Douglas Kmiec: Barack Obama More Catholic Than Previous Pro-Life Presidents

Note: This guy is coming close to placing himself outside the Church and attacking her. He has been deceived and no matter how he is presented with facts, he refuses to move off his fixed position. As a state senator, Barack Obama voted against the born alive act, and with Planned Parenthood, to allow babies born during an abortion procedure to die. He has been dishonest about this bill. As a candidate for president, Barack Obama said he would vote for the Freedom of Choice Act which would strip all restrictions on abortion throughout the country. This is the radical pro-abortion position the Vatican is speaking about. Mr. Kmiec is wrong and has simply sold his soul.

Douglas Kmiec: Barack Obama More Catholic Than Previous Pro-Life Presidents
by Steven Ertelt
LifeNews.com Editor

November 21, 2008Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- The Pepperdine law professor who calls himself a pro-life Catholic but was one of the leading apologists for perhaps the most pro-abortion presidential candidate in history is at it again. Douglas Kmiec is now saying Barack Obama is more Catholic than previous presidents who were pro-life.

Kmiec's comments come in response to some from Cardinal J. Francis Stafford, head of the Apostolic Penitentiary of the Holy See, who called Obama on the carpet on abortion in a speech at the Catholic University of America last Thursday.

In an address sponsored by the John Paul II Institute, Stafford called Obama's pro-abortion policies “aggressive, disruptive and apocalyptic" and that the senator campaigned on an “extremist anti-life platform.”

CNN conducted a follow-up interview with Cardinal Stafford, who stood by his remarks.

Stafford told the cable news network that he couldn't understand how any Catholic could support Obama because of his radical views in favor of taxpayer-funded abortions, unlimited abortions throughout pregnancy and overturning all of the hundreds of abortion reduction laws in all 50 states.

As a result, Stafford says Obama "is hostile to the life of an unborn child.“

That's where Kmiec come in to play.

The CUA Tower student newspaper interviewed him in response to Stafford's comments.Kmiec told the paper that Stafford was giving a false portrayal of Obama and accused him of talking about Obama's abortion views not as they are but as they are made out to be by opponents.

“Sometimes all of us - even the wisest among us - are given to speak not from personal knowledge, but from that which has been portrayed as true, but is really a caricature,” said Kmiec in an interview with The Tower.

“When Stafford gets to know Obama better, said Kmiec, he will readily see that Obama “has far more in common with our great faith tradition than any political administration in recent memory.”

With pro-life champions in office like President Ronald Reagan and President Bush, who signed numerous pro-life laws, even a pro-life Obama would be hard-pressed to match the accomplishments of their administration -- yet alone a president who could become the most pro-abortion in history.

Heresy Not Corrected at Bishop's University

Note: People such as this professor, allowed by their Catholic University presidents to openly defy and degrade Catholic Church teaching from their safe tenured perches, are what got this writer to start this blog in the first place. The professor is only partly right. It is lukewarm assent and even open dissent from Humanae Vitae that undermines the Church. The dishonest reaction by CUA is typical these days, claiming that "private opinions" held by faculty members are OK when the opinion is obviously quite public or we wouldn't know about it. If strong action were taken by the university, terminating or publicly rebuking this professor, it would not only send a clear sign that the university is indeed Catholic, but would also defeat the professor's argument. Doing otherwise confirms it - that the leadership in the Church does not support Catholic moral teaching.

"Dishonesty at Heart of System" Keeps Catholic Church "Pretending" on Birth Control, CUA Prof Says
Catholic society says Catholic University prof undermining Catholic Church's "message of sexual purity"
By Peter J. Smith

WASHINGTON, D.C., July 16, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) - A history professor at Catholic University of America (CUA) in Washington, D.C. has blamed Paul VI's 1968 encyclical "Humanae Vitae," for creating what she calls "paralysis" in the Catholic Church that constitutes "dishonesty at the heart of the system." The 1968 encyclical was a response to calls during the Sexual Revolution of the 1960s to permit artificial birth control; Pope Paul VI, however, surprised those agitating for a loosening of the Church's "rules" on sexuality, by instead teaching that the use of artificial contraception is a grave sin that would harm human love and have disastrous effects upon society.

