Posted on 02/11/2002 6:35:34 PM PST by Brian Kopp DPM
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Sunday, February 10, 2002 Press Release: An Open Letter to the President of the College of the Holy Cross
The letter in the attached Adobe Reader file (HCMcFar.pdf) contains some of the vile language contained in the Vagina Monologues play scheduled for the College of the Holy Cross on Tuesday and Ash Wednesday. Do not open it if you are easily offended. That this anti-Catholic garbage should appear on any Catholic campus is blaspheme. I urge you to call both Fr. McFarland and Bishop Reilly and register your protest. Sincerely in Christ, cc: Fr. McFarland , Bishop Reilly, various staff and alumni, media Michael C. McFarland, S.J.
Most Reverend Daniel P. Reilly |
I will write too..
To:
Rev. Michael C. McFarland, S.J.
I am writing to tell you that I feel the college's presentation of anti family,feminist propaganda is totally inappropriate in any college calling itself 'Christian". Parents entrust their young people to you for moral development as well as intellectual .they may as well send them to State Universities (at considerable savings) as you bring the perversion right to them.
Sincerely,
I just would prefer not to be flagged to any more RC threads.
To:
Michael C. McFarland, S.J.
President
College of the Holy Cross
Worcester, MA 01610-2395
From:
Dr. Brian Kopp
Johnstown, PA
Dear Fr. Michael C. McFarland, S.J.,
I just wanted to send a quick note to express my dismay that a Catholic institution such as yours would be hosting the Vagina Monologues play, scheduled for the College of the Holy Cross on Tuesday and Ash Wednesday.
This blasphemous, anti-Catholic, anti-Christian-morality play has no place on a Catholic campus.
If this has been scheduled with neither your knowledge nor your assent, I would hope and pray that you would immediately intervene to stop such crudity on your campus at the holy time of the beginning of Lent.
If this has been scheduled with your knowledge and assent, then you are guilty of malfeasance in your duties to shepherd the flock entrusted to you and protest their souls from such blasphemous productions.
On either account, the final arbiter of your good will shall be measured by whether this play will go on tonight and tomorrow.
If it does, many Catholics, including myself, will be joining a formal petition to your bishop, the Most Reverend Daniel P. Reilly, to begin a canonical action towards removing the authorization of College of the Holy Cross to operate as a Catholic institute of higher learning.
Sincerely,
Dr. Brian J. Kopp
Vice President,
Catholic Family Association of America
You may be a tad presumptuous, but I thank you for the compliment.
It's not a matter of being a sport or not being a sport. The Church is the Church and, as such, is different from the Protestant denominations. She speaks with an authoritative voice and can manage her affairs. She should never care what the people think, what the poll results are, how we voted. She should only care what G-d has called her to do.
To that extent, praying that the Church will rise up and be the Church is, IMO, the correct way to handle issues like this.
(As an aside, that's why I liked those cards that proud2b was handing out at the march for life. It was a letter to Tom Daschle's Bishop asking him to serve his office, and a letter to Tom asking him to remember his G-d.)
Now, if my local civic theater were planning to show The VM, I would not only raise Holy He!!, but I would ask everyone I know to do the same.
Shalom.
Technically, Sundays are outside of Lent. You can still visit on Sundays.
Shalom.
I've already notified one radio station here in Fredericksburg, VA
how much I hate their advertising this trashy show. I deliberately turn the station whenever I heard
the ads playing and haven't been back to that station in quite some time. I don't wanna hear it and
I don't need my kids hearing it.
Here they are, not quite in the final form we handed out though. We handed out 17,000 at the March For Life. If anyone would like to receive some of these cards, see our web site, at http://www.cathfam.org
tempting...maybe I'll make up multiple screen names, just to keep everyone guessing...
Every public official listed below is a hard-core pro-abortion Catholic. Almost without exception, every single one OPPOSED the ban on Partial Birth Infanticide. Most Catholics do not know that these leaders are "Catholic", and yet anti-Catholic in virtually every family related action they take.
High Priority!
These 14 Federal Officials need YOUR prayer and sacrifice NOW!
Sen. Tom Daschle (D-SD) special note
Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT)
Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-MA)
Sen. Tom Harkin (D-IA)
Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME)
Sen. Christopher Dodd (D-CT)
Sen. Richard Durbin (D-IL)
Sen. Joseph Biden (D-DE)
Sen. John Kerry (D-MA)
Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-LA)
Sen. Barbara Milkulski (D-MD)
Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA)
Sen. Jack Reed (D-RI)
Gov. Tom Ridge (R-PA)
Of course, barring their conversion by the efficacious prayers of the faithful remnant, we are asking the Holy Father for their formal excommunication:
A Canonical Petition to Excommunicate Culture of Death "Catholics"
TO:
Pope John Paul II,
Supreme Pontiff of the Catholic Church
FROM:
PLAINTIFFS
| Mr. Stephen G. Brady, President, Roman Catholic Faithful Dr. Craig Bozzacco, D.D.S., President, Dentists for Life Mr. Michael Cain, Editor, The Daily Catholic Mr. Vinny Ciappetta, President, National Cops for Life Mr. Christopher A. Ferrara, President, American Catholic Lawyers Association, Inc Dr. Brian J. Kopp, Columnist Dr. Claude E. Newbury, President, Pro-Life South Africa; Founding Member, Intrnl. Right to Life Regional Representative for Human Life Int. Mr. Joseph Scheidler, Director, Pro-Life Action League Rev. Fr. John Trigilio, PhD, Editor, SAPIENTIA Magazine; Co-host EWTN's Web of Faith |
Mrs. Judie Brown, President, American Life League, Inc. Mr. Richard L. Bucci, President, Catholic Radio, NY Mr. Timothy A. Chichester, President, Catholic Family Association of America, Inc. Mr. William Cotter, President, Operation Rescue-Boston Dr. Chris Kahlenborn, Author, "Breast Cancer: It's Link to Abortion and the Birth Control Pill" Mr. Phillip F. Lawler, Editor, Catholic World News Charles P. Prezzia MD, MPH, President, Catholic Medical Association Donna Steichen, Author of "Ungodly Rage" Monica M. Miller, Ph.D., Author |
Thank you, and I'll miss your pings (can I say that on a public forum?? LOL)
I hope I didn't offend you by saying "be a sport". I was teasing. Sorry!
