Catholic Georgetown Students Vote to Fund Abortion Rights Panel

LifeSiteNews.com -- Your Life, Family, and Culture Outpost ^ | March 23, 2010

[topher]

Tuesday March 23, 2010

---

Catholic Georgetown Students Vote to Fund Abortion Rights Panel

March 23, 2010 (CNews) – In early March, the Student Activities Commission (SAC) of Georgetown University, a Jesuit, Catholic university, voted in favor of funding an abortion “rights” panel on campus, according to The Hoya. Earlier the university partially funded "Sex Positive Week" and held performances of "The Vagina Monologues."

“While Catholics the world over are engaged in penance, prayer and alms giving during this Lenten season, students at America's oldest Catholic university have participated in a perverse series of events that vividly reminds us why our culture is in such trouble,” said Patrick J. Reilly, President of The Cardinal Newman Society, a Catholic education watchdog organization. 

The Hoya article said the pro-abortion event would feature three male panelists in favor of abortion “rights” speaking on the role of men in the pro-abortion movement.  It would be sponsored by a new coalition recently formed by United Feminists and H*yas for Choice called “Plan A: Hoyas for Reproductive Justice.”

The Plan A event was initially denied a request for University support in a Feb. 24 letter from Vice President for Student Affairs Todd Olsen.  He wrote: “Through its speech and expression of policy, the university provides students the opportunity to participate in a dialogue on a wide range of issues.”  He continued, “As a Catholic and Jesuit institution, however, Georgetown cannot support organizations whose stated purpose conflicts with Catholic moral teaching.”

According to The Hoya, since SAC voted in early March to allocate $175 for the Plan A event to United Feminists, which is university funded, there has been no official University statement in response.

Plan A’s group website reads, “Plan A: Hoyas for Reproductive Justice is a coalition of students dedicated to changing the way that Georgetown University approaches issues of reproductive justice and choice.”

According to the blog of the Georgetown Voice, Plan A started its events on March 21 with the panel discussion, which was the first event in Georgetown history to not include the pro-life argument in an open discussion of abortion.  Members of the panel included representatives of the National Abortion Federation, Choice USA and GU Men Creating Change.  They “spoke about the importance of male involvement in the pro-choice movement, why male involvement is especially important to the pro-choice movement now, and how Georgetown students can lobby the school to fund more similar events.”

A member of Plan A reportedly said that Sunday’s panel discussion was the only event funded by Georgetown University in the overall Choice Week which is now taking place, also according to the Georgetown Voice blog.

The pro-abortion panel discussion was not the first time this semester that Georgetown students have organized activities that directly undermine fundamental Catholic values or teachings.  In early February, the SAC voted to approve funding for parts of Sex Positive Week.  Among the events this year that received funding and/or approval were “Virginity and Losing It,” “Disability and Sexuality,” and “God and the Erotic.”

The Cardinal Newman Society reported in its March 2010 Campus Notes newsletter that Georgetown University was among the Catholic colleges and universities that were listed as holding a production of the play The Vagina Monologues.  The play favorably describes lesbian activity, group masturbation and, in the word of the Cardinal Newman Society, "the reduction of sexuality to selfish pleasure."  Performances at Catholic colleges and universities are down to 14 in 2010 from 32 in 2003.

According to the website of V-Day, the sponsor organization for the Monologues, performances for the Spring 2010 semester were also scheduled at the following institutions which claim a Catholic identity: Barry University, College of the Holy Cross, College of Saint Benedict, College of Saint Rose, DePaul University, Fordham University, John Carroll University, Loyola University of Chicago, Regis College, Saint Mary’s College of Cal., Seattle University, and the University of San Francisco. In addition, a student newspaper at Boston College reported that the play was hosted on that campus.

URL: http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2010/mar/10032306.html

---

Copyright © LifeSiteNews.com. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-No Derivatives License. You may republish this article or portions of it without request provided the content is not altered and it is clearly attributed to "LifeSiteNews.com". Any website publishing of complete or large portions of original LifeSiteNews articles MUST additionally include a live link to www.LifeSiteNews.com. The link is not required for excerpts. Republishing of articles on LifeSiteNews.com from other sources as noted is subject to the conditions of those sources.

[topher]

From the article:

“While Catholics the world over are engaged in penance, prayer and alms giving during this Lenten season, students at America's oldest Catholic university have participated in a perverse series of events that vividly reminds us why our culture is in such trouble,” said Patrick J. Reilly, President of The Cardinal Newman Society, a Catholic education watchdog organization.