"Nothing was as devastating to the Church's credibility as Humanae vitae and the paralysis it generated," CUA History Professor Leslie Woodcock Tentler told the National Post, a national paper in Canada, for an article on the document's upcoming 40th anniversary.

"It makes for dishonesty at the heart of the system. Do ordinary Catholics believe it's a mortal sin? No, they do not. Do they believe their leaders think it's a mortal sin? No, they do not. Yet we keep pretending."
Tentler has taught at CUA as a history professor since 1998, and made the comments for the July 12 article "A hard pill to swallow."

Patrick Reilly, President of the Cardinal Newman Society, which lists CUA among the most orthodox Catholic institutions, said Tentler was completely out-of-line in her remarks.

"At a time when all Americans, whether Catholic or not, are coming to the realization that the 'Sexual Revolution' has destroyed lives and tarnished souls, Professor Tentler is using her influential position at the U.S. bishops' university to undermine the Church's message of sexual purity," Reilly told LifeSiteNews.com.

However this is not the first time the professor, who teaches at an institution founded by the US Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) and committed to presenting Catholic orthodoxy to its students, has been critical of the Church for its stand on artificial birth control.

In an April 23, 2004 article in Commonweal, "A bitter pill: American Catholics & contraception," Tentler criticized the US bishops for developing what The New York Times described as "an easily understandable booklet," presenting the Catholic Church's reasons against artificial contraception.

Tentler maintained in the article that the teaching on contraception creates "major credibility problems for the Church" and said of Catholic leader Denver Archbishop Charles Chaput "he - along with many younger advocates of a harder line on contraception - simply underestimates the damage done to the church by Humanae vitae."

Tentler went on to contest "the bishops' seeming assumption that collectively reiterating the church's teaching on contraception will have only transitory negative effects on the laity." She concluded her article saying that both priests and laity "deserve better" than an "episcopal fait-accompli" about why artificial birth control is wrong.

Tentler also was a contributor to the one-sided PBS documentary "The Pill," and has written a book called "Catholics and Contraception: An American History."

Philosopher Janet E. Smith's review of the book said Tentler "maintains that as Catholics become more mature, they reject their Church's teaching on contraception."

LifeSiteNews contacted Tentler several times over several days through e-mail to ask her if as a Catholic and a professor she assented to the Church's teaching in Humanae Vitae. While Tentler did respond to one of the e-mails, she did not clearly state whether or not she accepted the teaching in Humanae Vita.

Comment was also sought from CUA; however, in a response to LifeSiteNews, a spokesman for the university neither addressed the substance of Tentler's statements in the National Post nor Tentler's position on Humanae Vitae.

"The Catholic University of America is the national university of the Roman Catholic Church in our country. As such and because of its special status as a pontifical university sponsored by the bishops of the United States, The Catholic University of America fully embraces all the teachings of the Catholic Church in their entirety," CUA spokesman Victor Nakas said in a statement. "Although some members of its community may privately hold contrary positions on some matters - as may be the case within the Roman Catholic Church at large - the university itself professes an unambiguous institutional commitment of fidelity to the Church and all its teachings."

However Reilly told LifeSiteNews that Tentler's criticism of Humanae Vitae fly in the face of her responsibility as a Catholic educator. Reilly quoted Pope Benedict XVI's April 17 statement to Catholic educators: "any appeal to the principle of academic freedom in order to justify positions that contradict the faith and the teaching of the Church would obstruct or even betray the university's identity and mission." "As a historian, she violates the principles of academic freedom by wading into matters properly discussed by theologians," Reilly continued. "As a Catholic historian at a Catholic university, she has an added obligation to support the mission of Catholic education - which Pope Benedict describes as providing 'a place to encounter the living God who in Jesus Christ reveals his transforming love and truth.

