Catholic University Association Drops Possible Rift With Bishops Over Abortion
by Steven Ertelt
LifeNews.com Editor
July 1, 2009
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) — The Association of Catholic Colleges and Universities could have started a rift with the nation’s Catholic bishops but appears to have avoided it. In it’s last newsletter, the association called for the bishops to withdraw their guidelines saying Catholic colleges should not allow pro-abortion speakers.
Now, ACCU officials have deleted that language from its Summer 2009 newsletter.
The language originally had the group saying, "ACCU’s directors informally concluded that it would be desirable for the USCCB to withdraw ‘Catholics in Political Life.’"
"A successor document, if any, should distinguish between ‘honors’ and ‘platforms’ and should acknowledge more clearly the differing roles of campus authorities and bishop," the original language, reported on earlier this month by LifeNews.com, indicated.
"Catholics in Political Life," is the document the nation’s Catholic bishops adopted almost unanimously in 2004 that, in part, urged Catholic colleges and universities to not give a platform to pro-abortion speakers.
"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.
Many of the 80 bishops who condemned pro-abortion President Barack Obama’s appearance and honorary degree at the University of Notre Dame relied on the document to help form their opposition.
“Why is it so hard for Catholic college leaders to understand that a Catholic institution does great harm when it honors or gives speaking platforms to those who work against core Catholic values?” Patrick J. Reilly, president of the Cardinal Newman Society, told LifeNews.com earlier.
“Catholic colleges and universities would like all of the privileges of being Catholic, but none of the responsibilities of being high-profile witnesses for the fullness of the Catholic faith,” Reilly said.
“Lobbying the bishops to back off a perfectly reasonable policy would be a shameful action by the Catholic higher education establishment, and hardly an appropriate response to Notre Dame’s betrayal of the nation’s bishops and the university’s own Catholic mission, he continued. “The lesson of the Notre Dame scandal is clear: even our leading Catholic universities have lost their way."
The Association of Catholic Colleges and Universities represents more than 200 Catholic institutions.
Related web sites:
Cardinal Newman Society – https://www.cardinalnewmansociety.org
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