Santa Clara Law to Honor Pro-Abortion Clinton Chief of Staff

Note: I'll bet ol' Leon has deep pockets and can really help with this year's captial program in a down economy. Too much to resist for one of the more dissenting law schools still calling itself "Catholic".

Santa Clara Law to Honor Pro-Abortion Clinton Chief of Staff

At a celebration tomorrow evening, October 21, Santa Clara School of Law will bestow its Justice and Human Rights Award upon pro-abortion former congressman and White House chief of staff Leon Panetta, who serves on the University's board of trustees. The award will be presented at the University’s fifth annual "Diversity Gala: A Celebration of Diversity in the Legal Profession."

Leon Panetta’s terms as a US Congressman were stained by his pro-abortion voting record. He co-sponsored the dangerous Freedom of Choice Act in 1990.

During his tenure as White House Chief of Staff from 1994 to 1997, Panetta defended President Bill Clinton's veto of H.R 1833, the partial-birth abortion ban.

"A leading advocate for the Culture of Death is no friend of justice or human rights," said Patrick Reilly, President of the Cardinal Newman Society. "With so many admirable defenders of the Culture of Life in our country to select from, it is despicable that Santa Clara University has chosen to award a Catholic who is so clearly opposed to the pro-life work of the Catholic Church—even worse, to put him on their board of trustees."

Leon Panetta graduated from Santa Clara University with his B.S. in 1960 and J.D. in 1963. He continues to have strong ties to the University: he has served on the University’s Board of Trustees since 1988, teaches a political science course each year, has given lectures on ethics, delivered the keynote address for a Jesuit education conference, and acted as Master of Ceremonies for a Santa Clara fundraising event.

In a 1992 constituent letter cited by National Review Online editor Kathryn Jean Lopez (www.nationalreview.com), Panetta attributes his "pro-choice" views to a Santa Clara professor, Jesuit Father Austin Fagothey, who argued that "there should be no laws on abortion."

A similar decision by Fordham Law to honor pro-abortion Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer has been met with a large outcry from hundreds of Fordham University alumni, priests, and others, who have signed a student-sponsored petition opposing the honor scheduled for October 29.

Those interested in signing the petition may still do so at www.CardinalNewmanSociety.org.

A Look Back: Liberal Professors Didn't Get What They Wanted

Note: It is a rare day indeed when I use a post to America Magazine to make a point. You can be assured that the point is about dissent which that magazine is the best source of. Usually I use Catholic sources but this will have to do. I wonder how exactly this guy "ministers" on campus?

San Jose Employs Dissenter as Professor and Campus Minister

Ron Hansen is a contemporary "Catholic" novelist, a married deacon in the liberal diocese of San Jose, California, and member of the Campus Ministry staff at the Jesuit Santa Clara University, where he is also the Gerard Manley Hopkins, S.J., Professor--especially of "creative writing."

His religious opinions in the April 25, 2005, issue of America magazine entitled "What Should the Next Pope [after John Paul II] Do?":

The first thing I would like to see changed is the current restriction limiting priesthood only to those who are male and celibate. Also, the questions of Humanae Vitae should be revisited. A culture of suspicion, particularly concerning the American church, seems to exist in the Curia now. I find it unnecessary and in many ways evil. I hope the next pope will ratify the brilliant new English-language Sacramentary that has been waiting, unused, for too long. And I would like to see intensified an ecumenical outreach, especially to those Protestant denominations with which we have much in common.

(http://www.americamagazine.org/gettext.cfm?articleTypeID=1&textID=4136&issueID=528)

His endorsement of a liberal Protestant Bible with "inclusive" language:

"I HAVE USED THE HARPERCOLLINS STUDY BIBLE FOR LITERATURE CLASSES AND FOR MY PRIVATE PRAYER. THE NRSV [New Revised Standard Version] TRANSLATION IS OUTSTANDING." (http://www.nrsv.net/purchase.html)

Thus, he dissents from important matters of Catholic discipline (clerical celibacy) and infallible teachings on faith (priestly ordination only for baptized men) and morals (the "questions" of Humanae Vitae: marriage as well as the authority of the papal magisterium and of the natural moral law). Also he thinks highly of two literary works which (while being translations rather than novels) have both been discredited by the Holy See especially for their use of inclusive language and "deconstructivsm" (the text means whatever the writer or translator wants it to mean); so much for his literary tastes.

