Ten Catholic Colleges that Promote Abortion

Ten Catholic Colleges that Promote Abortion
BY Tim Drake

Tuesday, June 16, 2009 11:00 AM

Parents wondering what their hard-earned money is supporting at Catholic colleges and universities might be interested in the latest findings from the Cardinal Newman Society.

The organization has discovered 10 Catholic colleges and universities that are promoting student internships with organizations whose missions or activities are directly opposed to the Church's moral teachings on issues related to abortion and marriage.

"Under what definition of 'Catholic education' do students receive academic credit to work for leading pro-abortion organizations?" asked Patrick Reilly, president of The Cardinal Newman Society.

The "Dirty Deca" includes the following schools:

Boston College - recommends opportunities for students to work 'pro bono' for the Planned Parenthood League of Massachusetts.

College of St. Benedict & St. John's University - the school's Gender and Women's Studies program promotes internship opportunities with the pro-abortion Feminist Majority Foundation and organizations supporting same-sex marriage.

DePaul University - the institution's Women's and Gender Studies program offers credit for internships, noting that students have interned with abortion provider Planned Parenthood and the Chicago Women's Health Center, which offers emergency contraceptive services and alternative insemination for "lesbians, bisexual, and queer couples, single women of any sexual orientation, and trans people."

Georgetown University - permits students to receive university funding for interning at abortion advocacy organizations.

Loyola University of Chicago - their website lists opportunities for internships and volunteer opportunities at Chicago's National Organization for Women, the Feminist Majority Foundation, Planned Parenthood, and the Chicago Abortion Fund.

St. Edward's University - has allowed students to work at NARAL Pro-Choice Texas to fulfill a "Community Service in Women's Studies" credit requirement.

St. Norbert College - - the college's Women's and Gender Studies program recommends internships at several pro-abortion and same-sex marriage promoting organizations, including NOW, Legal Momentum, Planned Parenthood, the National Women's Health Network, the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force and PFLAG.

University of Notre Dame - the university's Gender Studies program offers internships for academic credit at places such as the National Organization for Women.

University of San Francisco - the school's Media Studies program has promoted internships with the California Abortion and Reproductive Rights Action League and Girlfriends Magazine.

To learn more, visit the Cardinal Newman Society.

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.

Texas Bishop Chastises Catholic University for Hosting Dissident 'Theologian'

Why does it seem these colleges cant find legitimate theologians who can explain and teach about true Catholicism? Is it just that sin is less boring?

University ignores bishop and refuses to withdraw Charles Curran invitation

By Meg JalsevacAUSTIN, Texas, October 15, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.com) - St. Edwards University, a Catholic academic institution in Austin, Texas, has been called to task by its local Catholic bishop for hosting self-proclaimed, 'Catholic theologian', Father Charles Curran.

Bishop Gregory Aymond of the Austin diocese has issued a letter to his diocesan priests requesting that they not publicize the lecture that is scheduled to be held Thursday, October 18th at the St. Edward's campus as part of the Most Reverend Bishop McCarthy Lecture Series.

Father Curran is a Catholic priest who has long been at odds with several of the Church's fundamental moral teachings. Because of his aggressive and vocal condemnation of the Church's teachings on matters such as abortion, contraception, and homosexuality, Curran was investigated by the Congregation for the Doctrine of Faith in the late 1970's and early 1980's. In 1986, at the recommendation of then-Cardinal Ratzinger, Pope John Paul II officially forbad Curran from teaching at any Catholic school and stripped him of the title of 'Catholic theologian'.