Saint John Paul II: His Legacy of Renewal in Faithful Catholic Education

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Throughout his pontificate (1978-2005), Pope John Paul II was a champion of fidelity and authentic Catholic identity in education. Within his first six months, he signaled his intention to rein in dissent with Sapientia Christiana, the apostolic constitution defining discipline for ecclesiastical universities and faculties. He later approved the 1983 Code of Canon Law, which for the first time in Church history included canons specifically governing Catholic colleges, including the mandatum for theologians.

With Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger at the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Saint John Paul II squelched the “liberation theology” movement and silenced several dissident theologians. In 1986, the Vatican forbade dissident Rev. Charles Curran from teaching theology at The Catholic University of America—and the next year, the Holy Father visited Catholic University to deliver an address urging fidelity and reform throughout Catholic education.

His Congregation for Catholic Education issued important guidance in “The Religious Dimension of Education in a Catholic School” (1988) and “The Catholic School on the Threshold of the Third Millennium” (1997). Pope John Paul II gave us the Catechism of the Catholic Church, with great influence over Catholic education and school textbooks. And in 1990, he issued Ex corde Ecclesiae, requiring every Catholic college to demonstrate an “institutional commitment” to the faith, regardless of lay or Church ownership.

With two key encyclicals—Veritatis Splendor (1993) and Fides et Ratio (1998)—Pope John Paul II restored appreciation for what lies at the heart of Catholic education: the absolute compatibility and unity of faith and reason. The first encyclical included a strong message to Catholic educators:

A particular responsibility is incumbent upon Bishops with regard to Catholic institutions. … It falls to them, in communion with the Holy See, both to grant the title “Catholic” to Church-related schools, universities, health-care facilities, and counseling services, and, in cases of a serious failure to live up to that title, to take it away.

Many of John Paul II’s teachings were met with strong resistance from those opposed to strengthening Catholic identity. But inspired by this saintly professor-pope, the Newman Society set out to promote and defend his vision for faithful education. Today, thanks to the Grace of God, the prayers and support of our dedicated members, and a new generation of faithful educators, there is a much needed renewal of Catholic education underway.

Georgetown University

‘Christian’ Abortionist Lectures at Georgetown

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Last Wednesday—as pro-lifers from around the country began pouring into Washington, D.C., for the annual March for Life, including thousands of Catholic high school students and college students—Georgetown University hosted a lecture by abortionist Willie Parker.

According to College Fix, the event was co-sponsored by H*yas for Choice, a pro-abortion student club that Georgetown does not officially recognize but nevertheless gives almost free rein on campus. It was also sponsored by the University’s officially recognized Lecture Fund and College Democrats.

Parker is an active abortionist, killing innocent babies in Alabama, Georgia, Illinois, Mississippi, and Pennsylvania. He is also an outspoken activist for abortion rights—the apparent reason for his lecture—as chairman of Physicians for Reproductive Health and the author of Life’s Work: A Moral Argument for Choice. He received NARAL’s Champions of Choice award and Planned Parenthood’s Margaret Sanger Award.

At Georgetown, Parker reportedly cited Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr., and Jesus Christ’s parable of the Good Samaritan to explain to students how he discovered “a moral and ethical obligation to provide abortion care.”

“I broke through the cocoon of religious custom that held me bound,” he boasted.

Moreover, Parker reportedly defended even the most gruesome methods of abortion, declaring, “No procedure should be politicized and prohibited to the peril and detriment of someone for whom that procedure might be vital to have.”

College Fix spoke to a leader of H*yas for Choice, who justified Parker’s lecture as a counterbalance to the annual Cardinal O’Connor Conference on Life, a pro-life student event at Georgetown that occurs around the March for Life. The O’Connor Conference is certainly a credit to Georgetown, but it hardly outweighs the many documented scandals, including blatant abortion advocacy.

