Planned Parenthood Clinic Listed on Jesuit University's Student Health Services Site

Planned Parenthood Clinic Listed on Jesuit University’s Student Health Services Site

January 05, 2010

The web site of the Student Health Services office at Loyola University New Orleans includes Planned Parenthood among its list of local clinics and offers a link to Planned Parenthood of Louisiana and the Misssippi Delta. The university’s web site also notes that students who have taken the sociology department’s capstone course (Sociology Internship/Practicum) “have interned at Planned Parenthood.”

Founded in 1912 by the Jesuit Fathers, Loyola University New Orleans has 4,474 students, 2,658 of whom are undergraduates.


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Georgetown law program placed fellowship winner with Planned Parenthood

The Women's Law and Public Policy Fellowship Program at one of the nation's leading Jesuit universities placed a fellowship winner with the Planned Parenthood Federation of America, according to the university's web site.

Typically, organizations such as Planned Parenthood must apply to the Women's Law and Public Policy Fellowship Program of the Georgetown University Law Center in order to host a fellow. Once the university's fellowship program approves the organization's application, a grant is awarded to the organization so that the fellow can be paid a stipend.

"The Women's Law and Public Policy Fellowship Program (WLPPFP) accepts applications from organizations located in the Washington, D.C. area that would like to host a Women's Law Fellow for the upcoming Fellowship year," notes the web site of the Georgetown University Law Center.

"The Women's Law Fellow must be assigned to work on legal and public policy issues affecting the status of women ... If your organization is awarded a Women's Law Fellow, the $37,500 annual stipend will be covered by WLPPFP through a grant to your organization."

"The Women's Law and Public Policy Fellowship Program makes every effort to accommodate the Fellows' placement preferences," notes another university web page. "However, the Program cannot guarantee any particular placement organization, even if an applicant has a prior relationship or connection with an organization involved in legal and policy issues affecting women."

During the 2006-7 academic year, fellowship winner Diana Aguilar worked in the Public Policy Law and Litigation Department of Planned Parenthood Federation of America. According to a university web page:

Fluent in Spanish, Diana has represented her department at two international conferences, one in Peru last fall and one in Colombia this spring. One of her major research projects this year has dealt with an employment discrimination case, where Diana analyzed all of the Title VII Supreme Court cases from the last decade as well as related decisions written by the two new Supreme Court Justices prior to their appointment. In the case at issue, known as In re Union Pacific Railroad Employment Practices Litigation, the plaintiff argued that an employer engages in sex discrimination if it covers prescription drugs in its health insurance plan but refuses to cover prescription contraceptives. Diana has also investigated issues ranging from complex constitutional law principles to the standards for granting a rehearing en banc in federal circuit court litigation. She also reports on the activities of the department for an electronic bi-weekly newsletter.

"Her Fellowship with Planned Parenthood Federation of America," noted another university web page, "is generously supported by the Huber Foundation and the Robert Sterling Clark Foundation."

According to a recent university publication, the fellowship program "celebrates the continued achievements of our outstanding alumni, who strive to improve the lives of women and their families throughout their careers. Our alums constitute a powerful network of experienced and committed lawyers across the United States and Africa ... Diana Aguilar continues to serve as an Associate Staff Attorney with the Public Policy Litigation & Law department at Planned Parenthood Federation of America."

In that capacity, Ms. Aguilar is working to prevent the appearance a ballot initiative that would allow Alaska voters to decide whether minors should inform their parents before having an abortion.

Founded in 1789 by the Jesuits, Georgetown University has 15,318 students, 7,092 of whom are undergraduates.

Source(s): these links will take you to other sites, in a new window.

Outreach (Georgetown Law, 2006)
Outreach (Georgetown Law, 2007)
Outreach (Georgetown Law, 2009)
The Women's Law and Public Policy Fellowship Program (Georgetown Law)
Placement Organization Application (Georgetown Law)
Planned Parenthood of Alaska v. Campbell (Center for Reproductive Rights)
Former Planned Parenthood CEO teaches at Georgetown’s nursing school (CWN, 12/22)

University of San Francisco to Host Head of Pro-Abortion Amnesty International

On October 27, the Lane Center for Catholic Studies and Social Research at the Jesuit, Catholic University of San Francisco (USF) will host a book signing and panel discussion by the head of Amnesty International, despite that organization's 2007 move to promote abortion rights, California Catholic Daily has reported.

"The Catholic Church has made it abundantly clear that the decision of Amnesty International to support abortion is a direct betrayal of its own mission in service of human rights," said Patrick J. Reilly, President of The Cardinal Newman Society (CNS). "How sad it is that USF is degrading its Catholic identity by giving a platform to the head of this once-admirable, but now morally compromised organization."

Since 2001, Irene Khan has been the secretary general of Amnesty International, a "human rights" organization founded in 1961. It was under Khan's leadership that the organization changed its official position on abortion from neutrality to support for abortion "rights."

In September of 2006, Bishop William S. Skystad, representing the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), wrote to Khan in defense of the unborn against the move to a pro-abortion stance.

Also, a statement by the Vatican's Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace promised that if Amnesty "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." [emphasis added]

As California Catholic reported, in August 2007, Amnesty's executive committee formally voted to adopt a pro-abortion policy. Concerned for its Catholic identity, another Jesuit college in Sydney, Australia, went so far as to sever ties with the organization. Catholic hierarchs serving as Amnesty members also resigned.

Jesuit Father Daniel Berrigan, a longtime social activist, responded to Amnesty's new pro-abortion stance, stating, "One cannot support an organization financially or even individually that is contravening something very serious in our ethic."

In 2004, the USCCB issued the statement "Catholics in Political Life" which precludes granting a platform such as the one USF intends to give Khan. The statement reads:

"The Catholic community and Catholic institutions should not honor those who act in defiance of our fundamental moral principles. They should not be given awards, honors or platforms which would suggest support for their actions."

The University of San Francisco webpage announcing Ms. Khan's discussion says the event is sponsored by: "the Office of the President, University Ministry, Lane Center for Catholic Studies and Social Thought, and the Leo T. McCarthy Center for Public Service and the Common Good."

The Cardinal Newman Society previously outlined some of the more recent tragic betrayals of USF's Catholic identity in a press release here.

Boston College Health Plan Covers 'Family Planning' Services

New research by The Cardinal Newman Society has uncovered evidence that the student health insurance plan provided by Boston College, a Jesuit institution of Catholic higher education, includes coverage for "family planning" services such as birth control pills.

"Now that it has been uncovered that Boston College is providing unethical coverage to students, college officials should take immediate action to provide students with insurance options that conform to Catholic teachings," said Patrick J. Reilly, President of The Cardinal Newman Society. "BC needs to send a strong message, especially after students voted in a referendum last year to petition the college to make contraceptives available on campus."

Contraception and birth control services are explicitly covered under the student health plan, Blue Care Elect Preferred (PPO), which is an optional plan for students provided by Boston College. Although elective abortion is not explicitly stated in the policy, Koster Insurance Agency, Inc., Boston College's insurance agent, could not rule out the possibility that abortions are covered by the policy, according to an article in the Boston College Observer reporting on the Cardinal Newman Society's research.

Although several states--including most recently the State of Wisconsin--require employers and sometimes even Catholic institutions to provide contraceptive coverage in employee health plans, such laws do not mandate student coverage.

The revelations at Boston College stand in stark contrast to the situation at Belmont Abbey College in North Carolina, which is engaged in religious liberty battle with the U.S. Equal Opportunities Commission because the college refuses to cover contraception in its faculty health care plan.

Jesuit University of San Francisco President Defends Condom Use for Virus Prevention

Jesuit University of San Francisco President Defends Condom Use for Virus Prevention

The president of the Catholic, Jesuit University of San Francisco (USF), Rev. Stephen Privett, S.J., publicly defended the use of condoms to prevent the HIV/AIDS virus, according to an interview with Catholic San Francisco published June 10.

Last month USF awarded an honorary degree to South African Bishop Kevin Dowling, which was protested by The Cardinal Newman Society (CNS) due to Bishop Dowling's dissent from Vatican teaching on condom use and the South African Bishops' Conference's condemnations of his public statements.

