns hidden from public view,” said the Newman Society in a press release.
“The brazen manner in which Catholic colleges and universities are publicly disclosing – even proudly touting – their ties or the ties of their employees, students, and alumni to Planned Parenthood is shocking,” says the introduction to the report. “In no way can the work of Planned Parenthood be considered compatible with the mission of Catholic higher education or the moral teachings of the Catholic Church.”
The Cardinal Newman Society urges Catholic colleges and universities to embrace a “no-tolerance position for any relationship with Planned Parenthood.”
Shifting blame on sexual abuse
Catholic League: Shifting blame on sexual abuse
The conservative, contentious Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights on Monday bought a full-page ad in the New York Times to attack “those who are distorting the truth about priestly sexual abuse.”
The lengthy letter from League president Bill Donohue argued, talking about priests: “There is no other group in the U.S. which is subjected to such abuse.”
“What accounts for the relentless attacks on the Church? Lets face it. If its teachings were pro-abortion, pro-gay marriage and pro-women clergy, the dogs would have been called off years ago,” Donohue wrote.
The letter contrasts with recent expressions of repentance heard in the Seattle Archdiocese. A recent commentary at Seattle’s Jesuit-run St. Joseph Church talked of “a communal responsibility, a responsibility too often avoided in our culture and in our church.”
The commentary followed a recent $166 million settlement between Northwest Jesuits and plaintiffs, mainly Native Americans, who claimed abuse at schools in Washington and Alaska. It spoke of “repentant listening that is needed in the church.”
“Where would we all be, for instance, had not many voices, including those of victims and of people in the pews, spoken up and told the awful truth about clergy sexual abuse and the way the Church handled it, when speaking up was regarded by many as an act of disloyalty,” Fr. Michael Ryan, pastor of St. James Cathedral, said in a recent homily.
Donohue, by contrast, charged that “some are exploiting this issue for ideological and financial profit.”
He also took issue with allegations of widespread child rape from victims and their advocates.
“Lets get it straight — they weren’t children and they weren’t raped,” Donohue alleged. “We know from the John Jay study that most of the victims have been adolescents, and that the most common abuse has been inappropriate touching (inexcusable though this is, it is not rape).
“The Boston Globe correctly said of the John Jay report that ‘more than three-quarters of the victims were post pubescent, meaning the abuse did not meet the clinical definition of pedophilia.’
“In other words, the issue is homosexuality, not pedophilia.”
He was referencing a 2004 study by the John Jay College of Criminal Justice, which was paid for by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.”
Using the study, Donohue argued that claims being litigated are “almost all old cases,” and that “most of the abuse occurred during the heyday of the sexual revolution, from the mid-1960′s to the mid-1980′s.”
Donohue paid to have his views published in a newspaper that has been critical of and frequently at odds with the church.
The New York Times has lately devoted extensive coverage to a scathing grand jury report, which said that the Archdiocese of Philadelphia took no action against more than three dozen priests accused of improper behavior.
Archbishop Timothy Dolan of New York recently described an essay by NYT columnist Maureen Dowd as “intemperate and scurrilous” and said of Dowd that she “digs deep into the nativist handbook to use every anti-Catholic caricature possible.”
But Donohue on Monday took aim at other critics, namely The Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP). He called it “a professional victims’ group, dogmatic in their convictions, their hatred of the Catholic Church is palpable.”
The Catholic League is self-described as “the nation’s largest Catholic civil rights organization.”
Donohue has frequently been on the front lines attacking what he describes as a “war on Christmas” that seeks to remove religious symbolism from the holiday.”
Lawsuit against Vatican
Attorney: Lawsuit against Vatican will be long and hard battle
Attorney: Lawsuit against Vatican will be long and hard battle
The Vatican has been served with court papers related to allegations in a sexual abuse case. St. Paul attorney Jeff Anderson said this week he was notified that the papers were successfully filed through official diplomatic channels.
The lawsuit was filed nearly a year ago in federal court on behalf of Terry Kohut, now of Chicago. It claims Pope Benedict and two other top Vatican officials knew about allegations of sexual abuse at St. John's School for the Deaf outside Milwaukee, and called off internal punishment of the accused priest, the late Rev. Lawrence Murphy.