'"Read the National Post article "A hard pill to swallow":http://www.nationalpost.com/news/canada/story.html?id=649220

Read Prof. Leslie Tentler's April 23, 2004 article in Commonweal, "A bitter pill: American Catholics & contraception": http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1252/is_8_131/ai_n6242935/pg_10?tag=artBody;col1

Read Janet Smith's review of "Catholics and Contraception: An American History"http://aodonline.org/aodonline-sqlimages/shms/faculty/smithjanet/publications/HumanaeVitae/CatholicsandContraception.pdf

Read the transcript of the PBS documentary "The Pill": http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/pill/filmmore/pt.html

To contact respectfully Catholic University of America's President:

Very Reverend David M. O'Connell, C.M.
The Catholic University of America
620 Michigan Ave., N.E.
Washington, DC 20064
Telephone: 202-319-5100
E-mail: cua-president@cua.edu

The pope and the universities

Published: Friday, May 23, 2008
The pope and the universities

Pope Benedict XVI had barely left the Catholic University of America on April 17 when the Catholic higher education establishment's spin machine shifted into high gear.

One university president said that what most impressed him about the papal address to Catholic educators was what it was not: a dressing-down. Still another president cooed that she felt "affirmed." An administrator at yet another institution said that, as the pope hadn't cited Ex Corde Ecclesia, John Paul II's concerns about Catholic identity were clearly old hat.

One got the distinct impression from the spin that a lot of people thought they'd dodged a bullet --- and were grateful they weren't going home to face irate alums and dubious donors. The "Benedict loves what we're doing" blah-blah has continued ever since.

The facts, to put it gently, suggest something rather more complicated. Consider these excerpts from the Holy Father's address:

"A university's or school's Catholic identity ... is a question of conviction --- do we really believe that only in the mystery of the Word made flesh does the mystery of man truly become clear? Are we ready to commit our entire self --- intellect and will, mind and heart --- to God? Do we accept the truth Christ reveals?"

[What percentage of this year's Catholic college and university graduates could honestly answer those questions with a convinced "Yes?" What percentage would even understand the first question?]

"While we have sought diligently to engage the intellect of our young, perhaps we have neglected the will. Subsequently we observe, with distress, the notion of freedom being distorted. Freedom is not an opting out. Freedom is an opting in --- a participation in Being itself. Hence authentic freedom can never be obtained by turning away from God."

[Might these sentences be printed, framed, and posted in co-ed dormitories on Catholic campuses?]

"We observe today a timidity in the face of the category of the good ... an assumption that every experience is of equal worth and a reluctance to admit imperfection and mistakes. And particularly disturbing is the reduction of the precious and delicate area of education in sexuality to management of 'risk,' bereft of any reference to the beauty of conjugal love."

[How many freshman orientation programs and student life offices on Catholic campuses would have to examine consciences here?]

"....I wish to affirm the great value of academic freedom.... Yet ... any appeal to the principle of academic freedom in order to justify positions that contradict the faith and the teaching of the Church would obstruct or even betray the university's identity and mission; a mission at the heart of the Church's [teaching mission] and not somehow ... independent of it."

[Will the theologians at prestige Catholic universities who affirm Humanae Vitae's teaching on the morally appropriate means of regulating fertility, the Catechism's teaching on the disordered character of homosexual acts, and the teaching of Ordinatio Sacerdotalis on the inadmissability of women to Holy Orders please raise their hands?]

The spin machine notwithstanding, Benedict XVI put serious challenges before the nation's leading Catholic educators. To resolve any doubts that the pope has a different idea of what befits a Catholic college or university than a lot of the Catholic higher education establishment, however, I propose a simple test.

Whether or not to produce Eve Ensler's "Vagina Monologues" --- a "play" that mocks the settled teaching of the Catholic Church --- has become a tedious annual ritual on many Catholic campuses. Prominent among them is Notre Dame: to the public mind, the flagship among U.S. Catholic institutions of higher education. There, the university's president, Father John Jenkins, CSC, has allowed Ensler's "play" on campus, acquiescing to the demands of some Notre Dame faculty while rejecting the counsel of other distinguished faculty members and the arguments of the local bishop.