Over the weekend, I received a letter from Father Benedict Groeschel asking for support for the Cardinal Newman Society. The letter was basically a fund raising letter for the Cardinal Newman Society, but with the things that are happening now at Georgetown, and what happened at Notre Dame in 2009, it is clear that we desparately need to support organizations such as the Cardinal Newman Society.

I do not think that Father Benedict Groeschel would have lent his support to any organization without careful consideration.

Sounds like Catholics need to get behind activities of the Cardinal Newman Society.

[B-Chan]

St. Michael, the Archangel, defend us in battle
Be our protection against the wickedness
and snares of the devil;
May God rebuke him, we humbly pray,
and do thou, O Prince of the heavenly host,
by the power of God,
Cast into hell Satan and all evil spirits
who prowl through the world seeking the ruin of souls.
Amen
+

[Westbrook]

I’m not a Catholic, but neither are the Georgetown Students that support abortion.

[topher]

Ping - I think I know why God chose to take Father Paul Marx now.

Maybe he can do more good from heaven...

One good aspect of the passing of Father Paul Marx was that I was very tempted to make fun of Congressman Bart Stupak.

I refrained out of respect for the passing of Father Paul Marx.

May the souls of the faithfully departed through the mercy of God rest in peace. AMEN!

[topher]

The Catholic Church [USCCB] needs to kick Georgetown out of the Catholic Church.

This was done to Marymount Manhattan when it invited then former First Lady Hillary Clinton to speak.

In that case, it was Cardinal Egan who booted Marymount Manhattan from the Catholic Church.

[Westbrook]

> In that case, it was Cardinal Egan who booted Marymount
> Manhattan from the Catholic Church.

Good for him!

The Lord bless him for that!

[O6ret]

No surprise here....Georgetown has been a Catholic university in name only for some time now.

[vladimir998]

You NAILED it!

[bwc2221]

90% of Catholic colleges ceased being Catholic. I send my kids to Catholic high school, but Catholic colleges are not on the horizon.

[Salvation]

I think the Bishop needs to catechize these students!

Urgent need!

[hellbender]

For those of us who are not Catholics, one of the attractive features of the R.C. Church is that it has a hierarchy who can enforce doctrine. However, it seems that the hierarchy does not in fact enforce orthodoxy, or even fundamental Christian principles. What has gone wrong?

[Westbrook]

> What has gone wrong?

I don’t know. There is support for abortion as well as homosexuality in liberal Evangelical circles, as well.

I’m just a vanilla Christian - Bible believing, Holy Spirit Seeking, Jesus Praising, Christian.

Catholics, or any other flavors of Christians, who love Jesus and call upon His name for salvation are Christians.

However, Jesus did say that “by their fruits ye shall know them.”

Supporting abortion is NOT GOOD FRUIT, so I don’t accept pro-aborts as brethren, or at least not as brethren in good standing.

[hellbender]

Catholics, or any other flavors of Christians, who love Jesus and call upon His name for salvation are Christians.

I heartily agree with you. We are all under attack, and the Enemy is within the gates. I've been reading about the Crusades, when many people of noble birth entered the monastic order of the Knights Templar to defend the right of Christians to make pilgrimages to the Holy Land. We desperately need that kind of sacrifice today.

[RegulatorCountry]

I've been reading about the Crusades, when many people of noble birth entered the monastic order of the Knights Templar to defend the right of Christians to make pilgrimages to the Holy Land. We desperately need that kind of sacrifice today.

Surely you're not lauding heretics.

[hellbender]

What heretics? You think the Knights Templar were heretics? They were charged with that by a cruel and greedy French King, who owed them lots of money and coveted their assets. The Pope found them to be innocent, but the King murdered their leaders before that decision was made public.

[Lorica]

Surely you're not lauding heretics.

?? Why would the crusaders be heretics?

[RegulatorCountry]

Oh, sorry. I forgot the Vatican changed its mind about the Knights Templar being heretical, three years ago.

That goes a long way to make up for that little burning at the stake thing ... oops.

I guess seven hundred years is hardly any time at all when you're dead.

[narses]

+

Freep-mail me to get on or off my pro-life and Catholic List:

Add me / Remove me

Please ping me to note-worthy Pro-Life or Catholic threads, or other threads of general interest.

[topher]

What about Ave Maria in South Florida or Franciscan University of Steubenville [Ohio]?

Also, the University of Dallas does seems to be okay (Father Mitch Pacwa, SJ taught there in the 1990's).

[boatbums]

I wonder how many hard-working, tuition-paying parents condone this or are even aware of it?