I understand perfectly your point of view. Have a good day!
Worcester, Mass.
Play will go on despite protests
Tuesday, February 12, 2002 By Emilie Astell
Telegram & Gazette Staff
WORCESTER-- The uproar over a production of "The Vagina Monologues" at the College of the Holy Cross is not stopping the play from being performed tonight and tomorrow night. Despite numerous calls to the Worcester Diocese and criticism from such groups as Students for Life and the Life Action League of Massachusetts, the play will be performed at 8 both nights at Hogan Campus Center.
Rumors that there would be student protests outside the campus center appeared to be dissipating last night, although some students who oppose the production may meet privately to recite the rosary. One student said the overall feeling on campus is that the production is a welcome event. The Rev. Michael C. McFarland, president of the college, said he supports the goal of the play, which is to raise consciousness about violence against women and to raise money for Abby's House, a local shelter for battered women. But the production is not the means he would choose, he said.
"It's meant to be provocative," he said last night. "That's not foreign to what we do as an intellectual and cultural institution. We have to do things that make people uncomfortable."
Rev. McFarland has not seen the play, but he has been told of its contents. He said he would find parts of it objectionable, but believes there is value in letting women tell their stories. The dialogue is drawn from conversations with women.
College administrators decided that the play was not so thoroughly wrong as to be unsuitable for a campus production, he said. "I understand that people are objecting to it," he said, "but it also has value. That's why we're going ahead with it."
Rev. McFarland and Bishop Daniel P. Reilly of the Worcester Diocese discussed the play after the diocese received numerous phone calls objecting to the production on the grounds that it contains obscene language and an assault on a minor, according to diocesan spokesman Raymond L. Delisle. The bishop is not planning to issue a statement about Holy Cross' role in presenting the play, Mr. Delisle said. "It's really a college issue," he said, "but because people are coming to us as well, we wanted the college to be aware of that."
Asked about the conversation with the bishop, Rev. McFarland said he was sure the bishop found parts of the production objectionable. The bishop did not endorse the play in any way, he said.
Traditional Catholic students are upset with the production, according to sophomore Travis J. Norton. Allowing the play on campus points out concerns about where Holy Cross is going in terms of its Catholic identity.
"I'm just a Catholic kid who's worried about what this is saying about our school," Mr. Norton said. "Holy Cross is implementing diversity at the expense of Catholicism."
He is concerned about some of the dialogue in the play that seems to approve lesbianism and masturbation, he said, neither of which are consistent with church teachings. In addition, the play is to be performed on Ash Wednesday, which is the beginning of Lent in the Christian calendar.
While he understands the college's desire to be diverse and show students different viewpoints, he questions whether that drive would mean going to an extreme, such as inviting to the campus members of the Ku Klux Klan, a white supremacy group.
Concerns that Holy Cross was becoming too secular were raised last year by some alumni. Mr. Norton said in light of that criticism, he was surprised that the play was allowed to be performed. "You'd think the administration would have a little more political sense than do something like the 'Vagina Monologues,' " he said. "I can't see their rationale."
Other students see the production as a chance to share new ideas. Senior Kristen J. Cortiglia, in charge of the production, said the play neither glorifies nor denigrates lesbianism and homosexuality. It does not take a stand on being gay or straight, she said. The play, which is being performed by students, also does not take a stand on such topics as abortion, she said, so it does not fly in the face of the Catholic Church. "To cancel the production would infringe on our academic freedom," she said.
Seniors Jerry Volpe and Melissa R. Murray, co-chairmen of the Student Government Association, said the organization supports the production and all the hard work put into it. Students were set to discuss the issue last night at a meeting of the student senate.
Ms. Murray said the play offers an opportunity to voice opinions, think critically and be challenged by new ideas. Mr. Volpe agreed.
"As a liberal arts college in the Jesuit tradition," he said, "this will enlighten students' minds and expand dialogue on campus."
*****
"As a liberal arts college in the Jesuit tradition,"
Ahhh, there is the problem in a nutshell...not the Jesuit Tradition of its founder, but the Jesuit Tradition of the Jesuits of the last 4 decades.
Like the proverbial "spirit of Vatican II" this new Jesuit Spirit is not the Holy Spirit.
--proud2bRC
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