Free Republic

John Garvey, president of The Catholic University of America, has apologized for the school's display of an icon some say depicts George Floyd as Jesus, saying the twice-stolen image has created “needless controversy and confusion.” “Some critics thought that the identity of the male figure was at best ambiguous. Many saw the figure in the arms of Our Lady as a divinized George Floyd. This interpretation led to accusations that the work was blasphemous, something that is contrary to the respect due God and his holy name. Defenders of the work said it was meant to provoke thought about seeing...

Catholic University of America has become ‘Catholic in name only’: Former employee Leftist propaganda now holds sway over traditional Catholic ideals at CUA, says a former administrative assistant to the university. Abp. Wilton Gregory, chancellor of the Catholic University of America. August 4, 2020 (LifeSiteNews) – Deus Lux Mea Est (“God is My Light”) is the motto of The Catholic University of America, the only higher education institution founded by the United States bishops. Promoting itself as the papally chartered national university of the Catholic Church, it was officially established in 1887 as a graduate and research center. Following its...

William Rainford was not fired. He resigned.Because of the controversy. For which he heartedly apologized.“After much prayer and discernment,” Rainford wrote to Catholic University President John Garvey, “I’m submitting my resignation to you as Dean of the National Catholic School of Social Service, effective immediately. I do so with all good will for the University and School. Given the needs of the faculty and direction of the School, I believe a different academic leader is warranted.”Back in September, during the big national #MeToo civil war over the Senate’s confirmation of Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh, Dean Rainford posted several “controversial” tweets.“Riddle...

William Rainford suspended for tweeting his doubts about Kavanaugh accuser Julie SwetnickWASHINGTON (ChurchMilitant.com) - A dean at the Catholic University of America (CUA) has been suspended after tweeting in favor of U.S. Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh. William Rainford, dean of the National Catholic School of Social Service (NCSSS), tweeted on Sept. 26 from his official university Twitter account: Swetnick is 55 y/o, Kavanaugh is 52 y/o. Since when do senior girls hang with freshmen boys? If it happened when Kavanaugh was a senior, Swetnick was an adult drinking with&by her admission, having sex with underage boys. In another universe,...

Catholic University’s president suspended a dean whose comments on social media this week questioned allegations of sexual assault against Supreme Court nominee Brett M. Kavanaugh. John Garvey, the president of the university, said Friday evening in an email to the campus that the remarks “demonstrated a lack of sensitivity to the victim.” Will Rainford, the dean, had issued a written apology Thursday evening for a remark he made on his university Twitter account that he said “unfortunately degraded” one of the women who have accused Kavanaugh of sexual assault. Julie Swetnick, the third woman in recent weeks to accuse Kavanaugh...

A Washington D.C. law professor has given credence to Donald Trump’s charge that U.S. District Court Judge Gonzalo Curiel has a conflict of interest in a court case involving the likely Republican presidential nominee, saying the judge’s affiliation with a group that advocated for illegal immigrants creates “an appearance of impropriety.” Mr. Curiel’s membership and active role in the San Diego La Raza Lawyers Association, whether or not it creates an actual bias, is enough to disqualify him from presiding over the case, said Victor Williams, a professor at Catholic University’s Columbus School of Law. “The standard isn’t that one...

Catholic University of America Cuts Ties With Pro-Abortion Group by Matthew Archbold | LifeNews.com | 10/30/13 7:17 PM The Catholic University of AmericaÂ’s school of social work is reportedly cutting ties with a group due to its advocacy of abortion.Will Rainford, who became Dean of the National Catholic School of Social Service (NCSSS) in June of this year, recently announced in an email to students that he was ending relations with the National Association of Social Workers (NASW) because of its position that social workers should support access to abortions for clients, according to the Chronicle of Social Change.The NASW...

Christmas in America is a season of time-honored traditions — the sacred performance of the annual ACLU lawsuit over the presence of an insufficiently secular “holiday” tree; the ritual provocations of the atheist displays licensed by pitifully appeasing municipalities to sit between the menorah and the giant Frosty the Snowman; the familiar strains of every hack columnist’s “war on Christmas” column rolling off the keyboard as easily as Richard Clayderman playing “Winter Wonderland” . . . (snip) One sympathizes, up to a point. As America degenerates from a land of laws to a land of legalisms, much of life is...

Charges of anti-Muslim discrimination at Catholic University in D.C. has presidential candidate Newt Gingrich up in arms. "I look at the things that are going on in this country that make no sense to me," he said to a crowd of about 250 South Carolinians gathered at a pig roast fundraiser organized by the Myrtle Beach Tea Party. "We now have a lawsuit apparently by some Muslim students at Catholic University who are offended being at a Catholic university. Now my first answer to them is 'Fine, don't go to a Catholic university.'" His comments drew applause. Gingrich was referring...

Last week I was asked to lend my aging mug and highly attuned smart mouth for a documentary film regarding how the “religion of peace”—via political correctness in the public school system—is anesthetizing our kids to Islam’s malevolence toward all things American. Like a good trooper I acquiesced (to the producer’s delight) and gave my best shot at trying to wake dull parents up to the fact that their dense kids are getting a steady diet of “Christianity, Judaism and America suck” and “Islam is awesome” from their local Marxist schoolmarm on a Monday through Friday basis. The director says...

