Watchdog Group Says Catholic Colleges, Faculty Aided Pro-Abortion Obama
by Steven Ertelt
LifeNews.com Editor
November 10, 2008
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) — A watchdog group that monitors Catholic colleges and universities says several professors and political activities on Catholic campuses helped deliver pro-abortion Barack Obama the Catholic vote. The Cardinal Newman Society tells LifeNews.com that the report shows more monitoring is needed.
The Catholic pro-Obama activities directly aided the abortion advocate as borne out in exit polling data.
Exit polls show Obama won over self-described Catholics 54 to 45 percent — better than the 52-46 split among all Americans — and even made inroads with Mass-attending and white, non-Hispanic Catholics.
"Despite the U.S. bishops’ concerns about political candidates who support legalized abortion and embryonic stem cell research, several outspoken professors and political events at Catholic colleges and universities helped convince Catholics that they could vote for such candidates in good conscience," Reilly says.
The Cardinal Newman Society report documents campus politics in 2008 that helped Obama.
CNS notes outspoken professors including Boston College theology professor Lisa Sowle Cahill, Duquesne law professor Nicholas Cafardi (former dean of Duquesne’s law school) and Notre Dame theology professor Cathleen Kaveny publicly challenged bishops’ statements encouraging Catholics to oppose pro-abortion candidates.
Another nine professors at Catholic colleges and universities served on Obama’s Catholic National Advisory Committee.
Pamela Trotman Reid, president of St. Joseph College in Hartford, Connecticut, expressed excitement about Obama’s candidacy and concern about future Supreme Court decisions affecting "the right of women to make choices about their own health."
Xavier University in Cincinnati hosted an Obama "Campaign for Change" rally on the eve of the election, and St. Peter’s College in New Jersey hosted an Obama rally featuring a choir of Catholic schoolchildren.
Meanwhile, Judy Feder, public policy professor and former public policy dean at Georgetown University, ran as a pro-abortion congressional candidate in Virginia’s 10th District.
And several Catholic colleges and universities selected pro-abortion politicians as commencement speakers and honorees.
The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops meets this week and Reilly notes that, in 2004, they overwhelmingly approved a document outlining instructions for Catholic colleges.
"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," it said.
Last month, The Cardinal Newman Society’s Center for the Study of Catholic Higher Education published a national survey finding that the behaviors and beliefs of Catholic college students often conflict with Catholic teachings.
Related web sites:
Cardinal Newman Society – https://www.cardinalnewmansociety.org
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