In the patristic period, disputes within and among local churches were submitted to the Bishop of Rome for adjudication. So here's my proposal and my test-case: let Father Jenkins send Pope Benedict XVI a copy of Ensler's "play," asking the pope whether he considers this material appropriate for production or useful for discussion on a Catholic campus.

The answer, I predict, will not please the spin machine.

George Weigel is a senior fellow of the Ethics and Public Policy Center in Washington, D.C.

Pope Rebukes Colleges, But Was Anyone Listening?

Pope Benedict Tells Catholic College Leaders to Uphold Pro-Life Values
4/17/2008 9:17:00 PM
By Steven Ertelt -LifeNews.com

Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- As pro-life advocates expected and hoped for, Pope Benedict XVI told leaders of Catholic colleges and universities that they need to uphold Catholic values. The speech is considered a great help for pro-life advocates concerned about college hosting pro-abortion speakers and candidates.

The Pope said academic freedom on college campuses has "great value" but that it does not justify abrogating Catholic teaching about the value of human life in the face of abortion and concerns on bioethics issues like euthanasia and stem cell research.

The pontiff said Catholic teaching should shape the direction of Catholic colleges and that teachers and university officials have a "profound responsibility to lead the young to truth."
"I wish to reaffirm the great value of academic freedom," Benedict told hundreds of Catholic university representatives at the Catholic University of America speech.

"Yet it is also the case that any appeal to the principle of academic freedom in order to justify positions that contradict the faith and the teaching of the church would obstruct or even betray the university's identity and mission," he said.

Though he didn't mention abortion issues or pro-abortion speakers specifically, attendees couldn't mistake the implications of his comments.

"Teachers and administrators, whether in universities or schools, have the duty and privilege to ensure that students receive instruction in Catholic doctrine and practice," Benedict said.

"Divergence from this vision weakens Catholic identity and, far from advancing freedom, inevitably leads to confusion, whether moral, intellectual or spiritual."

For pro-life advocates who have complained about the rash of recent pro-abortion speakers on campus -- such as Hillary Clinton at St. Mary's University and St. Peter's College hosting Barack Obama -- news of a "rebuke" from Pope Benedict is welcome.

Some of the recent concerns about pro-abortion speakers at Catholic Colleges include:

* Pennsylvania-based Mercyhurst College agreed to host a rally for pro-abortion candidate Hillary Clinton.

* King's College in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania hosted a rally for Hillary Clinton

* University of St. Thomas (TX) President Robert Ivany had to cancel a scheduled speech by pro-abortion Latino leader Dolores Huerta.

* St. Mary's University, also in Texas, came under fire from pro-life advocates for hosting a rally for pro-abortion Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton.

* St. Louis University officials came under fire for not disciplining basketball coach Rick Majerus after the pro-abortion comments he made at a rally for Clinton.

* Trinity University in Washington, D.C. got heat from Reilly's group for continuing to extol two of its pro-abortion alumnae, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi and Kansas Governor Kathleen Sebelius.

* St Peter's College, a Jesuit Catholic institution, allowed pro-abortion Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama to hold a rally there.

Institutionalized Dissent Greets the Holy Father

From an article on Inside Catholic by Deal Hudson:

John Paul II helped to create new and orthodox Catholic apostolates throughout this nation that served as a platform for his genuine implementation of Vatican II reforms. Benedict arrives in the United States to continue the work of his predecessor. The Holy Father knows very well that when he meets with the presidents of more than 200 Catholic colleges and universities, there will be only a relative handful who have embraced the Apostolic Constitution on Catholic universities, Ex Corde Ecclesiae, issued over 18 years ago by John Paul II.

Most of the secular media is trained on what Benedict will say about the Iraq War -- but in the life of the Church in this country, the real action will come on Thursday, April 17, when the Holy Father meets at the Catholic University of America with the college presidents. What he will say to those who safeguard institutionalized dissent will not change anything overnight, but it will send a forceful message to the laity to demand their institutions reaffirm their true Catholic identity.