"It is the obligation of a Catholic university's president to embrace Catholic teaching as truth and as the solid foundation of the university's Catholic mission," said CNS President Patrick J. Reilly. "It would be unfortunate for a Catholic leader's public statements to echo those who stridently criticized Pope Benedict XVI's plea for healthy, moral and responsible sexual behavior during his recent visit to Africa."

In the interview with Catholic San Francisco prior to the USF commencement, Father Privett reportedly defended the use of condoms to prevent the spread of HIV/AIDS, despite the consistent teaching of the Catholic Church that condom use is always immoral.

"HIV/AIDS is an epidemic in his [Dowling's] diocese and in whole areas of Africa," Privett says in the article. "I think people need to understand the difference between a condom as a contraceptive and a condom preventing the spread of a deadly virus that is literally killing thousands of people in Africa."

The Cardinal Newman Society has vigorously opposed USF performances of The Vagina Monologues and dissident commencement speakers such as Nancy Pelosi in 2007. Fr. Privett reportedly defends these as well.

"When we bring these speakers onto campus, we don't bring them as spokespersons for a position with which we disagree," Fr. Privett is quoted as saying, blaming critics for failing to consider the totality of student experiences when they accuse USF of not supporting Church teaching.

"They only see the commencement speaker or The Vagina Monologues. They don't see the other 240 days. They're not at Sunday liturgies. They're not at student retreats. It's the tip and not the whole iceberg."

Yet there have been multiple concerns about the University of San Francisco's Catholic identity, including the following in recent years:

- USF's two health insurance plans for employees both provide for abortion, sterilization and contraception. Complaints led USF to drop similar coverage in a student insurance plan, and officials say they are in favor of improving the employee plans, according to reports by Our Sunday Visitor.

- USF's student health clinic stopped referring students to Planned Parenthood for abortions after the practice was revealed in December 2008.

- USF recently dropped its graduate theology program.

- USF hosted the performance of a play that contradicts Church teaching on homosexuality after San Francisco Archbishop George Niederauer refused to allow it to be performed at a diocesan parish.

- USF bestowed an honorary degree upon Irish President Mary McAleese, despite her public dissent from Church teaching on the all-male priesthood.

- USF hosted a film festival co-sponsored by the USF Gender and Sexuality Department and a homosexual student club, which featured at least two films which promote abortion and same-sex marriage.

- USF touted on its website a "birth spacing" study produced by students which promoted the use of artificial contraceptives.

Catholic San Francisco reported that USF philosophy professor Raymond Dennehy is among those who believes the Jesuit institution's Catholic identity has eroded under Fr. Privett's leadership. Dennehy said that the dialogue Fr. Privett hopes to encourage is presented in a one-sided manner on campus, with most guest speakers dissenting against Church teaching.

Referring to Bishop Dowling's honorary degree, Dennehy said, "Dialogue is having speakers both pro and con. This is giving an award, and you can bet your bottom dollar that (USF) would not do that if (the speaker) were anti-gay marriage."

Georgetown Law School to Honor Pro-Abortion Catholic Biden

Georgetown Law School to Honor Pro-Abortion Catholic Biden

On Wednesday, April 22, Georgetown University Law Center will host an event honoring Vice President Joseph Biden with the "Legal Momentum Hero Award," in direct violation of the U.S. bishops' 2004 policy against such honors to pro-abortion politicians.

More than 40 U.S. bishops have publicly decried the University of Notre Dame's plan to honor President Barack Obama next month, citing a 2004 statement by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops: "The Catholic community and Catholic institutions should not honor those who act in defiance of our fundamental moral principles. They should not be given awards, honors or platforms which would suggest support for their actions."

"Even as Notre Dame publicly snubs the Catholic bishops, Georgetown appears to be saying, 'Me, too!,'" said Patrick Reilly, president of The Cardinal Newman Society. "Just last week, Georgetown covered the name of Jesus Christ at the request of the White House. Scandal after scandal at Georgetown, including the stunning 2007 law school policy that offers paid internships for students to work at organizations that advocate for abortion rights, has severely compromised its integrity as a Catholic institution."

Georgetown University Law Center is affiliated with Georgetown University, a Catholic and Jesuit institution.

Vice President Joseph Biden, a professed Roman Catholic, has since the 2008 presidential campaign come under sharp criticism from pro-life advocates, including his hometown Bishop Joseph Martino of Scranton, Pa., for supporting the legal abortion.

According to the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life, Biden "strongly support[s] Roe v. Wade." Biden was the co-sponsor of the oppressive Freedom of Choice Act in the 102nd and 103rd congresses. He also voted for federal funding of Planned Parenthood and embryonic stem cell research, and against parental notification for minors seeking out-of-state abortions, a ban on abortions at military facilities, and a ban on human cloning.

Tomorrow's symposium is sponsored by the Georgetown Journal of Gender and the Law and Legal Momentum, a women's rights advocacy group that sharply conflicts with the Catholic Church by promoting "reproductive rights," advocating same-sex marriage and opposing abstinence-only education programs and pro-life crisis pregnancy centers.

Georgetown Covers Up Name of Jesus at White House Request

Note: I bet they didn't even give it a second thought. Probably aren't many there who even know what the monogram stands for. After all, it's Jesuit Georgetown. Not even questioned is the appearance by Obama there in the first place. He's their kind of guy.

Georgetown Covers Up Name of Jesus at White House Request

Before President Barack Obama spoke on Tuesday, April 14, at Georgetown University, the White House asked that all signs and symbols be covered up at the Gaston Hall venue, CNSNews.com reports. In compliance with the request, the university covered over the monogram "IHS," an ancient Christian symbol of the name of Jesus Christ.

"It is such a sad commentary that Catholic universities are willingly hiding the most visible signs of their Catholic identity when hosting secular leaders," said Patrick Reilly, president of The Cardinal Newman Society. "What’s next, will Notre Dame cover images of Jesus and Mary and ban rosaries when they honor President Obama next month?"

The CNSNews.com story notes that Julie Green Bataille, associate vice president for communications at Georgetown, said, "In coordinating the logistical arrangements for yesterday's event, Georgetown honored the White House staff's request to cover all of the Georgetown University signage and symbols behind Gaston Hall stage."

"The White House wanted a simple backdrop of flags and pipe and drape for the speech, consistent with what they've done for other policy speeches," continued Bataille. "Frankly, the pipe and drape wasn't high enough by itself to fully cover the IHS and cross above the GU seal and it seemed most respectful to have them covered so as not to be seen out of context."

This is not the first controversy surrounding religious imagery at Georgetown recently. A prominent statue of Our Lady of Fatima was desecrated twice in less than a month at the university earlier this year. When the first desecration of the statue occurred, a group of concerned students organized a 24-hour prayer vigil in response, but students complained to The Cardinal Newman Society that the Georgetown administration's response was tepid.

Merry Christmas: V-Monologues Unwrap $1K from BC Students and Support from Theology Dept.

Note: Well earned is the reputation that BC stands for "Barely Catholic". Once again, the "leadership" of this nominally Catholic College has totally abdicated its responsibility to lead young people into better decisions and scandalized them instead with this putrid example of modern pornography. If Catholic institutions fall this easily for this deception, imagine how quickly they'll be to follow the Antichrist when he comes...

Merry Christmas: V-Monologues Unwrap $1K from BC Students and Support from Theology Dept.

The student senate at Boston College voted to allocate $1,000 in college funds for increased 2009 campus productions of The Vagina Monologues. The Observer reports that a list of co-sponsors, including the theology department, was presented to the students in support of funding productions of the oft-criticized, vulgar play.

The Vagina Monologues is a sexually explicit and offensive play that favorably describes lesbian rape, group masturbation, and the reduction of sexuality to selfish pleasure. It is produced with the hope that by raising the awareness to violence against women, incidents of abuse will decrease.

The UGBC senate passed the decision to provide funds for the play in a narrow vote of 8-7. During deliberations, which lasted two hours, "concern over the appropriateness of the production and the need to bring women's issues into the public eye" were debated, The Observer reports.

Students in support of the Monologues argued that there is a precedent for funding the play, set by previous years. Boston College has been a consistent host of the play in past semesters.

However, the student senators who opposed the resolution cited the explicit humor in the play. Senator John Karl, who had previously supported productions of the Monologues, said that after reading the script he was now "troubled that it portrayed sexual assault in a liberating manner."

