Posted by
Matt12 on Tuesday, September 15, 2009 5:04:30 PM
© Copyright May 2006 Special to Saccoservices.com
This article, written in May 2006, but still current, contains some information that will be shocking to parents of college-age kids, especially if those kids are now attending one of the colleges or universities listed below.
TOWSON - Disturbing news! Despite the Roman Catholic Church’s opposition to abortion, some American Catholic colleges and universities are stll referring their students to Planned Parenthood and other abortion providers through their web sites.
LAY GROUP REVIEWS WEB SITES
According to LifeNews.com’s Editor, Steven Ertelt, The Cardinal Newman Society, a Virginia based lay group whose mission is to promote Catholic identity at Roman Catholic colleges and universities, discovered, during a review of Roman Catholic school’s web sites, web links to pro-abortion groups and abortion providers. These schools are also referring students to abortion facilities and pro-abortion businesses for internships.
Surprised? Don’t be. Socialism and Communism aren’t the only untoward influences on Catholic college and university campuses. For years, on-campus groups that dissented from Church teachings have spread their insidious poison among Roman Catholic youth. Individual professors do it, too. In the name of ‘Academic Freedom,’ many college instructors refused to sign the mandatum or mandate required of Roman Catholic theology faculty contained in Pope John Paul II’s “Ex Corde Ecclesiae,” which gives local bishops power to decide that persons teaching Catholic theology will teach nothing contrary to church doctrine.
CARDINAL NEWMAN SOCIETY SHINES SPOTLIGHT ON PROBLEM
The Cardinal Newman Society (CNS), has spotlighted this problem before. In 2002, while not calling for anyone’s scalp, it reported that 12 Catholic colleges and universities were providing links and referrals to Planned Parenthood and other abortion groups. All the schools named in that report removed the links except Loyola of Chicago.
Later, in a 2004 report, CNS again identified concerns with a number of Catholic colleges and university web sites, once more pointing up the problem and politely urging presidents of the schools involved to remove the links and referrals from their web sites. Several of these schools have taken no action. That’s mostly what you get from liberal administrators on some Catholic college campuses, who seem more concerned about political correctness than the moral formation of the students we, as parents, entrust to them.
As of 2007, the offending schools included Boston College, DePaul University, Dominican University of California, Georgetown University, Loyola of Chicago, Loyola of New Orleans, Santa Clara University, Seton Hall, and Dominican University of California. Patrick J. Reilly, president of CNS, said: “Faithful Catholics [especially those who send their kids to these colleges] expect Catholic colleges and universities to embrace a culture of life and avoid scandal.” Indeed, America’s Roman Catholic bishops, in a document about pro-abortion politicians and communion, instructed Roman Catholic colleges not to give platforms to pro-abortion elected officials, and instead, to help build a pro-life culture. This came as quite a shock to several institutions of higher learning calling themselves Catholic, such as my alma mater, Loyola of Baltimore, which, in its quest for federal and state expansion funds, routinely invites such pro-abortion personages as Senator Barbara Mikulski (D-MD) to speak at commencement exercises on campus, and at the conclusion of their remarks, bestowing upon them honorary degrees. Talk about sending mixed messages to our youth!
WHAT OFFENDING COLLEGES ARE PERMITTING
DePaul University’s web site provided an example of what’s going on. The Woman’s and Gender Studies Program offers students links for “jobs, internships, volunteer opportunities,” including a link to the Pro-abortion Feminist Majority Foundation’s ‘career center.’ That center listed jobs and internships at abortion rights groups such as NARAL Pro-Choice America, Catholics for a Free Choice, the National Abortion Federation, the Planned Parenthood Federation of America and the American Civil Liberties Union. And at Dominican University of California, Psychology professor Gail Matthews posted a list of “Field Placement Sites” for student internships. Planned Parenthood of Marin County was on her list. With friends like these, the Church doesn’t need enemies.
Because liberals run most so-called Catholic colleges and universities in this country, we have winessed a precipitous decline of a strong religious identity at Roman Catholic schoools of higher learning. Roman Catholic Bishops need to encourage a renewal of the Roman Catholic intellectual presence, not only in the secular society, but also on the campuses of their colleges. There are only a few solid Roman Catholic colleges and universities in the United States, and Catholic parents need to look for and support them by sending their kids to those schools, while ignoring the others.
Anthony J. (Tony) Sacco, author of two novels, The China Connection and Little Sister Lost, and a biography, Echoes in the wind. He is a licensed private investigator, holding a B.S. degree in Political Science from Loyola College and a Juris Doctor degree from the University of Maryland. His articles have appeared in the Baltimore Sun, the Washington times, and Voices for the Unborn. His column, Pro-Life Watch - Political Commentary appeared in the Wyoming Catholic Register. He was a contributor to the WREN Magazine. E-mail him at anthonyjsacco@hotmail.com and visit his website at www.saccoservices.com.