Persepective From CUA President Offered on pope's Visit

Note: I tend to agree with the Rev. in his response to the Washington Post story from a few days ago. The media loves to jump all over controversy and play up division. But the Pope is a shepherd, not a lion tamer. He will speak as a father and a pastor. He will encourage and praise and only lightly touch on concerns he may have. When he does, expect the headlines to be "Pope Admonishes College Presidents". But they'll hear the whole message and know what it means. The Vatican already said what needed to be said in Ex Corde Ecclesiae. It's up to the colleges to respond.

A Challenge From the Pope

I could not disagree more with those who predict a "stern message" and a "rebuke" when Pope Benedict XVI addresses Catholic university and college presidents and diocesan education leaders at Catholic University on April 17. The fact that the pope, as teacher of the faith, takes on the compromises advanced within contemporary culture, pushes hard against moral relativism, and seeks to present the intelligibility of the alliance between faith and reason in the quest for truth does not constitute an attack on the Catholic academy. They are the very things that Catholic universities and colleges, too, should be considering, precisely because they are Catholic.

The pope is presenting a challenge to all of us in Catholic higher education to be authentic and faithful to what we say we are and what we say we do. No one should fear such a challenge or paint the call to authenticity as some sort of public reprimand. It is the pope's role and responsibility to lift up Catholic principles as goals to be achieved and as elements of truth, identity and mission for all institutions within the church.

Positive messages do not often make headlines. Controversies -- real or imagined -- do. The suggestion that the pope is coming to the United States with a hammer for Catholic educational leaders is not only premature but also prejudicial. Instead of condemning Catholic universities and colleges for what may be perceived as failures -- and failures do exist -- the pope might very well thank Catholic educational institutions for being beacons of light in a society that sometimes prefers darkness.

VERY REV.
DAVID M. O'CONNELL
President
The Catholic University of America
Washington

The Catholic Brand

The Challenge of Controlling the Catholic Brand
Theophilis
March 15, 2008

(ITH) - The article below from the Washington Post describes the trepidation that Catholic college presidents feel about the upcoming visit by Pope Benedict XVI. They feel that his likely response to their "leadership" will be admonishment and lecturing about "Catholic" identity and dissent. And understandably so.

These college presidents have benefited greatly from using the Catholic brand. Powerful and wealthy alumni who identify themselves as Catholic continue to pump millions of dollars into Catholic college endowments and supply a stream of descendant applicants to their Alma Maters. Further, Catholic high schools continue to encourage graduates to attend Catholic colleges and many have scholarships available from those colleges geographically closest to them .

The college presidents though openly flaunt their dissent from Catholic teaching on faith and morals in the name of "academic freedom". Why? One answer may be the demographic reality that fewer young people identify themselves as churchgoing Catholics. Another may be that to "compete" for faculty and students these colleges feel they need to diversify into demographics having nothing to do with the Catholic faith and more to do with current trends or fads like feminism, homosexuality and secularism.

The response of the Church leadership, especially the Pope, has been to add requirements for these colleges and their presidents to prove they are worthy of the Catholic moniker. Is their response rational or one of futility and desperation?

I liken it to a corporation that wants to control its brand. For Coca Cola to be Coca Cola, it must have the same ingredients, appearance, packaging and advertising wherever and whenever it is made and distributed. If a consumer were to detect a distinct difference in taste from time to time or place to place, they would likely complain or change brands to something more reliable.

Catholic colleges, by using the brand name "Catholic" have broken the rules of sound brand management. "Catholic" at Franciscan University at Steubenville, OH means something very different from "Catholic" at Georgetown University. An unsuspecting parent or student performing a college search almost has to eliminate the idea of a Catholic college from the equation. Indeed, it may be easier to have a Catholic experience at the Catholic Center at secular Boston University than at "Catholic" Boston College just three miles up Commonwealth Avenue.

The Church hierarchy responding to this problem of inconsistent brand has tried to impose some order. The document Ex Corde Ecclesiae issued by the Vatican sought to standardize the brand with respect to theology departments and the delivery system, the professors.

Likewise, the USCCB document, Catholics in Political Life, also sought to create guidelines by which Catholic colleges would approach political activity on their campuses. The reaction by the college presidents was predictable. They ignored these documents and the authority of the Vatican and Episcopate and continued to manage their colleges as separate franchises.