Attorney Jeff Anderson spoke with MPR's Morning Edition about the case.
Cathy Wurzer: The Vatican declined the papers before. What changed this time?
Jeff Anderson: Protocol requires us to give them an opportunity to accept them in the first instance. When we did present them to them in that course, they responded with saying 'we don't want this' and returned it to us. Thus we had to go through the State Department and effectuate and get the service process that we just did.
Wurzer: So the State Department notified you to say these papers have been served?
Anderson: Correct.
Wurzer: What about the Vatican's status as a sovereign state? Does that factor in how this could get tried in a court of law?
Anderson: We've already gone through that process. In 2002 we brought suit on behalf of another courageous survivor. They claimed to be a sovereign and thus couldn't be sued. That went all the way through the courts out of a case we were doing in Oregon, through the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, to the U.S. Supreme Court, and got sent back saying they can't claim sovereign immunity in instances such as this.
Wurzer: The Vatican argues it's not liable for sex abuse cases under canon law, and also their church structure that holds bishops, not Rome, responsible for disciplining pedophile priests. What's your argument against that?
Anderson: They have argued and denied responsibility for the problems and the scope of the problems from the outset. The reality is, and all the evidence has shown for 27 years of having assembled it that all roads lead there. All the decisions about how to handle crimes of sexual abuse by clerics, by bishops, by cardinals and by archbishops are mandated by the papacy, by the pope, and out of the Vatican. They have their own laws, they have their own protocols, and they have iron-fisted practices that demand secrecy, and it is thus that requirement of secrecy concerning clerical crimes that makes every cleric and top clerics across the globe have to follow that mandate. Thus it's our belief in this lawsuit among one other that really tries to hold them to some measure of accountability so children are better protected in the future than they have been in the past.
Wurzer: But because of this demand for secrecy, doesn't it make your task more difficult to prove guilt?
Anderson: The Vatican is an enormously powerful organization. It's not only a state, but it's the most powerful religion in Western civilization. Of course it's difficult. But that should not daunt any of us from addressing the enormous problem of worldwide, global sexual abuse and the cover up of it and secrecy pertaining to it. And until we hold them accountable for dealing with sexual abuse the same way we do other citizens and corporations in this country and others, this enormous problem continues. So yes it's hard. Yes, it's never been done. But it is a moral and legal imperative that there be some change at the top and until there is, there'll be no changes at the bottom, and our kids remain in great peril.
Wurzer: What does justice look like for your client?
Anderson: For Terry Kohut and the other survivors, to them first they want other kids to be protected much better than they were. That's what he wanted. Terry Kohut was at the deaf school at St. John's-Milwaukee, placed there, and very vulnerable being deaf himself and so many of the kids there. Lawrence Murphy, the priest in charge, abused him and by the archdiocese records over 200 kids. He came to realize that and in 1995 actually wrote Pope John Paul II and Cardinal Sodano when he got no response saying 'please remove this priest.' They turned a blind eye to that plea. What he really wants when he seeks justice here is then to change the secrecy protocols to come clean with all the documents and secrets that they have concerning clerical crimes across the globe, not just in the U.S., and then to do something about not letting this continue to happen to so many other kids. To this date, they really have not changed those secrecy protocols. The Vatican has not responded in any significant way in terms of the practices they employ and require worldwide, and in the final analysis to him, there will be a measure of justice when he knows that the kids are safer.
Wurzer: Because the papers have been served, have you heard from the Vatican yet?
Anderson: Not yet. But if the past is prologue, they will take the same position as they did and have in Portland, Ore. They will obstruct, they will deny and they will delay, and they will fight, they will fight hard any measure of accountability at the top. It's taken us eight years to get that case off the ground, and I'm expecting this one to be a long and hard battle to fight in the courts. But we are undaunted, and he is courageous and many stand behind him, and it's just a moral and legal imperative that there be some change at the top there and in how they act — not what they say but how they act — so that in the final analysis there is a much safer environment, not just in this country but across the globe.
(Interview transcribed by MPR reporter Elizabeth Dunbar.)