The Observer reports that in 2009 there will be three campus productions of The Vagina Monologues on campus. In past years there have been up to two performances a semester.

In the initial request for funding made to the student senators, a list of co-sponsors was included. "Perhaps the most controversial among this list of potential co-sponsors is the Theology Department," The Observer reports. "It remains unclear what actions, if any, will be taken in order to gauge professor support for the production before this year's co-sponsorship is either granted or denied."

"Some theology professors were concerned about the fact that more broad internal discussions within the department did not occur on such a controversial issue."

Some in the theology department, however, disagreed.

"I believe that the author, Eve Ensler, may have a good intention," said associate theology professor Margaret Schatkin. "The indecorous and intemperate language negates her cause, which is ostensibly to raise the position of women. This is officially the year of St. Paul in the Catholic Church, and the Apostle teaches us a lot about avoiding foul language."

"From the title on, the play does not meet apostolic standards of Christian discourse," continued Schatkin. "It also does not meet basic standards of literary quality. While admittedly there is great injustice around the world against women, e.g., human trafficking, such exploitation is not to be trivialized but should be made the subject of a serious dramatic work, which would not rely on vulgarity to get its message across."

A Catholic U Outing: Dinner at a Gay Bar, A Sexually Graphic Play and Mass with the Obama-Supporting Pastor Pfleger

A Catholic U Outing: Dinner at a Gay Bar, A Sexually Graphic Play and Mass with the Obama-Supporting Pastor Pfleger

By Thaddeus M. Baklinski

NOTRE DAME, Indiana, December 18, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Notre Dame University students participating in the Cultural Diversity Seminar, sponsored by the university's Center for Social Concerns, spent their Fall Break in Chicago in order to be "immersed in the subcultures of the city," a report by the university's student newspaper, The Irish Rover, states.

The goal of the outing was to "increase awareness of the variety of approaches and strategies employed by ethnic organizations, churches and others to improve social conditions."

To this end, the field trip opened with Mass at St. Sabina's Catholic Parish, known for its "unique restructuring of the Mass" as well as for its pastor, Father Michael Pfleger, who gained national notoriety for supporting Barack Obama's presidential candidacy and for his sermon mocking Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton at rival Barack Obama's former church.

Fr. Pfleger was temporarily removed from his parish by Chicago Archbishop Francis Cardinal George, and asked to "reflect on his recent statements and actions in the light of the church's regulations for all Catholic priests."

The Irish Rover reported that "although the students were able to take part in Father Pfleger's celebration of the Mass and hear his sermon, his early departure prior to the conclusion of the Mass prevented them from speaking to him afterwards."

Following a tour of the Board of Trade and a "Ghetto Bus Tour," the students were taken to dinner at a homosexual bar called Hamburger Mary's, where they attended a showing of "The Ville," described as "a weekly episodic performance that includes graphic scenes of homosexual activity."

The trip concluded with a session at the Chicago Centre in which "activist Prexy Nesbit" delivered "a political commentary against capitalism" and offered his support for Barack Obama.

To express your opinion and concern please contact:

Rev. John I. Jenkins, C.S.C.
PresidentUniversity of Notre Dame
400 Main Building
Notre Dame, IN 46556
Phone: 574.631.3903
Email: president@nd.edu

Catholic Gonzaga University Rejects Pro-Life Fliers

Catholic Gonzaga University Rejects Pro-Life Fliers
By Kathleen Gilbert

SPOKANE, Washington, November 24, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) - The student publication board at the Jesuit-run Gonzaga University has again rejected pro-life advertisements sponsored by the Human Life Alliance (HLA).

The advertisement insert, which would have been placed in the University's newspaper, reveals at length the falsehoods of the "pro-choice" culture, and includes a condemnation of Planned Parenthood and the eugenic philosophy of founder Margaret Sanger. (To view or download the insert, go to: http://www.humanlife.org/wkbn.php)

Officials from "The Gonzaga Bulletin" rejected the inserts with the statement that, "There are articles in the insertion that cast a negative light on various organizations or individuals. While these statements may be true, we simply cannot insert them in our paper per our advertising policies."

Dale Goodwin, the Director of Public Relations at Gonzaga, told LSN that the student publication board decision was based purely on their policy rejecting any advertising that attacks an individual or organization. Goodwin declined to comment whether the insert's condemnation of Planned Parenthood was the issue.

Goodwin said that Gonzaga issued their own pro-life publication after turning down HLA's earlier offers. He emphasized that Gonzaga, as a Catholic institution that supports the teachings of the Church, was not opposed to the pro-life message and would be posting on their website a document entitled "Standing for the Unborn" outlining Gonzaga's support for the pro-life movement (http://www.gonzaga.edu).

Joe Langfield of HLA, however, said he was "saddened" at the rejection, and suggested that the University's reasons for the rejection don't pass muster.

"Of course some statements in our publication are objectionable to 'various organizations or individuals,'" said Langfeld. "The business of abortion is ugly and we think college and university students have a right to read the facts from someone other then abortion providers."

The Human Life Alliance is a non-profit organization dedicated to educating college students about the reality of abortion and the unborn child.

Joe Langfeld told LSN that the Alliance has had difficulty distributing their message at Gonzaga in the past, where their inserts had been rejected previously.

Langfield says that after years of petitioning from HLA as well as pro-life Gonzaga students and parents, they learned that someone receiving the requests had disposed of them without passing them on to the administration.

"After that, we stepped up our efforts," said Langfeld. He also said that Gonzaga had attempted to negotiate the removal of some material from the inserts, an idea HLA rejected. If Gonzaga continues to decline the inserts, Langfeld said, HLA will encourage individuals on campus to distribute them among their peers.

Gonzaga states that its mission as a Catholic school is to "affirm the heritage which has developed through two thousand years of Christian living, theological reflection, and authentic interpretation," and, "As Jesuit, we are inspired by the vision of Christ at work in the world, transforming it by His love, and calling men and women to work with Him in loving service of the human community."

To contact Gonzaga University:
Fr. Robert J. Spitzer, S.J., president
502 East Boone Avenue
Spokane, WA 99258-0102
phone: (1-800) 986-9585

Boston College in flap over lingerie

Boston College in flap over lingerie
Critics: Biz deal with Victoria's Secret 'disgraceful'

By Christine McConville
Thursday, November 13, 2008

Boston College's merchandising deal with racy lingerie peddler Victoria's Secret is raising ire on campus and among the conservative, Catholic school's alumni.

"It's disgraceful and appalling," said Boston College graduate C.J. Doyle, who runs the Catholic Action League of Massachusetts. "This is just one more example of the university's callous contempt for Catholic sensibilities and its complete indifference to what remains of its Catholic identity."

Yesterday on Newbury Street, outside a Victoria's Secret store that is selling hot-pink Boston College tank tops for $19.50 and Eagles "short shorts," others agreed.

"It's just not appropriate," said Maura Orrell of Quincy, as she surveyed the rhinestone- and glitter-covered Boston College sweatshirts, hanging just past the candy-colored Miracle bras.

"It's really tacky," added Marcia, a "50-ish" auditor from Boston.

Since July, Victoria's Secret stores have been selling university-themed clothing from 33 schools with strong name recognition. The Collegiate Licensing Co. is a partner and has arranged for some of the revenue to get passed on to the schools.

The universities of Minnesota and North Carolina have already pulled out of the deal, in part because they did not want their brand associated with the retailer.

"There is no way that we want that (BC) logo to be interpreted as 'We OK the sexualization of women,' " said Sharlene Hesse-Biber, director of the Women's Studies Center at Boston College, about the products.

At the Newbury Street Victoria's Secret store, the BC display is located just past life-sized photographs of nearly naked women in lacy lingerie, and next to racks of colorful, glittery underwear.

BC spokesman Jack Dunn said the school was "very selective" when it agreed to let Victoria's Secret sell BC sweatshirts, sweatpants, T-shirts and flip-flops as part of the racy chain's youth-oriented Pink line.

"We thought it was a tasteful line of clothing that college students wear," he said.

He said the college had no knowledge of Eagles-emblazoned "short shorts" that were selling next to the hot-pink BC tank tops.