The result has been confusion and disillusionment on the part of practicing Catholics seeking an authentically Catholic experience. Organizations like the Cardinal Newman Society and National Catholic Register have called attention to the problem and produced guides for students and parents to use when selecting a college. In both cases, the list of authentically Catholic colleges is a small minority. And the geographic dispersion means that a student may well have to travel many miles and out of state to attend one.

So now the Pope is visiting and has on the agenda the problem described in this article. He will likely exhort the colleges to come more in line with the truth as defined by the magisterium of the Church. Less likely are any concrete steps to exert pressure on the college presidents or religious orders.

Many will cry that the Pope and the bishops are overstepping their authority and that they are trying to restrict academic freedom. But in reality they are trying to control the Catholic brand because to do otherwise usually means a steep decline in customers.

Catholic College Leaders Expect Pope to Deliver Stern Message

By Jacqueline L. Salmon and Michelle Boorstein
Washington Post Staff Writers
Friday, March 14, 2008; A01

After years of Vatican frustration over what it views as the failure of many U.S. Catholic colleges to adhere to church teachings, school leaders are intently watching for a rebuke from Pope Benedict XVI during his Washington visit next month.

The pope requested the meeting with more than 200 top Catholic school officials from across the country. The gathering will come amid debate over teachings and campus activities that bishops have slammed as violating Catholic doctrine: a rally by pro-abortion rights Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Rodham Clinton at St. Mary's University in San Antonio; a Georgetown University theologian's questioning whether Jesus offers the only road to salvation; and a performance of "The Vagina Monologues" at the University of Notre Dame.

This will be the first papal address in the United States on Catholic education in more than 20 years, and some Vatican watchers predict that it will be the most enduring part of Benedict's visit. Before becoming pope, Benedict was known as "the enforcer" of church orthodoxy, and since taking office, he has said Catholic education must bow to Catholic "truth" and the "rule of life." Such comments have some educators keyed up.

"With people expecting his address on these issues, hopes and concerns are beginning to resurface," said Mathew Schmalz, a religious studies professor at the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, Mass., who has researched and lectured about Catholic identity in higher education.

The Rev. Timothy Broglio, archbishop of the U.S. military services, who served in Rome for a dozen years, said Benedict's speech will be direct. "It'll be very clear and distinct ideas," Broglio said. "... There will be no mistaking what he wants to say."

A drumbeat for greater orthodoxy in Catholic colleges has been heard since 1990, when Pope John Paul II issued a call for Catholic colleges and universities to refocus on their religious identity.

Now educators are waiting to see how tough Benedict, a former theology professor in Germany, will be at the April 17 lecture at Catholic University and how his message will be interpreted and carried out by the bishops after he leaves.

Church officials won't give details about the content of the speech, but conservative Catholics are predicting -- and hoping for -- shock waves from Benedict, who before becoming pope was associated with public reprimands of Catholic theologians and blocked appointments of university faculty members he thought were too liberal.

"This is something that's been simmering for so long that it's reached a boiling point," said Patrick Reilly, president of the Cardinal Newman Society, which works to promote orthodoxy in Catholic higher education. In its recommendations to students, the society says 20 of the 235 U.S. Catholic colleges and universities are sufficiently orthodox. Reilly said a number of bishops and Vatican officials say privately that the speech will "raise a lot of eyebrows."

As pope, Benedict has not been as explicit about the limits of academic freedom as some had expected him to be, and some educators predicted that the talk next month will have a pastoral tone. However, they said, it will make clear that the pope thinks change is necessary.

"One thing the pope will emphasize is the importance for all [Catholic] schools to realize that they aren't independent contractors, they are part of the church," said the Rev. David M. O'Connell, Catholic University's president.

Catholic University is the only U.S. Catholic college founded by the nation's bishops, and it follows the Vatican line more closely than do many other schools. O'Connoll said Rome is concerned about the lack of Catholic faculty at Catholic universities and about rampant "moral relativism" -- the belief that there is no objective right or wrong -- on campuses.