Three years ago, Georgetown appalled faithful Catholics by hosting a lecture by Cecile Richards, then-president of Planned Parenthood. The Archdiocese of Washington publicly opposed the lecture.“What we lament and find sadly lacking in this choice by the student group is any reflection of what should be an environment of morality, ethics and human decency that one expects on a campus that asserts its Jesuit and Catholic history and identity,” the Archdiocese said in a statement.

The Archdiocese should be doubly concerned about an active abortionist—a man who not only worked as medical director for Planned Parenthood Metropolitan Washington, D.C., but who by his own hands destroys innocent babies in the womb and then is welcomed at the nation’s oldest Catholic university to preach to students about the “Christianity” of his practice.

This is blasphemy of the worst kind, to claim belief in Christ as a defense for abortion. It is certainly not Catholic education! Catholic families should recognize this and seek out colleges that faithfully and consistently uphold Catholic teaching and the dignity of human life.

This article was first published at The National Catholic Register.

Are Jesuits Proud of Their Pro-Abortion Alumni?

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As the 116th Congress began in January, the Association of Jesuit Colleges and Universities (AJCU) trumpeted the surprising fact that more than 10 percent of the U.S. Congress—55 of 535 members in the House and Senate—graduated from American Jesuit institutions.

But in their widely reported press release, the Jesuit educators also displayed a callous disregard for the moral formation of these graduates, most of whom actively work against the Church on today’s most important human rights issue: the right to life.

Upon reading news reports about the Jesuit alumni in Congress, my immediate question on Twitter (@NewmanSocPres) was almost reflexive: “Are they pro-life?”

I don’t really expect them to be, given the direction of Jesuit higher education and the many pro-abortion scandals on their campuses, including the recent lecture by an abortionist touting the Christian virtue of his practice at Georgetown University. But of what value is Catholic education if its graduates are not formed well in faith and morals, the most basic of which is respect for life? Could we at least expect that from highly secularized but officially Catholic colleges?

Moreover, it seems strange that even the most faithful Catholic news media didn’t evaluate the voting records of these alumni before touting the 10 percent-in-Congress statistic as—it probably seemed to most readers—good news for Catholics and a reason to attend Jesuit colleges.

It’s not good news! And it’s yet another piece of evidence that these colleges are having a detrimental impact on society instead of advancing Catholic thought and culture.

Pro-abortion voting records

I reviewed the voting records of the 55 Jesuit-educated senators and representatives using the pro-life scorecard published by National Right to Life (NRLC). If we combine NRLC scores for the 115th Congress (2017-2018) and the 114th Congress (2015-2016) for the 47 Jesuit college alumni who voted in one or both of those years, then we find that only eight of them voted pro-life 100 percent of the time. (God bless them!)

On the other hand, 36 of the alumni had NRLC scores of zero. That means that they voted 100 percent of the time against pro-life objectives.

Three others had mixed records:

Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska managed to get a 44 percent pro-life rating, largely because she voted to confirm Neil Gorsuch to the Supreme Court. But Murkowski voted against the Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act (prohibiting abortions before 20 weeks of gestation) and supported funding for Planned Parenthood.

Sen. Robert Casey of Pennsylvania scored just 18 percent. He supported the 20-week ban, but he repeatedly voted for Planned Parenthood funding.

Congressman Henry Cuellar of Texas had a mixed record of 43 percent. He claims to be pro-life but opposed efforts to reduce funding to Planned Parenthood.

Seven of the alumni are new to the House of Representatives and had no voting record in the last two Congressional sessions. But according to statements made during their campaigns, it appears that five strongly support legalized abortion and only two are pro-life:

Gil Cisneros (California): As a candidate, Cisneros strongly defended “women’s right to choose” and funding for Planned Parenthood.

Greg Pence (Indiana): The Catholic brother of Vice President Mike Pence ran for Congress on a pro-life platform.

Mikie Sherrill (New Jersey): Endorsed by the abortion lobby NARAL, Sherrill said she was “proud to stand with NARAL and the work they do to protect the rights of women.”