"We never authorized undergarments," he said, though other colleges have their names printed on panties in the Pink collection.

He also said the university does not divulge how much it makes from selling licensed apparel.

Kenneth Wynne, an art dealer from Cape Cod, said he didn't understand all the fuss.

"If it's getting (the school) money, what's the big deal?" he said.

And Michelle Tammaro, a Boston University student from Raynham, said she'd buy the clothes if they had her school's name on them.

"I think it's pretty," she said.

Notre Dame Tenured Theologian McBrien Blasts Bishops

My take: If you read this closely, a tenured theology professor, safe with a lifelong position on a college campus a.k.a. ivory tower, is criticizing the papacy because it is a lifelong appointment where popes can appoint whomever they choose, kind of like tenured theology professors. What courage it must have summoned to deliver this talk at a Unitarian "Church"!

Notre Dame Tenured Theologian McBrien Blasts Bishops

Father Richard McBrien, the Crowley-O'Brien Professor of Roman Catholic Theology at the University of Notre Dame, ripped into the hierarchy of the Catholic Church at a talk given at a Unitarian church in Kansas City recently. According to an article today, October 7, 2008 in the National Catholic Reporter, McBrien said Pope John Paul II's greatest failing was naming bishops.

"Father McBrien's blatant disregard and contempt for the leadership of the Catholic Church is nothing new," said Patrick J. Reilly, President of The Cardinal Newman Society. "Until Notre Dame and other Catholic colleges are rid of such jaded liberal theologians, the renewal of Catholic higher education can never be complete."

During the question and answer segment of his talk, Father McBrien sharply criticized the life-long office of the Papacy, characterizing it as tyrannical. He compared the pontificate of John Paul II to an imaginary lifetime Bush presidency, where as many appointments of jurists to US courts could be made as desired.

"That's exactly what Pope John Paul II -- or any other pope for that matter -- was able to do in his long term of office, and that is why the Catholic church finds itself today...with such a dearth of pastoral leadership," said McBrien.

The Notre Dame professor added that John Paul II's greatest failing as Pope lies in the bishops he named.

"Men were appointed bishops or promoted within the hierarchy on the basis of loyalty to the Holy See rather than on the basis of pastoral aptitude, theological sophistication and leadership skills," quipped McBrien.

McBrien attacked the US Bishops, who steadfastly urge Catholics to vote pro-Life, for supposedly violating guidelines set out in USCCB documents. Such guidelines specify that the bishops do not "wish to instruct persons on how they should vote by endorsing candidates."

A NEW LOW, EVEN BY JESUIT STANDARDS: Georgetown Univ.

Our take: I don't want to be accused of stating the obvious but this pathetic display is completely contrary to the mission of a Catholic University and not befitting the oldest Catholic school in America. There is a clear teaching on the issue of homosexuality and anything that condones, empowers or glosses over the morally and naturally disordered act of sodomy is contrary to it. Sex outside marriage is sin. homosexual sex is sin plus disorder. Yet at Georgetown it is being glorified with a "temple" and is draining resources, energy and attention away from the mission of the school. Teaching truth isn't even a consideration since it might offend someone. Shame, shame, shame.

A NEW LOW, EVEN BY JESUIT STANDARDS: Georgetown Univ. Announces Director for Their New Lesbian, Gay, Transgendered, and Queer Resources Center

8/24/2008 9:34:00 PM
By www.thehoya.com -Connie Parham

Matthew 18:6 - He that shall scandalize one of these little ones that believe in me, it were better for him that a millstone should be hanged about his neck, and that he should be drowned in the depth of the sea. As painters work to put the finishing touches on the newly created LGBTQ Resource Center, the center's first director, Sivagami Subbaraman, has been working to make a presence for the center as students arrive back to campus.

Subbaraman arrived at Georgetown four weeks ago to begin preparing the center, located adjacent to the Women's Center on the third floor of the Leavey Center.

GU Pride began pushing for the resource center last fall after two alleged hate crimes against Georgetown students, kicking off a university-wide movement led by GU Pride for increased inclusion of and education about the LGBTQ community on campus.

In October, University President John J. DeGioia approved several of GU Pride's requests, including the formation of three working groups that would address reporting, resources and education. Four months later, DeGioia announced his approval and backing of a proposal created by the working group on resources for an LGBTQ resource center.

After DeGioia's announcement, a committee began a nationwide search for the LGBTQ director. Subbaraman said she was invited to two interviews on campus, and, in May, Vice President for Student Affairs Todd Olson issued a letter to the university community naming Subbaraman as the center's first director.

"I really hope the center will be a space for LGBTQ students, faculty and staff as well as non-LGBTQ people," Subbaraman said of her vision for the center.

Subbaraman, originally from India, came to the United States almost 26 years ago to complete her education, attending graduate school at the University of Illinois, where she studied English and Women's Studies. Most recently, Subbaraman served as associate director of the University of Maryland's Office of LGBT Equity.

Subbaraman said she has a broader vision for the center that extends beyond her experience at the University of Maryland.

"I learned a lot from [Maryland]," she said. "But I think what I will bring to this job is where LGBT issues fit into general diversity."

Subbaraman said that one of her visions for the center is to help LGBTQ issues to be seen as part of a larger set of diversity issues, rather than in its own category.

"I don't want to be put back into the closet," she said.

Subbaraman said she plans to hire a full-time program coordinator by the end of the fall, as well as possibly a few student employees.

Subbaraman said at this early point, she is not sure what other concrete goals she has for the center and that she will first need to start a discussion with faculty, administrators and students.
"I need to build on that momentum and keep up that energy," she said of the work done by students and faculty last year.

Subbaraman said that working at Georgetown, which has such a strong Jesuit identity, will bring a "different set of challenges" than those that came with working at the University of Maryland, a school without a religious affiliation. She added, though, that she attended Catholic school in India, which made her "very comfortable in the Catholic education environment."

"I feel the university is committed to making this succeed," she said. "The center exists. That says something."

Jack Harrison (SFS '09), co-chair of GU Pride, also said he hopes to work closely with the new director in developing programming for the year.

While she said she could not comment on GU Pride's demonstrations last year, she did say that she hopes to work with the group to look at new ways to lead the community.

"In general the model that prevails is activism," she said. "We need to create other forms of leadership that will take us from the activist mold."

Harrison said GU Pride is looking to launch efforts this year to make the campus more "trans-friendly" by working to provide bathrooms and better housing options for transgender individuals.

In addition, he said he believes it is important to bring more diversity to the organization, particularly in bringing a greater variety of political views to the group.

Harrison said Subbaraman's work as the first director of the center will help to catalyze these efforts.

"Having a person who can advocate for our issues is a big achievement," he said.

He said Subbaraman has already emerged as a leader over the past week in training and giving presentations to members of various groups such as Young Leaders in Education about Diversity, New Student Orientation and Residence Life.

"I think that as people become slightly more sensitized, that will start to have a big effect on how LGBTQ people are treated on campus," Harrison said.

Subbaraman said she will be holding an open house on Tuesday afternoon and plans to make herself visible among students and parents throughout move-in weekend.

Looking on as workers finish construction of a large window next to the entrance to the center, Subbaraman said she hopes to continue the hard work of students and faculty in order to raise awareness for the LGBTQ community at Georgetown.

"The message it sends is 'we are open,'" she said of the new window. "We are open. We have nothing to hide."

Catholic Boston College Sponsors Panel Focusing on Homosexual Couples

Note: For those who believe the scandal has passed and all is well in the Archdiocese of Boston, read this closely. A Catholic institution is promoting immoral counterfeit arrangements between homosexuals and the Church leaders are hiding and doing nothing.

Catholic Boston College Sponsors Panel Focusing on Homosexual Couples

BOSTON, MA, June 16, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) - The Catholic Action League of Massachusetts today criticized Jesuit administered Boston College for sponsoring and hosting Love Across Boundaries, which is being advertised as "a panel conversation with Boston couples who focus on their own interracial, interfaith and same-sex Love Across Boundaries". Featured participants will include Paul McLaughlin, Assistant Dean of Harvard College and his homosexual partner Jason Shumaker, Assistant Director of Financial Aid at MIT.

