Catholic Higher Education Alert -- 2/17/2005

Cardinal Newman Society's mission is the renewal of Catholic higher education, so we can hardly be pleased about losing historically Catholic colleges to secularization. But there comes a time when the bishops have to insist on truth in advertising. Two formerly Catholic colleges in Rochester, New York, now have honesty--if not fidelity to their founding principles--on their side. Thank you, Bishop Clark!

Meanwhile, exciting new colleges like Southern Catholic College outside Atlanta are gearing up to take the place of the lost institutions. (Southern Catholic opens in the fall.) To paraphrase Darwin, it's a process of supernatural selection!

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FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 18, 2005
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MONOLOGUES PROTEST UPDATES

Nine colleges have been removed from Cardinal Newman Society's list of planned performances of The Vagina Monologues, bringing the number of colleges that remain on the list to 27.

Catholic institutions where performances were announced by the V-Day organization but which have been canceled or never progressed beyond planning include: Alverno College (WI), Barry University (FL), College of Saint Mary (NE), Dominican University of California (CA), Edgewood College (WI), Fontbonne University (MO), Loyola Marymount University (CA) and Saint Francis University (PA). For details on why these colleges were removed from the list, see www.cardinalnewmansociety.org.

In addition, Saint John Fisher College (NY) has been removed upon confirmation from the Diocese of Rochester that the college is no longer considered Catholic under canon law. (See article below.)

TWO BISHOPS DEPLORE MONOLOGUES PERFORMANCES

Two bishops have issued public statements criticizing performances of The Vagina Monologues at the University of Notre Dame and Loyola University of New Orleans.

In his statement issued Wednesday, Archbishop Alfred Hughes of New Orleans said the decision by Loyola president Rev. Kevin Wildes, S.J., to allow the play on campus--it was halted last year by interim president Rev. William Byron, S.J.--is "disappointing." Hughes said the play is "contrary to sound Catholic teaching and does not advance the important questions about women, human sexuality, violence against women and the common good."

Bishop John D'Arcy of Fort Wayne-South Bend reissued a statement on the Monologues at Notre Dame, identical to his statement issued last year.

"The Vagina Monologues is offensive to women; it is antithetical to Catholic teaching on the beautiful gift of human sexuality and also to the teachings of the church on the human body relative to its purpose and to its status as a temple of the Holy Spirit," D'Arcy writes.

The full text of Bishop D'Arcy's statement can be found at www.cardinalnewmansociety.org.

NAZARETH, ST. JOHN FISHER NO LONGER CATHOLIC

Responding to queries from Cardinal Newman Society, the Diocese of Rochester, New York, has confirmed that Nazareth College and St. John Fisher College are no longer recognized as Catholic institutions under canon law. Cardinal Newman Society is unaware of any prior public notice of this development.

The two Rochester colleges join Marist College in Poughkeepsie, New York, as the only known historically Catholic colleges in the U.S. to be formally secularized since the Vatican issued its 1990 apostolic constitution, Ex Corde Ecclesiae, which governs Catholic higher education. Marist was identified as "no longer Catholic" by the Archdiocese of New York in 2003.

Cardinal Newman Society's protest of planned performances of the offensive play, The Vagina Monologues, on Catholic campuses this year originally included Nazareth and St. John Fisher. After Nazareth's president's office insisted the college was no longer Catholic, Cardinal Newman Society president Patrick J. Reilly contacted Bishop Matthew Clark of Rochester for clarification of the College's canonical status. Rev. Joseph Hart, Vicar General and Moderator of the Rochester Diocese, confirmed by letter dated February 10 that Bishop Clark had removed Nazareth from the Official Catholic Directory three years ago and St. John Fisher College last year.

According to Ex Corde Ecclesiae, no college can claim a Catholic identity without recognition by the local bishop. Cardinal Newman Society's policy is to refrain from questioning an historically Catholic institution's religious identity without a bishop's ruling on the matter. As in the case of many historically Catholic colleges, gauging the commitment of Nazareth and St. John Fisher to their founding convictions has been
difficult.