Xochitl Torres Small (New Mexico): The former Planned Parenthood employee supports funding for abortion and even opposes limits on late-term abortions.

Greg Stanton (Arizona): While mayor of Phoenix, Stanton urged Congress to fund Planned Parenthood and co-chaired a fundraiser for Planned Parenthood Advocates of Arizona.

Bryan Steil (Wisconsin): The pro-life candidate was endorsed by Wisconsin Right to Life.

Lori Trahan (Massachusetts): Candidate Trahan vowed to fight “bans on abortion, bans on private and public insurance coverage of abortion, and the frequent attempts to regulate abortion providers out of existence.”

These campaign positions were upheld last month, when the U.S. House voted to overturn President Trump’s ban on foreign aid to pro-abortion organizations. Only Pence and Steil voted against it, while the other five Jesuit college alumni who are new to Congress voted for it.

Delegate Stacey Plaskett, another of the Jesuit college alumni, is a nonvoting House member from the Virgin Islands and has no voting record. But last year, Plaskett made a commitment to NARAL to fight to keep abortion legal across the United States.

Not ashamed?

The final tally: only 10 of the 55 Jesuit college alumni are clearly pro-life, 42 are strongly pro-abortion, and three have mixed records that are unworthy of anyone who had a Catholic education.

If the Jesuits think that their 10 percent representation in Congress is so significant as to warrant public celebration, then why are they not ashamed that 82 percent of those alumni oppose the Church on such important issues as abortion and taxpayer funding for Planned Parenthood?

Or to put it another way: Why does secular prestige appear to be more important to the Jesuit colleges than the slaughter of innocent babies?

Below is the tally for the Jesuit college alumni, with details from the AJCU:

Sen. John Barrasso (WY) – NRLC rating 100
B.A. Georgetown U. (1974), M.D. Georgetown U. (1978)

Sen. Robert P. Casey, Jr. (PA) – NRLC rating 18
B.A. Coll. of the Holy Cross (1982)

Sen. Richard J. Durbin (IL) – NRLC rating 0
B.S.F.S. Georgetown U. (1966), J.D. Georgetown U. (1969)

Sen. Mazie Hirono (HI) – NRLC rating 0
J.D. Georgetown U. (1978)

Sen. Patrick J. Leahy (VT) – NRLC rating 0
J.D. Georgetown U. (1964)

Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto (NV) – NRLC rating 0
J.D. Gonzaga U. (1990)

Sen. Edward J. Markey (MA) – NRLC rating 0
B.A. Boston Coll. (1968), J.D. Boston Coll. (1972)

Sen. Robert Menendez (NJ) – NRLC rating 0
B.A. Saint Peter’s U. (1976)

Sen. Lisa Murkowski (AK) – NRLC rating 44
B.A. Georgetown U. (1980)

Sen. Gary Peters (MI) – NRLC rating 0
M.B.A. U. of Detroit Mercy (1984)

Sen. Dan Sullivan (AK) – NRLC rating 100
J.D.-M.S.F.S. Georgetown U. (1993)

Sen. Chris Van Hollen, Jr. (MD) – NRLC rating 0
J.D. Georgetown U. (1990)

Rep. Vern Buchanan (FL) – NRLC rating 100
M.B.A. U. of Detroit Mercy (1986)

Rep. David Cicilline (RI) – NRLC rating 0
J.D. Georgetown U. (1986)

Rep. Gil Cisneros (CA) – elected 2018
M.B.A. Regis U. (2002)

Rep. Henry Cuellar (TX) – NRLC rating 43
B.S.F.S. Georgetown U. (1978)

Rep. Rosa L. DeLauro (CT) – NRLC rating 0
B.A. Marymount Coll. (now part of Fordham U.) (1964)

Rep. Mark DeSaulnier (CA) – NRLC rating 0
B.A. Coll. of the Holy Cross (1974)

Rep. Debbie Dingell (MI) – NRLC rating 0
B.S.F.S. Georgetown U. (1975), M.A.L.S. Georgetown U. (1998)