The event, sponsored by the New Center for Arts and Culture and Boston College's Office of the Provost, will be held this afternoon and this evening at BC's Bapst Library as part of Bloomsday Boston, the annual celebration of James Joyce and his novel Ulysses. Among those reading excerpts from the book will be former Lieutenant Governor Thomas P. O'Neill III, who is a longstanding supporter of legal abortion.

The Catholic Action League has called the event "another shameless betrayal of Catholic principles by the leadership of Boston College and its parent religious order, the Jesuits".
Catholic Action League Executive Director C. J. Doyle stated: "No reasonable person could be expected to believe that the Catholic Church is serious in its opposition to abortion and same-sex marriage as long as Catholic institutions publicly affirm homosexual relationships and prominently showcase pro-abortion political figures. Boston College, with the complicity of the New England Province of the Society of Jesus, continues to flaunt its infidelity to Catholic moral teaching and callously compromise what is left of its Catholic identity, while the Archdiocese of Boston, through its silence and inaction, functions as its enabler".

"This disgraceful episode is one more example of the systemic collapse of Catholic loyalties in the very leadership of the Church in the United States"

LifeSiteNews attempted to contact the Archdiocese of Boston, but they were not immediately available for comment.

URL: http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2008/jun/08061605.html

"Catholic" University Hires Homosexual Director for Gay Campus Centre

Note: Georgetown is the gift that keeps on giving for those of us looking for evidence of apostasy in Catholic higher education. They're so far gone they don't even know it. Is this their response to the Pope's call to fidelity?

Catholic University Hires Homosexual Director for Gay Campus Centre

By Tim Waggoner

Washington, D.C., June 5, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Georgetown University, the oldest Catholic University in the U. S., has hired lesbian Shiva Subbaraman to act as director for its new Homosexual Campus centre that is to be opened in the fall.

Subbaraman was formerly the associate director of a homosexual equity office at the University of Maryland campus in College Park. After the school threatened to cut funding for the office, Subbaraman started looking for a new job.

The pro-homosexual newspaper, The Washing Blade, reports that Georgetown decided to start the LGBT Equity office after two "anti-gay incidents" occured on campus. In the first case a student was arrested and accused of assaulting a homosxual student and shouting anti-homosexual slurs at him. The case, however, was dropped due to lack of evidence. In the second incident campus police prevented a group of homosexuals from presenting a petition for the LGBT resource center to the university president. According to the Blade, the police said they were restricting access to the building due to the fact that there was a special event going on inside.

Georgetown University, which is fully funding the new homosexual campus centre, including paying for two full time staff members, has been known to proclaim itself a Catholic institution while going out of its way to support things dramatically opposed to Catholic teaching, including abortion, homosexuality and certain bioethical issues.

In one of the more obvious examples, the institution's High School Bioethics Curriculum Project seeks to provide high school teachers literature on bioethics in an attempt to "enrich their high schools' curriculum." The curriculum however, conveys messages contrary to the teachings of the Catholic Church, and poses questions on bioethical quandaries that are worded in such a way as to lead students to make conclusions that oppose Catholic morality.

One sample of the curriculum referring to anencephalic babies (available at http://highschoolbioethics.georgetown.edu/units/unit1_3.html) states that, "They will never be able to think or achieve what is called 'personhood.'"

"Yet there is general consensus that heroic measures should not be used to keep them alive. In fact, anencephaly may be one of the few medical conditions that all doctors agree is futile to treat," continues the sample.

After statements such as these, the section describes a mother who was forced to go to the Supreme Court to force doctors to continue to treat her child, entitled Baby K.

The section then asks questions that seem to ascribe a monetary value to human life, such as, "Do you think individuals have the right to demand and get expensive long-term care in futile cases such as the case of Baby K?"

Similar questions ask: "Baby K lived for 2.5 years; her medical bills totaled half a million dollars. Do you think this is an appropriate use of the money? Do you think Baby K's mother's religious beliefs should trump issues of fair distribution of resources?"

The high school curriculum project is partially funded by a grant from the Greenwall Foundation, an organization known to support the culture of death. (http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/1999/feb/99021705.html)

The latest news about the founding of the LGBT resource center comes as little surprise to those who have been following Georgetown's movement away from its Catholic identity:

See related LifeSiteNews.com coverage:

Catholic Georgetown University to Fully Fund Campus Gay Center
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2007/oct/07103008.html

SHOCKER: Catholic Georgetown U. Will Now Fund Law Students to Lobby for Abortion
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2007/sep/07092605.html

Georgetown, "Catholic" University Honours Abortion Crusading Jesuit
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2006/oct/06102506.html



URL: http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2008/jun/08060508.html

Campus Alcoholics Clubs to be Established at Catholic Colleges

Should Drinking Clubs be Allowed on Catholic College Campuses?

A new national group - College Drinkers/Drunk Very Drunk (CD/DVD) recently announced their intention to establish Campus Alcoholics chapters on leading Catholic college campuses. And with that, Campus Alcoholics was formed.

"We think it's time that drunks come out of the closet and fully participate in Catholic higher education," stated the group's founder. "For too long drunks have been looked down upon by other non-drinking members of the college community. At CA meeting you'll meet other drunks in a completely non-judgemental environment."

Immediately, large well-known Catholic colleges jumped on board. One in Washington D.C. at first resisted but under pressure from on-campus drunks announced the full funding of a center for alcoholics. "I never realized how many drunks we already had here!" said the college president. "There may be something about our college that attracts a lot of drunks." The facility will be built using a donation from a foreign prince.

A Catholic college president in the Midwest at first stated that drunkenness is "incompatible with Catholic teaching" but later said the group could operate on campus as long as they "get faculty sponsorship and have a panel discussion" after they get drunk. Another Midwestern College immediately established a chair for alcoholic studies. Finding an alcoholic professor was not a problem.

The smaller Catholic colleges immediately established chapters not wanting to be left behind or considered anachronistic.

A right-wing Catholic group protested that alcoholism is unhealthy, leads to loss of employment, breakup of families, depression, disease, higher suicide rates and early death. They also pointed out that many Catholic priests had problems with alcohol, problems that Bishops covered up, sometimes causing scandal.

"Nonsense" said the group's founder. "That's just old-fashioned anti-drunk intolerance and we're going to fight the haters all the way."

Another Catholic organization suggested that it would be better to treat drunks with compassion and to help them avoid alcohol and bring them to Christ through active ministry. They indicated that it would be un-Catholic to encourage drinking in any way and that establishing clubs on campus could lead to behavior contrary to the Catholic Church's values.

"Another outdated form of bigotry!" claimed the head of Campus Alcoholics. "But not to worry, we have plenty of allies on our side."

Note: There are plenty of organizations, religious and secular, that will help people with alcoholism to get off alcohol and lead healthy and productive lives. Alcoholics need to be treated with compassion but also with the truth about their physical, psychological and spiritual condition.

Next week we'll have a guest columnist from the Fat-Thin Alliance write about wiping out teasing in American high schools.

Dr. Peter Kreeft: "We are living in a spiritual Hiroshima"

Dr. Peter Kreeft has a recording on his website byt this title and i encourage you to visit at http://www.peterkreeft.com/home.htm. He is obviously one of the few devout Catholic teaching on a "Catholic" campus today and likely suffers much for it.

QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS

Q: Why do you use the word "jihad"? Is that really appropriate?

A: Primarily, the word "jihad" means "spiritual struggle." It is an accurate word per se for what Christians are facing today.

Q: Is Boston College a Catholic university?

A: No, Boston College is a Jesuit university that used to be Catholic. My mother says that I should not say anything about someone if I can't say something good; my mother would not like the Theology Department at Boston College. The Philosophy Department is pretty solid. In many ways, Boston College is still Catholic. BC is not so far gone as Georgetown, but it is farther gone than Notre Dame. Like New York City, Boston College is both great and ugly.

Q: When asked whether heart disease or cancer is the leading cause of death in the United States, it's correct to say "neither." The leading cause of death in the United States is murder by abortion.

A: Thank you.

Q: Could you please comment on the sexual revolution?

A: The sexual revolution did not just change lives, it changed the sources of life.

Q: When will the tide turn on our "Catholic" college campuses?

A: It is turning now. Students today are a sort of "populist groundswell" for orthodoxy, but "Catholic" college administrators/establishments "haven't heard about that yet."

