Catholic Ping
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Posted on 10/12/2007 6:04:11 AM PDT by NYer
WORCESTER, Massachusetts, October 11, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Worcester's Catholic bishop, Bishop Robert J. McManus, has issued a frank condemnation of the decision by the local Jesuit-run College of the Holy Cross to rent their facilities for a conference featuring NARAL and Planned Parenthood workshops.
Bishop McManus has issued a scathing statement confirming that he has requested that college President, Rev. Michael C. McFarland rescind the invitation based on the conference's fundamental differences with Catholic moral teaching.
As previously reported by LifeSiteNews.com, the Massachusetts Alliance on Teen Pregnancy is scheduled to use the conference facilities at the Catholic college for their annual Teen Pregnancy Institute on October 24. The conference schedule includes workshops featuring a Planned Parenthood representative discussing "protection methods" and a similar NARAL update on initiatives to provide teen access to "low-cost, confidential health services and Emergency Contraception." Pro-abortion Governor Patrick Deval will be honored with a leadership award at the conference.
According to the local chancery, hundreds of complaints were received from Catholics around the country voicing outrage at Holy Cross' facilitation of a conference which so openly opposed the basic moral teachings of the Catholic Church on the sanctity of human life.
The bishop's statement maintained that the complaints were justified since, "The College of the Holy Cross should recognize that any association with these groups can create the situation of offering scandal understood in its proper theological sense, i.e., an attitude or behavior which leads another to do evil. Certainly it is understandable how people of good will could interpret the college's allowing presentations to be made by such groups as truly scandalous."
"The moral teaching of the Catholic Church on respect for life at all stages of its development is manifestly clear. Life is a fundamental good that must be protected and respected from the moment of fertilization to natural death. This teaching is so basic and important that it provides the foundation upon which much of the Church's moral and social doctrine rests. It is beyond modification and compromise."
Holy Cross officials have replied that they will not rescind the invitation despite a host of complaints flooding their offices from alumni and others across the country. Officials explained that "Holy Cross in no way supports or endorses Planned Parenthood, NARAL, or other organizations that engage in or promote practices contrary to the teachings of the Catholic Church."
However, the bishop's statement denied the possibility of this position saying, "I strongly contend that the confusion and upset to the Catholic faithful and others that flow from the perception that the administration of the College of the Holy Cross supports positions contrary to the fundamental moral teaching of the Church must be avoided."
"To deny Planned Parenthood and NARAL Pro-Choice a forum in which to present their morally unacceptable positions is not an infringement of the exercise of academic freedom but a defensible attempt to make unambiguously clear the Catholic identity and mission of the College of the Holy Cross."
President McFarland explained his decision to continue to allow the conference to take place while also attempting to explain that Holy Cross "fully affirms and promotes" the sanctity of human life. He continued to justify his decision in opposition to the bishop's statement saying, "Beyond the contractual obligation, it is important to emphasize that the college believes a meeting of adult professionals pooling resources, engaging in a dialogue and exchanging information is a beneficial way of grappling with pressing issues related to the health and well-being of Massachusetts teenagers and children."
"As an institution of higher learning, we are dedicated to the open exchange of ideas. As a Jesuit college, Holy Cross is committed to its mission of engaging with the larger culture on even the most problematic and divisive of moral and spiritual issues."
As the leader of his flock, Bishop McManus issued a warning to the Catholic college saying, "As Bishop of Worcester, it is my pastoral and canonical responsibility to determine what institutions can properly call themselves 'Catholic.' This is a duty that I do not take lightly since to be a Catholic institution means that such an institution conducts its mission and ministry in accord with Catholic Church teaching, especially in cases of faith and morals."
"It is my fervent wish that the administration of the College of the Holy Cross will unequivocally disassociate itself from the upcoming conference sponsored by the Massachusetts Alliance on Teen Pregnancy so that the college can continue to be recognized as a Catholic institution committed to promoting the moral teaching of the Roman Catholic Church."
Read Bishop McManus' entire statement:
http://www.worcesterdiocese.org/bishopsoffice/HC-conf-stmt-1...
Read Previous LifeSiteNews.com coverage:
Holy Cross College Hosts on-Campus Planned Parenthood Workshops, Awards Pro-Abortion Governor
http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2007/sep/07092808.html
Catholic Ping
Please freepmail me if you want on/off this list
Godspeed to the Bishop!!
As a graduate of a Jesuit school (Loyola Collage in Maryland, the action of Holy Cross makes me sick. I applaud Bishop McManus.
God bless him — a bishop actually willing to uphold the entirety of the Catholic faith.
They should be penalized by making them play BC in football.
Nice try McFarland in trying to twist your mission into one of intellect and dialogue. What a wolf in sheeps clothing.
Prayers for Bishop McManus.
I hope that Holy Cross does the right thing. It’s ashame that they need to be told right from wrong.
McFarland’s mind is so open his brains fell out. He must be friends with Garanzini.
You’ve not truly experienced the depths of Jesuit dissembling until you’ve heard one explain, with a straight face, that he took a vow of celibacy, but not chastity.
So, if they lose their name, how about “College of The D&X”?
I quit donating to my Catholic College Alma Mater back in 68 when they gave in to the commies and banned ROTC
What do you think, something like BC 45 ND 10 tomorrow?
BC 31 ND 21
And I’m a big ND fan
BTTT
Couple questions....
Do you think NARAL and the others approached Holy Cross and asked them to use the facility?
Highly unlikely that they would have the audacity to do that... Which leads one to this conclusion... why would this guy go out and solicit such a group onto their campus? There is the question that needs to be answered.
When people do seemingly strange things that seem totally out of context generally they have long ago compromised their reality and values for so long that a decision such as this seems within their scope of reason. Because they have been surrounded my yes men their perspective gets askew.
It is not until their decisions travel outside their context do they come into the full light of reason and reveal the motivations of the heart.
Liberalism is a mental sickness. What ever happened to the mandatum?
My alma mater too ... this would never fly at Loyola.
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