For instance, St. John Fisher College remains a member of the Association of Catholic Colleges and Universities (ACCU) and is identified as Catholic by the affiliated National Catholic College Admission Association (NCCAA). In a 1987 statement adopted by its board of trustees--and still posted on its website--the College identifies itself as "an independent, liberal arts institution in the Catholic tradition of American higher education." Committed to developing values through religious studies, philosophy, campus ministry and "the presence of members of the Congregation of St. Basil," the trustees draw "historically from our religious heritage," according to the statement.

St. John Fisher College is identified by the V-Day organization as hosting a performance this year of The Vagina Monologues, but college officials have not respond to Cardinal Newman Society's requests for confirmation. Proceeds from the College's presentation of the Monologues last year were given to Planned Parenthood, the largest abortion provider in the U.S., for its rape crisis center.

Nazareth College is not an ACCU member, but the ACCU does identify the college as Catholic. Nazareth's mission statement notes that the College is "historically rooted in the Catholic tradition of its founders, the Sisters of St. Joseph." But the College's website explains that despite its religious founding, "Nazareth has been independent of church
affiliation for more than 30 years." Nevertheless, its canonical status as a Catholic institution changed only three years ago.

Nazareth hosted The Vagina Monologues for the fourth year in a row on February 9, 10 and 12. Last year's performance was co-sponsored by the College's campus ministry.

BISHOP D'ARCY OPPOSES NOTRE DAME 'QUEER FILM FESTIVAL'

Six faculty departments at the University of Notre Dame sponsored the second annual Queer Film Festival on February 10-12, featuring dissenter Sr. Jeannine Gramick and playwright Terrence McNally as presenters. In 1999, the Vatican banned Gramick from "any pastoral work involving homosexual persons" because of her public support for homosexual activity, but she has refused to accept the ruling. Among the films presented at the festival was In Good Conscience, a documentary praising Gramick's defiance. McNally authored Corpus Christi, an offensive play in which Jesus strikes a Catholic priest for his support of Catholic teaching on homosexuality.

Students protested outside the festival on February 11. The prior day, Bishop John D'Arcy of Fort Wayne-South Bend, who has also publicly criticized Notre Dame for hosting The Vagina Monologues, issued a statement opposing the Queer Film Festival.

"In this seminar, held at a Catholic university, there is no place given to the presentation of Catholic teaching on the matter of homosexuality," D'Arcy wrote. "The rights of others are violated. What about the rights of the Church to have its teachings properly presented? What about the rights of parents of those students at Notre Dame who find the contents of this seminar offensive?"

CONTACT: Rev. Edward A. Malloy, C.S.C., President, University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, IN 46556; Phone: (574) 631-3903; Fax: (574) 631-7428; malloy.5@nd.edu

CHITTESTER TO RECEIVE NOTRE DAME ALUMNI AWARD

Sr. Joan Chittester, O.S.B., an outspoken advocate for women's ordination and author of Called to Question: A Spiritual Memoir, will receive the University of Notre Dame Alumni Association's Dr. Thomas A. Dooley Award in April. The award is conferred on an alumnus or alumna of Notre Dame--Chittester received her master's degree from Notre Dame in 1968--"who has exhibited outstanding service to mankind."

CONTACT: Rev. Edward A. Malloy, C.S.C., President, University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, IN 46556; Phone: (574) 631-3903; Fax: (574) 631-7428; malloy.5@nd.edu

MONOLOGUES AUTHOR SPEAKS AT NOTRE DAME, ST. XAVIER

Eve Ensler, author of the offensive play The Vagina Monologues, was an invited lecturer at the University of Notre Dame on Wednesday and Saint Xavier University on Monday. Ensler is a public advocate of abortion rights, including speaking at the "March for Women's Lives" sponsored by NARAL and Planned Parenthood.

The Notre Dame event was originally promoted as a fundraiser for the YWCA of St. Joseph County and Sexual Offense Services of South Bend, but pro-life students launched an e-mail protest noting that both organizations have ties to abortion. YWCA's CEO Prema Mathai-Davis has said that the organization "stands firm in [its] belief that every women has the right to choose among all legal options available for her reproductive health." Sexual Offense Services of South Bend provides information on abortifacients to pregnant victims of rape and domestic violence. Following protests, the sponsoring Departments of English and Film, Television and Theatre and program in Gender Studies--the same faculty who sponsored The Vagina Monologues at Notre Dame--decided against using the event for fundraising.