Q: How happy are today's "liberated" people?

A: Not very. The best measure is the suicide rate. Since the 1950s, the suicide rate among teenagers has gone up 500%.

Q: How can people today "not get it?"

A: They kill their consciences. And to kill your conscience, you must go insane.

Q: How do you convert the insane?

A: You love them; you be honest with them; you talk with them; you be their friend; you pray for them.

Q: Would you ever allow one of your children to go to Boston College?

A: Three of my four children did go there, and they emerged "unscathed." Seriously, some of my best friends are Jesuits. There is hope for Boston College.

Jesuit University President Attacks George Weigel

by Deal W. Hudson
3/20/08

The February 20 issue of the Denver Catholic Register published a column on the Jesuits titled "Some Questions for Father General" by George Weigel. In response, the president of the University of San Francisco, Rev. Stephen A. Privett, S.J., published "Attack on Jesuits Out of Place" in Catholic San Francisco, the archdiocesan newspaper.

Father Privett not only attacked what he termed the "mean-spirited assault" of Weigel, but he was also sharply critical of the Denver archdiocese for publishing it. Father writes,

The readership of Catholic diocesan newspapers deserves more civil, balanced, and professional fare than that served up and passed around by the Denver Catholic Register.

I don't know of a single instance in the history of this country's Catholic Church when one diocesan newspaper attacked another by name.

Weigel asked the new Jesuit Superior, Rev. Adolfo Nicolas, S.J., questions on four issues: Jesuit obedience, the Catholic identity of Jesuit educational institutions, the Jesuit attitude toward the Church's teaching on homosexuality, and the order's theological commitment to the "unique salvific role of Jesus Christ."

Anyone even superficially familiar with the history of the Catholic Church since Vatican II would not be surprised by these questions. The issues of Jesuit obedience and Catholic identity were raised by the secular media in its coverage of the recent election of the new Father General. In addition, the Vatican pressure that led to the resignation of Rev. Thomas Reese, S.J., from his editorship of America magazine got national attention.

Father Privett's outrage suggests that he is unaware that Weigel is merely speaking aloud questions that are shared by Catholics around the world. He specifically charges Weigel with making unfounded allegations about two Jesuits in particular, Rev. James Keenan, S.J., and the late Rev. Robert Drinan, S.J. Wiegel puts both forward as examples of Jesuit attitudes toward basic Church teachings on abortion and marriage.

About Father Drinan, Weigel writes, "He did more than anyone else to convince Catholic legislators that the settled teaching of the Church on the grave immorality of abortion had no bearing on their legislative work." Father Privett's reply to Weigel: "His stunningly sweeping statement . . . lacks any supporting evidence."

I'm sure that Weigel would be surprised to hear that he needed to document the career of Father Drinan, whom I call in my recent book the "Jesuit priest who invented the pro-abortion Catholic politician." Perhaps Father Privett needs to be reminded that, after being elected to Congress in 1970, Father Drinan wrote in support of Roe v. Wade and Clinton's veto of the ban against partial-birth abortion. After being forced by John Paul II to leave Congress in 1981, Father Drinan continued as a pro-abortion lobbyist both within the Democratic Party and as head of Americans for Democratic Action.

Father Privett also takes issue with Weigel's description of Father Keenan's highly publicized testimony before the Massachusetts legislature in support of homosexual marriage. Father Keenan's argument, according to Weigel, was " that the principles of Catholic social doctrine did not merely tolerate 'gay marriage,' they demanded it." But again, Father Privett objects: "He did not do so. Father Keenan testified against unjust discrimination against gay couples. He did not testify in support of gay marriage or approve homosexual activity."

What Father Privett does not make clear is that Father Keenan, a moral theologian at Boston College, argued for gay marriage on the basis of homosexuals' possessing a "right" to be married. Weigel is correct.

The most sensitive issue raised by Weigel is the attitude toward homosexuality among the Jesuits. He rightly calls it the "third-rail" issue, as anyone who raises it can expect some kind of thrashing.

What must have provoked Father Privett is one example Weigel supplies from the Jesuits' California province:

[I]t was not that long ago, after all, that the Web site of the Jesuits' California Province featured photos of "Pretty Boy" and "Jabba the Slut" in gay drag at a novices' party.

Father Privett explains that these photos are not "gay drag"; rather, they were "taken at a Halloween party seven years ago at the novitiate" and were "mistakenly put on-line and immediately taken off for fear it would be malevolently misinterpreted by the likes of Mr. Weigel."

Let me add to this discussion a story I heard, and verified, on a recent trip to San Francisco. A graduate student at the University of San Francisco was rejected for a position in the resident halls because, as he put it, "Father said I do not have the right attitude toward homosexual conduct, as I disapprove of such conduct." After being turned down for the position, it was suggested by a Jesuit that he read Gays and Grays: The Story of the Gay Community at Most Holy Redeemer Catholic Parish, written by Rev. Donal Godfrey, S.J., a professor at USF.

On page 134 of Gays and Grays, Father Godfrey posits the question, "Is it less appropriate for gays to imagine Jesus as gay than for African Christians to picture him as black, Asian Christians as Asian?" This,shortly after acknowledging on page 132,"I will not feign academic objectivity: if such a thing really exists. I firmly believe in a new approach and a new vision in this area of ministry. In this I do have an 'agenda.'"

Not surprisingly, the graduate student has been hesitant to pursue "some questions" he has about the USF Jesuit community's doctrinal approach to homosexuality, for fear that his questions might be wrongly construed as an "attack on the Jesuits." It's not difficult to see where he might have gotten that impression.

Local Catholics familiar with the situation at USF told me that this is not an isolated incident, and that some Jesuits in the community are deeply concerned.

For one, the theologians at USF were offered the mandatum, in accord with Ex Corde Ecclesiae, but none responded to the offer. In fact, Sacred Heart Sr. Theresa Moser, associate dean at the University of San Francisco, urged USF theologians to adopt a stance of noncompliance: "'The appropriate strategy is to do nothing' by way of requesting a mandatum, she said, or, if one is offered, to 'very respectfully decline."'

The questions asked by George Weigel about the future of the Jesuits shouldn't have been so shocking to Father Privett; they have been asked publicly, in both secular and Catholic media, for decades. Weigel's questions didn't surprise the Catholic residents of San Francisco, but Father Privett's outraged response did.

Deal W. Hudson is the director of InsideCatholic.com and the author of Onward, Christian Soldiers: The Growing Political Power of Catholics and Evangelicals in the United States (Simon and Schuster, March 2008).

Fairfield U Hosting Ludacris Concert

Note: They just can't help it I guess. Each Jesuit college has to find a way to outdo the others in promoting anti-Catholic activities and pure cultural garbage. One Priest told me that the Jesuits are the "Catholic Church's idea of affirmative action." Seems they've become a joke even among clergy.

Jesuit Fairfield University Pays $85,500 for Concert by Offensive Rapper Ludacris

The Cardinal Newman Society has called on Fairfield University in Fairfield, Conn., to cancel Friday's Ludacris concert, because the rap artist's profane, violent and sexually explicit lyrics are inconsistent with a Jesuit Catholic education.

"What makes a Catholic university unique is the moral formation and Christian education it provides to its students," wrote Patrick J. Reilly, President of The Cardinal Newman Society (CNS), in a letter today to the president of Fairfield University, Jesuit Father Jeffrey von Arx. "There is no excuse for 'entertainment' on a Catholic campus that demeans women, celebrates promiscuity and promotes violence."

In its mission statement, Fairfield University claims to foster "ethical and religious values and a sense of social responsibility." Nevertheless, the university has promised a whopping $85,500 for to bring Ludacris to campus; despite a concert budget of only $33,000, the university hopes the remainder will be covered by ticket sales.

In 2002, following criticism by Fox News Channel host Bill O'Reilly, Pepsi dropped Ludacris from its advertisements with an apology noting that "not all [artists] are compatible with our brands and what consumers have come to expect from us." In 2006, talk show host Oprah Winfrey joined in the criticism of Ludacris for rap lyrics that "marginalize women."

"If Ludacris is not compatible with Pepsi's values and corporate image, why is he performing at a Catholic university?" Reilly asked. CNS has called upon Father von Arx to immediately cancel the production.