Rep. Jeff Fortenberry (NE) – NRLC rating 100
M.P.P. Georgetown U. (1986)

Rep. Lois Frankel (FL) – NRLC rating 0
J.D. Georgetown U. (1973)

Rep. Mike Gallagher (WI) – NRLC rating 100
M.A. Georgetown U. (2012 & 2013), Ph.D. Georgetown U. (2015)

Rep. Paul Gosar (AZ) – NRLC rating 100
B.S. Creighton U. (1981), D.D.S. Creighton U. (1985)

Rep. Trey Hollingsworth (IN) – NRLC rating 100
M.P.P. Georgetown U. (2014)

Rep. Steny H. Hoyer (MD) – NRLC rating 0
J.D. Georgetown U. (1966)

Rep. Jared Huffman (CA) – NRLC rating 0
J.D. Boston Coll. (1990)

Rep. Pramila Jayapal (WA) – NRLC rating 0
B.A. Georgetown U. (1986)

Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (NY) – NRLC rating 0
M.P.P. Georgetown U. (1994)

Rep. William Keating (MA) – NRLC rating 0
B.A. Boston Coll. (1974), M.B.A. Boston Coll. (1982)

Rep. Ann McLane Kuster (NH) – NRLC rating 0
J.D. Georgetown U. (1984)

Rep. Ted Lieu (CA) – NRLC rating 0
J.D. Georgetown U. (1994)

Rep. Zoe Lofgren (CA) – NRLC rating 0
J.D. Santa Clara U. (1975)

Rep. Stephen Lynch (MA) – NRLC rating 0
J.D. Boston Coll. (1991)

Rep. Gwen Moore (WI) – NRLC rating 0
B.A. Marquette U. (1978)

Rep. Stephanie Murphy (FL) – NRLC rating 0
M.S.F.S. Georgetown U. (2004)

Rep. Jerrold Nadler (NY) – NRLC rating 0
J.D. Fordham U. (1978)

Rep. Jimmy Panetta (CA) – NRLC rating 0
J.D. Santa Clara U. (1996)

Rep. William J. Pascrell, Jr. (NJ) – NRLC rating 0
B.A. Fordham U. (1959), M.A. Fordham U. (1961)

Rep. Greg Pence (IN) – elected 2018
B.A. Loyola U. Chicago (1979), M.B.A. Loyola U. Chicago (1983)

Delegate Stacey Plaskett (VI) – nonvoting member
B.S.F.S. Georgetown U. (1988)

Rep. Michael Quigley (IL) – NRLC rating 0
J.D. Loyola U. Chicago (1989)

Rep. Francis Rooney (FL) – NRLC rating 100
B.A. Georgetown U. (1975) , J.D. Georgetown U. (1978)

Rep. Robert C. Scott (VA) – NRLC rating 0
J.D. Boston Coll. (1973)

Rep. Mikie Sherrill (NJ) – elected 2018
J.D. Georgetown U. (2007)

Rep. Albio Sires (NJ) – NRLC rating 0
B.A. Saint Peter’s U. (1974)

Rep. Xochitl Torres Small (NM) – elected 2018
B.A. Georgetown U. (2007)

Rep. Adam Smith (WA) – NRLC rating 0
B.A. Fordham U. (1987)

Rep. Greg Stanton (AZ) – elected 2018
B.A. Marquette U. (1992)

Rep. Bryan Steil (WI) – elected 2018
B.S. Georgetown U. (2003)

Rep. Tom Suozzi (NY) – NRLC rating 0
B.S. Boston Coll. (1984), J.D. Fordham U. (1989)

Rep. Lori Trahan (MA) – elected 2018
B.A. Georgetown U. (1995)

Rep. Juan C. Vargas (CA) – NRLC rating 0
M.A. Fordham U. (1987)

Rep. Filemon Vela (TX) – NRLC rating 0
B.A. Georgetown U. (1985)

Rep. Peter J. Visclosky (IN) – NRLC rating 0
L.L.M. Georgetown U. (1982)

Rep. Peter Welch (VT) – NRLC rating 0
A.B. Coll. of the Holy Cross (1969)

This article was first published at the National Catholic Register.

