Cosmos-Liturgy-Sex

In the news lately, has been the resurgence of speakers who variously advocate for the culture of death speaking at Catholic universities. Thomas, our American Papist, gives a rundown on an ongoing issue with Creighton University’s invitation of Ann Lamott; LifeSiteNews gives an update.

Apparently, the US Bishop’s Catholic University of America, one of my alma maters, has, after initial refusal, decided to allow John Kerry to speak at CUA. John Kerry says that he opposes abortion as an article of his Catholic faith but he does not think that he can “impose” his articles of faith on the rest of society. Thus, he gained a 100% pro-abortion rating from NARAL Pro-choice America.

LifeSite reports the justification for allowing someone with Kerry’s record, given by the CUA student leader who invited the former presidential candidate:

Mark Arnone, chairman of the College Democrats who invited Kerry to speak at CUA, defended the decision saying Kerry “expresses remarkable dedication to the doctrine and principles of Catholic social teaching established in Pope Leo XIII’s 1891 encyclical ‘Rerum Novarum’” Arnone cited Kerry advocacy “for affordable and accessible health care…minimum wage reform” and the environment. John Paul II and Pope Benedict have strongly emphasized that the life issues are of much higher priority than these other issues.

The sloppy thinking of both Kerry, Arnone, and apparently those at CUA who allowed Kerry to come, is quite evident. Kerry’s claim that abortion is murder is dogmatically certain as he suggests. However, what he fails to admit is that it is also a certainty which can be achieved through reason alone–we call this natural law. It is likewise dogmatically certain that putting innocent people to death in Nazi Germany is morally reprehensible. By Kerry’s logic, since it was legal in Nazi Germany, if he had been a German politician at the time he would have been obligated to support the “Final Solution” else he would have been guilty of “imposing” his religious faith on the rest of Germany.

One can see the fallacy of Arnone’s argument in a similar way. While it is far from given that Kerry “expresses a remarkable dedication” to Catholic social teaching, for the sake of argument let’s grant this. One still must ask what this has to do with the price of tea in China. The issue is that Kerry has unwaveringly voted for legislation which promotes the killing of the innocent unborn. Arnone’s argument is akin to defending Adolf Hitler by pointing out his remarkably effective programs which brought Germany out of a long economic depression into industrial and economic flourishing. Neither Kerry’s arguable and coincidental support of policies that accord with Rerum novarum nor Hitler’s leadership acumen excuse the formal participation, of either of them, in homicide.

LifeSite reports on a recent statement by Archbishop Burke as to the need for bishops to make it clear that personalities of Kerry’s ilk need to be publicly dealt with:

To remain silent is to permit serious confusion regarding a fundamental truth of the moral law. Confusion, of course, is one of the most insidious fruits of scandalous behavior

This situation fits this concern exactly. I do not know if Fr. David O’Connell, CUA’s president, or Archbishop Wuerl, the chancelor of CUA, will intervene but they should. It is clear that a Catholic university that represents all US Catholic bishops has the duty to uphold Catholic teaching and to avoid any actions that would scandalize the faithful. The average Catholic in the US is already confused as to the legitimacy of ignoring the Church’s teaching on abortion and events such as this do nothing to ameliorate this confusion. Unfortunately, experience has shown that if either the CUA President of Chancellor try to cancel the invitation, they will face a major revolt by the University faculty as happened in 2004 when O’Connell barred actor and abortion activist Stanley Tucci from speaking on campus. I suspect that unless the outside public pressure is sufficiently strong that Kerry will be allowed to speak.