The concert will occur even as CNS urges Catholic colleges to cancel the lewd and offensive play The Vagina Monologues, scheduled to be performed on 19 Catholic campuses in February and March. This is the seventh year CNS has protested The Vagina Monologues on Catholic campuses, reducing the number of performances from a peak of 32 in 2003.

The Fairfield concert also comes just weeks before Pope Benedict XVI visits the United States, including an April 17 address to the presidents of all American Catholic colleges that many anticipate will repeat the Vatican's calls for the renewal of Catholic education.

Jesuits Elect To Go Down Same Old path

Note: The sad thing is that the Vatican rubber stamped this appointment while knowing the corrosive effect the Jesuits are having on young people and the Church at large. Some exercise of papal authority might have been called for here...

The new "Black Pope" promises more Jesuit turmoil

by Phil Lawler

Rome, Jan. 21, 2008 (CWNews.com) - Since Saturday, when Father Adolfo Nicolas was elected by the 35th general congregation of the Society of Jesus, journalists have been describing the new Jesuit superior general as "Arrupe-esque" and "hard to classify." He may be one or the other, but he can't be both. If he is indeed "Arrupe-esque"-- and I suspect he is-- Father Nicolas is not at all difficult to classify.

Father Pedro Arrupe, the superior general 1965 to 1983, presided over a dramatic transformation of the Jesuit order. Don't take my word for it; consider the judgment of Time magazine, which recalls that Arrupe's leadership "saw the rise of radical Jesuit participation in politics, from the anti-war movement in the US in the 1960s to the liberation theology that swept Latin America."

Time understandably accentuates the political activities of the Arrupe era, but liberation theology was not the only cause championed by prominent Jesuits of that generation. The Society of Jesus-- once known for rigorous orthodoxy and loyalty to the Pope-- became a hotbed of theological dissidence, on issues ranging from the nature of the priesthood through the necessity of the Catholic Church to the acceptance of homosexuality.

The last years of Father Arrupe's leadership brought the Jesuits into conflict with the Vatican, and in 1983 the general congregation chose a more careful, diplomatic leader, Father Peter-Hans Kolvenbach. Now, we are told by ranking Jesuit officials, the newly elected superior general combines the discretion of Kolvenbach with the spirit of Arrupe. The available information about Father Nicolas confirms that impression. Like Father Arrupe before him, Father Nicolas has become superior general after serving as Jesuit provincial in Japan. Again like Arrupe, he has been profoundly shaped by his long experience and sympathy with Asian culture.

Read the rest at CWNews

Pope Calls on Jesuits to Affirm Catholic Teachiong

Our take: Pronouncements from the Pope and the Vatican are good but at some point they need to be backed up by strong fatherly action or the Vatican risks sliding into the same irrelevancy of other institutions like the UN.

Pope to Jesuits: Reaffirm "Total Adhesion to Catholic Doctrine" on "Sexual Morality"

By John-Henry Westen

ROME, January 18, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) - In a letter to the Jesuits, gathered at their 35th General Congregation dated January 10, 2008, Pope Benedict XVI has called on the ancient order which has been rocked by scandal to reaffirm their "total adhesion to Catholic doctrine" mentioning specifically the Church's teachings on "sexual morality".

The letter comes in the wake of the homily given by the Pope's representative at the opening of the Assembly on January 7, which bemoaned the infidelity of some in the order to the teachings of the Church. (see coverage: http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2008/jan/08010708.html )

"I heartily hope that the present Congregation affirms with clarity the authentic charism of the Founder so as to encourage all Jesuits to promote true and healthy Catholic doctrine," wrote the Pope in a letter addressed to Fr. Peter-Hans Kolvenbach, the Superior General of the Society of Jesus (the Jesuits).

The once illustrious Jesuits, the great defenders of faith, have over the last 40 years been steeped in dissident controversy. Jesuit priests have featured prominently in the homosexual priest scandal and Jesuit universities have been hotbeds of dissent on Church teachings especially those on life and family.

The Pope stressed this reaffirmation several times, pointing to specific areas where the Jesuits are known to have caused scandal.

In the letter, the Pope stated: "so as to offer the entire Society of Jesus a clear orientation which might be a support for generous and faithful apostolic dedication, it could prove extremely useful that the General Congregation reaffirm, in the spirit of Saint Ignatius, its own total adhesion to Catholic doctrine, in particular on those neuralgic points which today are strongly attacked by secular culture, as for example the relationship between Christ and religions; some aspects of the theology of liberation; and various points of sexual morality, especially as regards the indissolubility of marriage and the pastoral care of homosexual persons."

See the full letter from the Pope to the Jesuits here: http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2008/jan/080118a.html

Top Vatican Cardinal Tells the Jesuits to Clean Up their Act

Note: There is plenty written in articles in this blog about the heretics running Jesuit institutions here in the US. It hasn't escaped the attention of the a Vatican. Let's pray that a new leader breathes new life and fidelity into this renowned religious order.

Repeatedly spoke about his "sorrow and anxiety" at the state of the Jesuit order in terms of infidelity to the teachings of the Church.

By John-Henry Westen ROME, January 7, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) - The top Vatican official who deals with religious orders, Cardinal Franc Rode, addressed the 35th General Congregation of the Society of Jesus (the Jesuits) today. Cardinal Rode who was installed by Pope Benedict XVI as Prefect of the Vatican Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life spoke repeatedly about his "sorrow and anxiety" at the state of the Jesuit order in terms of infidelity to the teachings of the Church.

Cardinal Rode recalled the founder of the Society of Jesus, St. Ignatius and his primary formula for the order: "To serve the Lord and his Spouse the Church under the Roman Pontiff"

"It is with sorrow and anxiety that I see that the sentire cum ecclesia (thinking with the church) of which your founder frequently spoke is diminishing even in some members of religious families," he said.

The once illustrious Jesuits, the great defenders of faith, have over the last 40 years been steeped in dissident controversy. Jesuit priests have featured prominently in the homosexual priest scandal and Jesuit universities and their theologians have been hotbeds of dissent on Church teachings especially those on life and family.

Pope Benedict has put an end to some of the scandal issuing public corrections of several prominent Jesuit theologians. Last year, the editor of the U.S. Jesuit flagship publication 'America', Thomas J. Reese was abruptly resigned after a career of increasing hostility to Church teaching.

The Cardinal's address is being seen by Vatican watchers as another move in the Pope's efforts to restore the order to its former glory.

Later in his address, the Cardinal added, "With sadness and anxiety I also see a growing distancing from the Hierarchy." He explained: "The Ignatian spirituality of apostolic service under the Roman Pontiff' does not allow for this separation. In the Constitutions which he left you, Ignatius . . . wrote 'we must always keep our mind prepared and quick to obey' . . . the Hierarchical Church"

Addressing specific areas the Prefect said, "May those who, according to your legislation, have to oversee the doctrine of your magazines and publications do so in the light of and according to the "rules for sentire cum ecclesia", with love and respect."

Cardinal Rode did not content himself with correction but challenged the Jesuits to avant-garde position in the culture war - the very area where there have been so many traitors within the ranks of the Jesuits.

"The Tradition of the Society, from the first beginnings of the Collegio Romano always placed itself at the crossroads between Church and society, between faith and culture, between religion and secularism," said the Cardinal. "Recover these avant-garde positions which are so necessary to transmit the eternal truth to today's world, in today's language. Do not abandon this challenge."

See the full address of Cardinal Rode here: http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2008/jan/080107b.html

See hundreds of related LifeSiteNews.com coverage type in the word "Jesuit" into the LifeSiteNews.com search engine.

Fordham Heretic to Receive Award from Barry U

This story is so egregious it makes one want to "vomit you out of my mouth". When Jesus said to let the weeds grow amongst the wheat, he had to have Sister Elizabeth A. Johnson in mind. But why would a so-called Catholic university foist such a heretic on young people? Fordham has much to answer for in employing this heretic. Especially as her work has been picked up and spread to others.

But an award? For what? In perusing the website for Barry University, see if you can find the words "Catholic", or "Jesus". This school is clearly one of those modernist, feminist and every other -ist that the secular world churns out in regularity. That it is run by a quasi-"nun" is no surprise. That her 'order" has some legacy to St. Dominic is. According to his bio, converting heretics was a part of his ministry. Barry U seems to have gotten that a bit twisted and instead is converting folks to their own little heresy.