Catholic University has been accused of violating the human rights of Muslim students by not allowing them to form a Muslim student group and by not providing them rooms without Christian symbols for their daily prayers, according to a complaint filed with the Washington, D.C. Office of Human Rights. The 60-page complaint said Muslim students “must perform their prayers surrounded by symbols of Catholicism – e.g., a wooden crucifix, paintings of Jesus, pictures of priests and theologians which many Muslim students find inappropriate.” SNIP Patrick Reilly, the president of the Cardinal Newman Society, an organization that promotes Catholic identity among...

New charges have recently been filed against the University on counts of illegal discrimination against its Muslim and female students. The allegations are being reviewed by the District of Colombia Office of Human Rights (OHR), which has the strictest discrimination laws in the country. President John H. Garvey and the University is being urged to respond to the charges. John F. Banzhaf III, the George Washington University Professor of Public Interest Law who initiated the legal controversy surrounding same-sex residence halls, is also the one behind these new charges. The official allegations claim that CUA, “does not provide space –...

Washington D.C., Jun 22, 2011 / 02:37 am (CNA).- The Catholic University of America says its plan to house men and women separately will withstand any legal challenge from John Banzhaf, known for his lawsuits over fast food and women's bathrooms. In a June 21 statement provided to CNA, the university said it “has not received service of any legal proceedings from Professor John Banzhaf regarding the University’s plan to phase in single-gender residence halls.” Earlier this week, a Fox affiliate in the District reported that Prof. Banzhaf had issued the school an “intent-to-sue” notice because of the plan. The...

...There are a growing number of authentically Catholic Colleges and Universities. They are among our greatest missionary resources. They are forming the "living stones" the Apostle Peter wrote of in his first letter to the dispersed Christians (1 Pet. 2:5) for the work of the Church in the Third Christian millennium. The men and women graduating from these Colleges will lead the West out of darkness and serve the new missionary age of the Catholic Church. The missionary task we face requires the preparation of young men and women in the fullness of the authentic Catholic faith which only an...

...Jim Towey's friendship with Mother Teresa of Calcutta. He served as her legal counsel for twelve years. He offered himself, both in Mexico and Washington, DC, to her work of loving and serving the poor. This is clearly a man who "walks the walk" when it comes to his Catholic faith. As a Catholic lawyer with a commitment to authentic Catholic Social Doctrine, I followed Jim Toweys early work as Director of the White House Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives and as Assistant to President George W. Bush from 2002 to May 2006... ...President Elect Towey released this statement,...

Washington D.C., Jun 16, 2010 / 09:01 am (CNA).- Incoming Catholic University of America (CUA) president John H. Garvey has defended the freedom of Catholic adoption agencies to refuse to place children with same-sex couples. However, he also holds that the Pledge of Allegiance is unconstitutional and may violate Vatican II’s Declaration on Religious Freedom. Garvey, presently the Dean of Boston College Law School, made his comments on the Pledge in the Spring / Summer 2007 issue of BC Law Magazine. The issue featured a symposium on the late Fr. Robert Drinan, S.J., a Georgetown University law professor and Democratic...

I just spoke by phone with a friend, Sonny Torres, who went to Notre Dame this weekend with his wife Karen to protest the university giving Obama an honorary degree and a platform for promoting his policies which include murdering unborn children. Neither of my friends had any intention of getting arrested, but the Lord apparently had other plans. After six hours of joining in the protests off campus, Karen and Sonny left to begin their long ride back to Virginia. But they got turned around and pulled into the parking lot of a credit union bordering the university campus...

This May, Notre Dame University will host President Barack Obama to inspire its graduates as they are sent into the world. Mr. Obama will be awarded an honorary degree. For the record, this will be a direct violation of the American bishops’ 2004 declaration that Catholic colleges should not give “awards, honors or platforms” to pro-choice politicians. Of course, the abortion issue is the crux of the controversy. Many Catholics, including as high up as bishops, are protesting the invitation, and some are boycotting the ceremony. Many pro-life Protestants are likewise unhappy. This has become a national issue. Not surprisingly,...

by Steven Ertelt LifeNews.com Editor April 16, 2008 St. Paul, MN (LifeNews.com) -- Pope Benedict XVI's arrival in the United States for a visit appears to have prompted officials at the Catholic University of St. Thomas in Minnesota to backtrack and allow a pro-life speaker they previous rejected. UST came under fire earlier this month for canceling a planned speech by respected African-American pro-life advocate Star Parker.

SOUTH BEND, Indiana, March 11, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) - University of Notre Dame President, Father John Jenkins, C.S.C., announced today that he has approved campus performances of the lurid play, "The Vagina Monologues," on March 24-26.  It will be the sixth year since 2002 that Notre Dame has hosted the play.The Vagina Monologues is a sexually explicit and offensive play that favorably describes lesbian activity, group masturbation, and the reduction of sexuality to selfish pleasure.  In one scene, the lesbian seduction of a teenage girl is described as the girl's "salvation" that "raised her into a kind of heaven."  "The announcement...