Last fall, Worcester Bishop Robert J. McManus objected to a conference on teen pregnancy held on the campus of the College of the Holy Cross that included speakers from Planned Parenthood and NARAL.

And last month: San Antonio Archbishop Jose Gomez complained about the Clinton rally at St. Mary's University; St. Louis Archbishop Raymond Burke said St. Louis University basketball coach Rick Majerus should be disciplined for his comments in support of abortion rights and embryonic stem cell research; and Catholic bishops moved a theological seminar off Notre Dame's campus to protest an on-campus performance of the play "The Vagina Monologues."

Bishops have criticized Georgetown for hosting Hustler publisher Larry Flynt and allowing the establishment of a pro-abortion rights student club there. Conservative Catholics are complaining about plans to open a gay resource center soon at the school.

School presidents insist that truth-seeking is part of their institutional purpose.

"Every university is committed to the pursuit of truth," said Georgetown President John J. DeGioia, "and we want to ensure that there is the opportunity for both academic freedom and for the free exchange of ideas and opinions across all issues."

But David Gibson, the author of a Benedict biography, said the pope will ask, "If you're not going to be an authentically Catholic, orthodox institution, why should you exist?"

The lecture will be attended by presidents of most U.S. Catholic colleges and universities. All 195 diocesan education directors are also invited, although the Vatican's focus has been on countering relativism in higher education.

After liberalizing moves by the church in the 1960s and 1970s, Pope John Paul in 1990 issued Ex Corde Ecclesiae, presenting his views of what a Catholic university should be. In 1999, U.S. bishops voted to require theology professors to be certified as teaching in a truly "Catholic" manner.

Since then, there has been a vigorous exchange, with most educators on Catholic campuses agreeing that they want to keep a "Catholic" perspective but disagreeing about how pervasive that needs to be. Does it mean events and courses should always come down on the side of orthodox church teachings? Or can the church's position simply be articulated and discussed? What does academic freedom truly mean under Ex Corde?

Many conservatives have complained that colleges and universities don't take seriously the requirement that people teaching theology obtain a "mandatum," or certificate, from the local bishop indicating that the coursework was approved by the church.

Although Catholic colleges and universities were originally founded by religious orders or by laypeople working with bishops, their campuses have become more diverse, and that diversity affects their mission.

"Our schools are not made up of all Catholic students or Catholic faculty and administrators," said the Rev. Charles Currie, president of the Association of Jesuit Colleges and Universities, who has spoken out against the mandatum and quotas on non-Catholic board members and faculty members. "And so the institution has to be respectful of differences at the same time they're trying to foster a [Catholic] identity."

Some are skeptical that anything will change.

"Whatever he says, I think, for the most part, it will fall on deaf ears," said Derry Connolly, president of John Paul the Great Catholic University. "Universities are tough institutions to turn around, and faculty are very powerful. ... I don't think it will have much of an effect."

Pope Benedict to visit Catholic University on D.C. trip

Let's hope the Roman Pontiff has a strong message for American Catholic universities and colleges, exhorting them to fidelity and faithfulness. As you peruse the stories in this blog and the various websites we link to, you will see there is much repair work to be undertaken if the Catholic youth in the U.S. are to have a legitimate shot at learning and deepening their faith along with the liberal arts and sciences.


Pope Benedict to visit Catholic University on D.C. trip, website launched

Washington DC, Dec 5, 2007 / 11:38 am (CNA).- The Catholic University of America has announced that Pope Benedict XVI will visit the campus during his April trip to Washington, D.C. and has dedicated a website to the visit.

University President Monsignor David M. O'Connor, C.M., confirmed the announcement in a letter. "We look forward to Pope Benedict XVI's April visit to The Catholic University of America with tremendous anticipation and enthusiasm," he said. He described the visit as "an honor beyond measure."

Catholic University is the only papally chartered university in the United States.

University officials expressed hope that current students, faculty, and staff could see the Holy Father as he arrives on and departs from campus. However, due to security concerns the university will be closed on the day of the visit, April 17.