Catholic University to Give Award to Goddess-Worshipping Theologian
Sister Elizabeth A. Johnson advocates calling God 'She Who Is'

By Thaddeus M. Baklinski

Miami, November 13, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.com) - The Department of Theology and Philosophy of Barry University which is run by the Dominican Sisters of Adrian, Michigan, will give an Award for Theological Excellence in January to radical feminist theologian Sister Elizabeth A. Johnson, a professor at Jesuit run Fordham University.

Sister Elizabeth is a radical feminist theologian who advocates goddess worship, actively dissents from the Church's infallible teaching on the invalidity of women's ordinations and promotes the cause of world government and a one-world religion.

In her book She Who Is (Crossroad, 1993) Sister Elizabeth announced "that the time has come to stop addressing God as Father, Son and Holy Spirit, and to begin addressing Him as 'She Who Is.'" For this she won awards and a promotion to "Distinguished" Professor of Theology at Catholic Fordham University.

Here she joins the ranks of such notables as Sister Sandra Schneiders, IHM, professor of New Testament at Berkeley's Jesuit School of Theology, who has vilified the Faith for two decades. In Beyond Patching (Paulist, 1990) Schneiders wrote that "every aspect" of the Catholic faith "is not just tainted but perverted by the evil of patriarchy. It is not that the tradition has some problems; the tradition is the problem."

Read more

Losing the Forest Through the Trees

Our take - when an Ivory Tower Theologian at a liberal formerly Catholic university starts sticking up for blasphemous activity by a homosexual group, you can almost bet on what you'll find in his closet.

Jesuit priest and moral theologian Jim Bretzke of the University of San Francisco opined that "over-accessorizing and poor taste in make-up" are no reasons to deny Communion to gay "Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence"
10/25/2007 9:40:00 PM

By Joni Durling and Mary Ann Kreitzer -Catholic Media Coalition It is annoying when a moral theologian tries to act like a canon lawyer and gets it wrong. In addressing the, now notorious, October 6, 2007 distribution of Holy Communion to the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence (SPI) at Most Holy Redeemer (MHR), Fr. Jim Bretzke, professor of moral theology at the Jesuit University of San Francisco (USF), did just that in an interview with the San Francisco Chronicle.

The Chronicle quotes Fr. Bretzke as saying, "The general sacramental principle is that you don't deny the sacrament to someone who requests it...The second principle is that you cannot give communion to someone who has been excommunicated." He said such people are designated "manifest public sinners" in canon law.

Presumably, Fr. Bretzke referred to canon 915, but the canon says something different than what he implied. The actual canon reads:

Can. 915 Those who have been excommunicated or interdicted after the imposition or declaration of the penalty and others obstinately persevering in manifest grave sin (emphasis added) are not to be admitted to holy communion

Note that the canon addresses three different groups of individuals: the excommunicated, the interdicted, and others who persist in manifest grave sin.

Read the rest here

Holy Cross College Hosts on-Campus Planned Parenthood Workshops, Awards Pro-Abortion Governor

Yet another Jesuit run college violating Catholic Church teaching

By Peter J. Smith WORCHESTER, Massachusetts, September 28, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Jesuit-run Holy Cross, the oldest Catholic college in New England, is hosting the 2007 Teen Pregnancy Institute with Planned Parenthood promoting teenage contraception.

The Massachusetts Alliance on Teen Pregnancy presents the conference every year, but by hosting the conference the Holy Cross Jesuits are sending the message that they have no qualms with its promotion of contraception and the presence of Planned Parenthood, which are intrinsically inimical to the pro-life teachings of the Catholic Church.

At this year's conference - scheduled October 24, from 8AM - 4 PM - "Messages that Matter: Strengthening Prevention and Supporting Young Families," Planned Parenthood is scheduled to give 3 "workshops"; one of which includes a seminar on how to "Learn the latest and greatest of protection methods."
(see copy of brochure http://www.massteenpregnancy.org/pdfs/2007_conf_brochure.pdf)

In addition, pro-abortion Governor Deval L. Patrick will appear at the conference to receive a "Leadership Award" and speak to the conference attendees.

Unfortunately Holy Cross has a history of tolerating vociferous promoters of abortion under its President, Rev. Michael C. McFarland, S.J. In 2003, McFarland defended not only Holy Cross' invitation of pro-abortion political commentator, Chris Matthews, the host of MSNBC's "Hardball," to speak at that year's commencement, but also bestowed on him an honorary degree despite his univocal statements on several occasions "I am pro-choice." McFarland falsely stated Matthews's views were "a matter of practical judgment" and "allowable in Catholic thought," because he felt abortion was immoral, but disagreed that the government should stop it.

SHOCKER: Catholic Georgetown U. Will Now Fund Law Students to Lobby for Abortion

Oldest Catholic university in U.S.

By John-Henry Westen WASHINGTON, DC, September 26, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.com) - A change of policy at Georgetown University Law Center will permit the University - which is the oldest Catholic university in the nation - to give grants to students who lobby for abortion for agencies such as Planned Parenthood. The Hoya, the Georgetown University newspaper, reports on its front page today about the policy change.

The policy change was announced September 7 by Law Center Dean T. Alexander Aleinikoff in a letter published in the Law Center's student newspaper. The decision comes after the Law Center got flack from pro-abortion students and faculty for directing student group Equal Justice Foundation, which received University funds, to refuse funding to a student who applied for funding to intern at Planned Parenthood.

The Hoya reports that the University Law Center will no longer consider the mission of organizations in determining grants, as was the case for the initial denial of funding for the Planned Parenthood position. "In partnership with the Equal Justice Foundation, the Law Center will provide grants to all students who work on law-related issues at a public interest organization or government agency," wrote Aleinikoff.

Joy Welan the president of the Catholic University Law Center's pro-abortion group - "Law Students for Choice" - rejoiced at the decision admitting that her group met with Aleinikoff several times over the policy. "We think that this compromise is fantastic news, for students who are interested in pursuing careers in reproductive rights advocacy," Welan told The Hoya. "The dean has taken a huge step forward in advancing Georgetown's commitment to public interest law, and we applaud him for it."

Daniel Hughes, president of the Law Center's pro-life group - "Progressive Alliance for Life" - said plainly that the Catholic University was now funding abortion advocacy.

"Aleinikoff has a radically secular, morally relativistic vision for the Law Center," Hughes said in an e-mail to The Hoya. "He and other administrators have crafted a dishonest, legalistic 'compromise' that will allow students to gain assured, extensive Georgetown funding for pro-abortion legal work."

Spokesmen for the University Administration did not return calls from LifeSiteNews.com prior to press time.The Archdiocese of Washington did not comment on the development. Mark Adkinson, Communications Assistant at the Archdiocese of Washington, told LifeSiteNews.com that the Archdiocese does not oversee the university since it is in the control of the Jesuit Order.

To contact Georgetown University

President John J. DeGioia
Office of the President
204 Healy Hall
37th & O Streets, NW
Washington, DC 20057
Tel: (202) 687-4134
Fax: (202) 687-6660
Email: http://contact.georgetown.edu/index.cfm?Action=Mail&NetID=ems62

Pro-Abortion Pelosi to Deliver Commencement at Jesuit USF

This is just another example of the propensity of Catholic College and University presidents to suck up to political power while simultaneously shunning Christ and His Church.

May 17, 2007The Cardinal Newman Society (CNS) has urged the University of San Francisco (USF) - a Jesuit, Catholic university - to cancel its invitation to pro-abortion Rep. Nancy Pelosi to deliver the university's commencement address this Saturday. CNS also is opposing a posthumous honorary degree to pro-abortion politician Leo T. McCarthy. "Even as we celebrate the fact that a growing number of Catholic colleges are choosing exemplary commencement speakers and honorees, we learn that the University of San Francisco has chosen a much different direction," wrote CNS President Patrick J. Reilly in a letter faxed to USF President Rev. Stephen Privett, S.J., today. "You are publicly allying a Catholic university with leaders of what Pope John Paul II called a 'Culture of Death.'"