| Cardinal Newman S | |
|
| |
| Renewing Catholic Higher Education | October 29, 2010 |
| d The "poster boy" for dissent on Catholic college campuses—Father Charles Curran—has emerged from his exile to launch a pre-election assault against the Catholic Church's PRO-LIFE efforts . Fr. Charles Curran Publicly denounced Humanae Vitae and questions the Church's teachings on premarital sex, masturbation, contraception, abortion, homosexual acts, divorce, euthanasia, and in vitro fertilization and notice he does not wear his ecclesiastical garb, i.e. the Roman Collar, which is mandatory for all priests. Curran provoked a public response from Dallas Bishop Kevin Farrell, who said that "on the taking of innocent human life there is no room for ambiguity." And Curran's speech directly contradicted the Vatican's Cardinal-designate Raymond Burke, who said in an interview also released yesterday: "You can never vote for someone who favors absolutely the right to choice of a woman to destroy a human life in her womb or the right to a procured abortion." His speech was praised today by Jesuit Father Thomas Reese as representing "the mainstream of current thought by Catholic moral theologians." Father Reese, a senior fellow at Georgetown University's Woodstock Theological Center, is a leading source for media reporters seeking a "liberal" Catholic voice. Curran is joined by other Catholic college theologians who, in what may be a coordinated effort, are trying to influence the Catholic vote. The Jesuits' America magazine recently published a Notre Dame theologian's essay defending Catholics who vote for pro-abortion candidates—with supporting essays by theologians at Boston College the University of Santa Clara. No surprise: two of the theologians were members of Barack Obama's "National Catholic Advisory Committee" during the 2008 election. The Cardinal Newman Society needs your financial help to stop this! We have repeatedly warned about the serious damage to students' faith and to the Church that has been caused by Catholic college theologians—like ex-priest Daniel Maguire at Marquette University, and Father Richard McBrien at the University of Notre Dame. Maguire has been publicly censured by the U.S. bishops' doctrinal committee for "irresponsible" teaching that is in "serious error." For many years he led a pro-abortion nonprofit that attacked the Vatican on abortion, birth control, gay marriage and more—all the while earning his paycheck from a Catholic university! More recently, an influential group of 25 leading "theologians"—11 of them citing Catholic college credentials—lobbied Congress to reject pro-life concerns about Obamacare. Now comes along the hero of dissenting Catholic theologians! Father Charles Curran was ousted from the theology department at The Catholic University of America by Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger—now Pope Benedict XVI—when he publicly dissented on birth control, homosexuality and marriage. That's precisely the sort of action we need to protect society and young Catholic students from a Catholic theologian who yesterday:
Now thanks to the Holy Father, Father Curran is no longer teaching at The Catholic University of America—and the bishops' university has improve tremendously over the past decade to become one of the most faithful Catholic institutions! The renewal of Catholic higher education is possible—and that has been the important work of The Cardinal Newman Society for 17 years. But dissident theologians remain employed by many of our leading Catholic universities, and this problem can only be solved by a concerted effort to expose and root out dissent and scandal. Because Curran, Maguire and others demonstrate how powerful they can be, perched in the theology departments of leading Catholic universities. The dissent in Catholic higher education has played a significant role in the confusion and infidelity among Catholics since Vatican II. On the "right" to abortion… On the "right" to homosexual "marriage"… On the "right" to ignore Vatican teaching. And Catholic students are buying it! According to researchers at Georgetown University, 31 percent of students at Catholic colleges become more pro-abortion by graduation, and 39 percent become more supportive of same-sex "marriage. Shouldn't they become more Catholic? And nearly one in eight Catholic students at Catholic colleges leave the Church! The impact of dissent on Catholic campuses is clear, and we need your help to expand our efforts to put a stop to this scandal! Please support The Cardinal Newman Society's work with an immediate gift by clicking HERE. Because the assault on the Vatican, on the Catholic vote, and on Catholic families will continue if we don't stand up against it. The mid-term elections are important, which is why the dissidents are showing their true colors. But the renewal of Catholic education is essential. We cannot win back authentic Catholic identity, let alone win hearts and minds to God, if the Catholic Church is undermined by our own educators. That's why The Cardinal Newman Society—together with 367,000 signers to our petition—so vocally opposed Notre Dame's commencement honor to President Obama last year. And it's why we continue to work against campus scandals like the obscene play The Vagina Monologues and honors to pro-abortion politicians. Please join us in this effort to reclaim our Catholic identity! P.S. Regardless of the election results, pro-life Catholics face serious challenges over the next two years—and Catholic dissidents will continue to undermine the Church. Now is the time to press Catholic college leaders to clean up their theology departments. Please help us with an immediate contribution today! | |
| b |