Dating 101 at a Catholic College

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Many young Catholics find more than truth on campus—they may just find a future spouse! Faithful Catholic colleges are uniquely positioned to promote healthy and holy relationships between men and women, while teaching the fullness of truth about marriage and sexuality.

Through courses like Theology of the Body, campus speakers who discuss Catholic marriage and family, and respectful policies like single-sex dorms, many Catholic colleges take seriously their mission of Christian formation. Graduates of these colleges are bright lights in a culture that often distorts the true meaning of relationships.

It’s no secret that courtship on college campuses has been replaced by a rampant hook-up culture. But Jason Evert, a graduate of Franciscan University of Steubenville, Ohio, encourages students to “Keep it chaste both emotionally and physically. In other words, if you’re single, don’t pretend like you’re dating. If you’re dating, don’t behave like you’re married.”

Evert, who is a popular speaker on chastity, also suggests that young adults work on perfecting themselves rather than finding the “perfect person.” He encourages them to take an inventory of their interior lives and “root out all the things that would be toxic to a future marriage, such as porn, alcoholism, self-absorption, anger, etc.”

Cecilia Pigg—a graduate of Benedictine College in Atchison, Kan., another faithful Catholic college recommended in The Newman Guide—thinks that students need to be reminded to actually “ask people out on dates.” “If you are asked out by someone, say yes,” she says. “It’s just a date. Dates are opportunities for growth.”

Her only caveat is that she suggests freshmen avoid dating someone exclusively. “If you are both still interested sophomore year, go for it. But most people change a lot freshman year, and it is better to be single and navigate life and yourself without the added pressure of a relationship,” Pigg explains.

While a student at Benedictine, Pigg discerned her vocation to marriage during spiritual direction, and she met her husband Ryan on campus. Now she serves as the editor of CatholicMatch.com.

Another couple credits their faithful Catholic education with influencing their marriage for the better. Andrew and Michelle Ouellette recall that Northeast Catholic College in Warner, N.H., provided them with “wonderful teachers and thought-provoking texts, particularly senior year Theology,” which gave them “solid reasons for living a truly Catholic marriage.” They also have the “memories of the ups and downs, struggles and triumphs, amusing and tragic experiences we shared as classmates and friends” as a basis for their relationship.

A graduate from The Thomas More College of Liberal Arts in Merrimack, N.H, says that prayer and study helped him discern his vocation.

“If it were not for the demanding education at Thomas More College, I would not have been able to see that I had so great a need to practice the self-discipline and sacrifice necessary for loving one’s spouse. It was in Rome where I discovered that God was not calling me to the priesthood, and it took almost a year of reading St. Benedict’s Rule (a text I was introduced to through Thomas More College’s curriculum) for me to learn that I was not to be a monk either. Shortly after this decision my wife and I began courting,” he explained.

For students up for a challenge to make the most of dating while in college, he suggests: “wake up before the sun, never trust yourself, put all your trust in God, and pray Thomas More’s Psalm of Detachment every day.”

On Saint Valentine’s Day, young people are presented many images of romance that can be selfish and even self-destructive. May all young Catholics learn that true love consists in respect, self-sacrifice, and joy in doing God’s will, and never settle for anything less.

Gonzaga University

While Vatican Meets, Catholic Colleges Celebrate Sexual Abuse

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Even while the Vatican meets to address sexual abuse by Catholic priests, students at U.S. Catholic colleges will stage theatrical performances that glorify—with explicitly religious language—an adult’s creepy and manipulative seduction of a 16-year-old.

It’s an outrage, especially given the similarity of the play to the abuse of young boys and men, and in some cases girls, by many Catholic priests. Yet Catholic colleges have repeated this celebration of sexual abuse and perversion for 20 years.