Pope John Paul II visited Catholic University in 1979, where he delivered an address on Catholic higher education.

Pope Benedict previously visited the university before he was elected to the papacy.

During his visit to the Catholic University campus, Pope Benedict will address an invitation-only audience on themes in Catholic education. The audience will include the presidents of Catholic colleges and universities and Catholic school superintendents representing each U.S. diocese.

For more information on his visit please visit http://papalvisit.cua.edu/

Boycott Amnesty International on Catholic Campuses

Ivory Tower Heretics Blog is calling on Catholic Colleges and Universities to discontinue affiliation with Amnesty International over their policy to support abortion.

Amnesty International supports abortion. In their twisted logic, they believe abortion should be available due to violence against women in cases of rape and incest.

The Catholic Church teaches that ABORTION IS VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN! Not only is the procedure itself harmful to women, causing elevated risks of infertility, bleeding, breast cancer and psychological trauma, but in many countries abortion is used for sex selection, with females the intended victims. Abortion is murder of an innocent human baby, plain and simple.

The Vatican and Catholic Bishops have condemned AI's position and have even resigned from their board over this issue.

Note: Cardinal Renato Martino, president of the Vatican’s Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace said that Catholics worldwide would boycott AI if it didn’t reverse the position at their biennial meeting."If in fact Amnesty International persists in this course of action, individuals and Catholic organizations must withdraw their support because, in deciding to promote abortion rights, Amnesty International has betrayed its mission," he said.

Amnesty International seems to propose that only some types of abortion can be advocated while excluding others such as forced abortions and sex selection. This is intellectually dishonest since there is no evidence that once the abortion industry sets up camp, greed isn't the prime motivator. In our own country, it is actually the rapist and family abuser who benefits most from the abortion industry as seen in Kansas where a lawsuit alleges that Planned Parenthood has covered up abortions of minors where rape and incest likely occurred. In fact, this seems to be standard procedure for Planned Parenthood as a core constituency is husbands, fathers and boyfriends who force women and girls into abortion as their "free choice".

Amnesty International was founded by a devout Catholic but has turned its back on Catholic faith and morals as the basis for human rights. They should have no place on Catholic college campuses.

We'll be listing Catholic colleges and universities in the coming days that have active AI chapters or affiliations. Here is the list today:

Georgetown University
Notre Dame
Boston College
Catholic University of America
DePaul University
Seton Hall University
Villanova University
St. Louis University
St. John's University
Santa Clara Law
University of San Francisco
Holy Cross College
Duquesne University
Creighton University
Providence College

Kerry "Not Invited" to Catholic U - Scheduling Conflict

LifeSiteNews.com reported last week that Catholic University of America's (CUA) newspaper "The Tower" had revealed that the College Democrats at CUA had received the necessary permission from the administration and subsequently invited pro-abortion Senator Kerry to lecture at the University.

In its current issue released just today, The Tower newspaper is now reporting that according to both the Senator's congressional office and the College Democrats, "Sen. John Kerry will not speak at the University this semester due to scheduling conflicts..."

More on Catholic U and John Kerry

As we reported a few weeks ago, Catholic U has invited pro abortion Senator John Kerry to speak on campus. Kerry, who boast of a 100% rating from NARAL and has never seen abortion funding legislation he didn't like, was singled out during the last presidential election cycle as the perfect example of the Catholic politician with a anti- Catholic voting record who should be denied communion according to canon law. Apparently, some eager educators can't seen to help themselves when given a change to schmooze with power.

Lifesite News has picked up the story and sent it around to their many supporters and bloggers. Time to turn up the heat at Catholic U?

"Catholic" U Welcomes John Kerry

What part of "thou shalt not" is too hard for these heretics on Catholic campuses? John Kerry. along with fellow apostates Kennedy, Leahy and the entire Massachusetts House delegation have done more harm to humankind and Catholic teaching than anyone in history.

By promoting sin as law, abortion on demand, counterfeit marriage, and blocking school vouchers, few politician could lay more claim to Antichrist than this cabal. Yet the usual secular power wannabes can't help themselves when picking their guest speakers. Church teaching be damned!