After striving in vain to contact Seton Hill University president Dr. JoAnne Boyle, Bishop Lawrence Brandt of the Diocese of Greensburg reprimanded the University for hosting Obama supporter Douglas Kmiec on campus Wednesday, October 22. The Cardinal Newman Society (CNS) commended Bishop Brandt for his strong words in defense of Catholic teaching and the Catholic identity of Seton Hill.

“On behalf of more than 20,000 individuals and organizations committed to the renewal of Catholic higher education, we applaud Bishop Brandt’s unequivocal defense of Catholic teaching,” said Patrick Reilly, CNS president. “Catholic colleges and universities must follow the guidance of the bishops when it comes to living out their Catholic identity.”

Douglas Kmiec has repeatedly argued that Catholics can in good conscience vote for Barack Obama, who promised that his first act as president of the United States would be to sign the Freedom of Choice Act into law. Even though Obama opposes every effort to overturn Roe v. Wade, Kmiec makes the case that Obama’s presidential policies would be better for Catholics because he thinks they will reduce the total number of abortions.

In a statement Bishop Brandt said that Douglas Kmiec “distorts Catholic teaching by making it synonymous with his own personal views.”

“There is no ‘other’ Catholic position except the one which appears in authentic Church documents,” the Bishop continued. “His misrepresentations of Catholic doctrine do a grave disservice to the Catholic community and far beyond.”

Kmiec’s speech was protested by a large group of pro-Life Catholics, who said "We asked that the speaker be called off because his rhetoric is against Catholic Church teaching."

When pro-Life protesters of the speech appealed to the University on the grounds that Kmiec’s “rhetoric is against Catholic Church teaching,” Seton Hill University officials reportedly defended the campus appearance.

Student organizations "may host political candidates or their representatives" as long as certain rules are followed, said the officials.

“I seriously question the good judgment of the University administration in allowing him [Kmiec] a platform on campus,” Bishop Brandt said. “Is it any wonder then that not only the demonstrators at the event, but many others as well, consider his presentation an offensive trivialization of the institution's declared Catholic identity!”

Bishop Brandt supported his statements, referencing the USCCB’s 2004 “Catholics in Political Life,” a document frequently cited by The Cardinal Newman Society, which says that “the Catholic community and Catholic institutions should not honor those who act in defiance of our fundamental moral principles. They should not be given awards, honors or platforms which would suggest support for their actions.”