Will any Catholic college leader apologize for The Vagina Monologues? Every year, just as the Church approaches the holy season of Lent, Catholic college students—and the faculty departments and college leaders who enable their performances—continue to perform this play and dance on the broken souls of sexual abuse victims.

I am proud that The Cardinal Newman Society has led the fight against The Vagina Monologues on Catholic campuses. Shame on those who have allowed and even defended it!

Every spring, usually around Saint Valentine’s Day, colleges nationwide host the Monologues, a vile play in which a character reminisces happily about her own sexual abuse while a troubled 16-year-old. She recalls how a 24-year-old woman plied her with alcohol then had sexual relations with her. But instead of condemning the act, the victim declares the rape her “salvation” that “raised her into a kind of heaven”—a claim that glorifies homosexual predation.

This resembles many of the crimes involving Catholic priests. And we know from victims’ testimony the severe harm and anguish—not heavenly bliss!—that is caused by such abuse.

Moreover, the age of consent for sexual activity is 17 or 18 in 20 states, which means The Vagina Monologues promotes statutory rape. The play originally had the girl at 13 years old, stating defiantly, “If it was a rape, it was a good rape.” The playwright, Eve Ensler, later dropped the line admitting rape and changed the character’s age to 16 to match the legal age of consent for sexual activity in many states. Still, the play clearly describes a rape.

At Least Eight Colleges This Year

Performances of the Monologues at Catholic colleges began in 1999 and peaked at 32 campuses in 2003, according to the Newman Society’s annual tally. Thankfully, the number has declined as the novelty of the play for students has diminished and Catholic leaders have condemned the play.

One of the most forceful critiques was published in 2008 by former Bishop John D’Arcy of Fort Wayne-South Bend, who opposed performances at the University of Notre Dame:

While claiming to deplore violence against women, the play at the same time violates the standards of decency and morality that safeguard a woman’s dignity and protect her, body and soul, from sexual predators… The play depicts, exalts and endorses female masturbation, which is a sin. It depicts, exalts, and endorses a sexual relationship between an adult woman and a child, a minor, which is a sin and also a crime. It depicts and exalts the most base form of sexual relationship between a man and a woman. These illicit sexual actions are portrayed as paths to healing, and the implication is that the historic, positive understanding of heterosexual marriage as the norm is what we must recover from.

But still today—even amid the worsening crisis of clergy abuse and cover-up, implicating even the most prominent bishops—some Catholic colleges persist in the scandal of hosting and even sponsoring The Vagina Monologues. Two colleges will brazenly host the play at the same time that the Vatican holds its conference on sex abuse from Feb. 21-Feb. 24.

The Newman Society has confirmed performances on eight Catholic campuses, with others likely. Confirmed performances include:

  • Boston College (Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts): The Vagina Monologues is on the public events calendar of the Jesuit College’s Robsham Theater Arts Center for Valentine’s Day, with repeat performances on Friday and Saturday, Feb. 15 and 16.
  • College of the Holy Cross (Worcester, Massachusetts): According to the Facebook page of the Feminist Forum, a Monologues performance is scheduled on the Jesuit college campus on Wednesday, Feb. 13.
  • DePaul University (Chicago, Illinois): The Vincentian university hosted its 20th annual production of the Monologues with four on-campus performances between Feb. 7 and Feb. 10.
  • Gonzaga University (Spokane, Washington): The Jesuit university’s performance of the Monologues—open to the public for the first time—is scheduled for Valentine’s Day. It is sponsored by the Theatre and Dance Department.
  • Holy Names University (Oakland, California): By email to the Newman Society, the organizer of several “information sessions” about The Vagina Monologues confirmed that a public performance is scheduled on Thursday, Feb. 21, at the College’s Valley Center for Performing Arts. The College is affiliated with the Sisters of the Holy Names of Jesus.
  • Loyola University Maryland (Baltimore, Maryland): Sponsored by the Gender and Sexuality Studies Department, the Monologues will be performed on the Jesuit university’s campus on Valentine’s Day and Friday, Feb. 15.
  • Regis College (Weston, Mass.): The College sponsored by the Sisters of St. Joseph will host the Monologues on campus on Friday, Feb. 22, and Saturday, Feb. 23.
  • Xavier University (Cincinnati, Ohio): The Monologues will be performed on Saturday, March 2—the last weekend before Lent begins—at the Jesuit university. It will be sponsored by the Theatre Department.