Cardinal Newman Society Lists Dissident Commencement Speakers

2008 Commencement Speakers & Honorees

College of Saint Rose (NY), May 10, commencement speaker & honorary degree recipient: New York Governor David Paterson. Paterson is an advocate for abortion rights; he received a 100 percent rating from NARAL and the 2004 "Margaret Sanger Award" from Family Planning Advocates of New York State. Paterson proposed a bill providing $1 billion in taxpayer funding for embryonic stem cell research, and he has endorsed cloning stem cells for research purposes.

Mount Mercy College (IA), May 17, commencement speaker: Kathleen Kennedy Townsend, former Lt. Governor of Maryland. Townsend is a vocal advocate of abortion rights and was endorsed by NARAL and Emily's List. In her book, Failing America's Faithful: How Today's Churches are Mixing God, she takes the Catholic Church to task for its strong positions on abortion.

Regis College (MA), May 18, commencement speaker & honorary degree recipient: Massachusetts State Rep. Lida Harkins (D-Needham). Harkins has supported abortion rights, including public funding for abortions, and opposed a two-parent consent law for minors seeking abortions. She supports gay marriage and was a key leader in the defeat of a state constitutional amendment to define marriage as between a man and a woman.

St. Ambrose University (IA), May 11, honorary degree recipient: Margaret Tinsman, former Iowa State Senator. Tinsman advocates abortion rights and in 2006 received a $1,000 campaign contribution from Planned Parenthood's state action committee known as "The Freedom Fund." In 2004, Tinsman voted against the Unborn Victims Act, which would have acknowledged unborn children as victims of violent crime against pregnant women. Tinsman has opposed legislation to supply women with information on abortion alternatives, to prevent human cloning, and to require a 24-hour waiting period before having an abortion.

Saint Edward's University (TX), May 3, commencement speaker & honorary degree recipient: Cokie Roberts, political commentator for ABC News and senior news analyst for National Public Radio. Roberts has publicly attacked Pope Benedict XVI as "really lacking in the theological virtue of charity," "an extremely controversial choice" and "the most conservative voice of Catholicism." In her syndicated column with husband Steve Roberts, she has espoused abortion rights and ridiculed pro-lifers as "extremists." The Robertses characterized the federal ban on partial-birth abortion as "off the track" and "cynical games-playing" by pro-life activists. They have argued that the authority of the Catholic bishops has been significantly weakened, in part because of their teaching on homosexuality and contraception: "It's as if they are asking to be ignored."

Santa Clara University School of Law (CA), May 17, commencement speaker: Judge Phyllis Hamilton, United States District Judge for the Northern District of California, San Francisco. In 2004, Hamilton struck down a federal ban on partial-birth abortion as unconstitutional, claiming "the act poses an undue burden on a woman's right to choose an abortion." In contrast to a similar case in New York that same year, Hamilton prevented Justice Department attorneys from presenting as evidence the medical records of women who had partial-birth abortions, key to the government's argument that the gruesome procedure is unnecessary. Douglas Johnson of the National Right to Life Committee said that "Hamilton's deep personal hostility to the law has been evident throughout the judicial proceedings."

University of Notre Dame Graduate School (IN), May 17, commencement speaker & honorary degree recipient: Marye Anne Fox, chancellor of the University of California, San Diego (UCSD). As UCSD chancellor, Fox is an architect and leader of one of the nation's foremost initiatives in embryonic stem cell research, the San Diego Consortium for Regenerative Medicine, which will open its $115 million facility at UCSD by 2010. UCSD research is partly funded by California's $3 billion grant program for embryonic stem cell research, independent of ethical restrictions that President George W. Bush has tied to federal funding.

Santa Clara Law School to Honor Lesbian Leader

Comment: Another example of a Catholic college run amok. What kind of poorly formed conscience allows a head of a Catholic college to encourage the behavior described below? Given that the surrounding culture is extreme in its view of homosexuality, it is no surprise that a secular organization would reflect the decadence of the times. But the Church and its institutions needs to be a moral compass in all times and places. Given the actions of the local Church leads, there in little hope for action against this school unless alumni and donors act.

From Cardinal Newman Society:

Santa Clara University School of Law will honor lesbian activist Elizabeth Birch at a Celebration of Diversity Gala on Oct. 25. Birch is the former executive director of the Human Rights Campaign, the leading homosexual advocacy group.

A statement by the law school identified Birch as "one of the most recognized lesbian leaders in the country." In noting her accomplishments as an activist, dean Donald Polden said, "Ms. Birch serves as a role model for our students."

In a Feb. 24, 2005 appearance on Chris Matthews' Hardball show, Birch said, "I, for one, thank God every day that the pope cannot intervene and dictate the affairs of the United States."

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