On Monday, Ensler was featured at a reception and book-signing at St. Xavier University. The event was announced by the university on its website events calendar.

CONTACT: Rev. Edward A. Malloy, C.S.C., President, University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, IN 46556; Phone: (574) 631-3903; Fax: (574) 631-7428; malloy.5@nd.edu

CONTACT: Dr. Judith Dwyer, President, Saint Xavier University, Warde Academic Center, Rm A225, 3700 West 103rd St., Chicago, IL 60655; (773) 298-3309; Fax (773) 779-4763; jadwyer@sxu.edu

JOHN CARROLL REFERS STUDENTS TO PRO-ABORTION CENTER

In its newly revised "Community Standards Manual," John Carroll University refers students to a publicly pro-abortion counseling service. The manual recommends either the University Counseling Center or the Cleveland Rape Crisis Center to students who may have suffered a sexual offense. But last year Cardinal Newman Society disclosed the latter Center's membership in the Freedom of Choice Cleveland Coalition, which advocates abortion rights. The Cleveland Rape Crisis Center was the originally designated recipient of funds raised from last year's performance of The Vagina Monologues, but protests convinced university officials to redirect the funds to another charity. Apparently the Center was not worthy of funding, but it is entrusted with counseling John Carroll's students who may be pregnant as a result of rape or incest.

CONTACT: Rev. Edward Glynn, S.J., President, John Carroll University, 20700 N. Park Blvd., University Heights, OH 44118; Phone: (216) 397-4281; Fax: (216) 397-3089; eglynn@jcu.edu

RADICAL DAVIS HOSTED BY ST. LOUIS, ST. JOHN'S UNIVS.

Celebrations of African Heritage Month at St. Louis University and both the Queens and Staten Island campuses of St. John's University in New York feature Angela Davis. Davis is known for her radical activism and association with the Black Panthers. In her 1981 book Women, Race and Class, Davis criticizes the racist nature of the early birth control
movement, which targeted minorities for birth control and abortion, but she endorses the "right" to abortion nevertheless.

At St. Louis University on Sunday, February 20, Davis will join actor Danny Glover for the St. Louis American Black History Keynote Address, sponsored by the University's Black Student Alliance and United for Peace and Justice club.

At St. John's University on February 9, Davis lectured at the Staten Island campus on African heritage and later addressed a Dr. Martin Luther King Commemorative Dinner on the Queens campus. Sponsors of the events included Campus Ministry, the Office of the Executive Vice President, the Office of the Vice President for Student Affairs, the Office of Residence Life, the Office of Student Development, and student clubs.

CONTACT: Rev. Lawrence Biondi, S.J., President, Saint Louis University, 221 North Grand Blvd., St. Louis, MO 63103; Phone: (314) 977-7777; Fax: (314) 977-7105; biondi@slu.edu

CONTACT: Rev. Donald J. Harrington, C.M., President, St. John's University, Newman Hall, Room 318, Jamaica , NY 11439; (718) 990-6301; pres@stjohns.edu

MEDICAL STUDENTS PRESSURE NY COLLEGE ON GAY CLUB

The American Medical Student Association, which represents 50,000 medical students nationwide, has asked the accreditor for medical schools to require New York Medical College to officially support a homosexual student club. A New Jersey homosexual organization has gone further, seeking to have the College's accreditation revoked. The College, which is affiliated with the Archdiocese of New York, recently disbanded the
student club because it was deemed inconsistent with the College's "Catholic tradition."

JESUIT THEOLOGIAN BANNED FROM TEACHING

The Vatican's Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith concluded a five-year investigation into the work of American theologian Rev. Roger Haight, S.J., with a finding of "serious doctrinal errors" and a formal ban on teaching Catholic theology. Haight has been barred from teaching at the Weston Jesuit School of Theology since 2000 because of concerns arising from his 1999 book, Jesus Symbol of God. The Vatican found Haight downplayed or denied teachings including Jesus' divinity, the existence of three separate persons in the Trinity, and salvation through Jesus alone.

As a sign of how corrupt some corners of the Church have become, Jesus Symbol of God was honored in 2000 by the Catholic Press Association as the year's best book on theology. The Jesuits' America Press offered the book as a selection of its Catholic Book Club.

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