In addition, according to a student Facebook page, auditions for the Monologues were held at the Jesuit Loyola University of Chicago on Feb. 6 and 7. No performance date was announced.

On its website, V-Day also claims that performances are scheduled at three other Catholic colleges which could not be verified. In an email to the Newman Society on Monday, a Merrimack College spokesman said that he is unaware of any plans for a performance, despite campus performances in prior years and a V-Day announcement indicating that proceeds will be donated to Planned Parenthood Boston.

Gonzaga Doubles Down

Perhaps the most astonishing of this year’s performances of The Vagina Monologues is that at Gonzaga University.

In 2002, when most Catholics first became aware of the sexual abuse cover-ups in the Archdiocese of Boston and elsewhere, Gonzaga’s Jesuit president rightly banned the play from campus. Father Robert Spitzer, S.J., was especially offended by the play’s celebration of rape. He said that the play is opposed to the “Catholic and Christian view of marriage.”

That ban was reversed in 2011 by Father Spitzer’s successor, Thayne McCulloh, who remains president of Gonzaga today. The 2011 performance was sponsored by the English Department, Honors Program, Institute for Hate Studies, Sociology Department, and Women and Gender Studies Program.

But the Monologues did not return to Gonzaga until this year—of all years, given the new revelations of sex abuse and cover-up. Moreover, this will be the very first time that Gonzaga invites the public to share in its celebration of sexual abuse and perversity, with the official sponsorship of the university’s Theatre and Dance Department.

“The Vagina Monologues are powerful for the voices they give to so many people who are usually silenced by society,” Leslie Stamoolis, assistant professor of theater and dance and director of the play, told The Gonzaga Bulletin. “And telling those stories, in those voices, gives power to the narratives — it reminds us all that these stories matter, and in fact every woman’s story matters.”

Except, apparently, for the agonizing testimony of those women and men who have been victimized by sexual abuse—whose hellish ordeal is declared by Gonzaga to be their “salvation.” The crimes of some priests and the failure of bishops to disclose the crimes is appalling. But when Catholic students parade sexual perversion and abuse onstage in the midst of this crisis, the crimes are compounded. And the complicity of academic leaders and their blindness to the harm perpetuated by The Vagina Monologues is indefensible.

This article was first published at the National Catholic Register.

Excited School Children in Uniform with Hands Up

Yes, Let’s ‘Expose’ Catholic Schools

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Faithful Catholic education is under attack. And since we just celebrated Catholic Schools Week, it’s a great time to launch a counter-offensive that goes beyond clichéd cheerleading for lukewarm schools.

Consider what has occurred over just the last few weeks: First, leftist activists pilloried Second Lady Karen Pence for volunteering at an evangelical Christian school—one that upholds the same standards for teachers that Catholic schools should embrace, when they are courageous enough to insist on the moral formation of their students and the consistent witness of every teacher.

Among the critics was a professor who taught 10 years at the Catholic Dominican University in Illinois. He used the controversy to target not only Pence’s school but all religious schools and colleges with moral standards for employees, calling them “anti-American.” He argued that “no one, anywhere, ever, should risk employment because of who they love or what consensual activities they choose to engage in with other adults.”

Except that such behavior is an example to kids. And if Catholic schools want to claim that teachers are “ministers of the faith” under law—as they should—then pervasive sin ought to be a disqualifier.

Then, as we all witnessed ad nauseum, the media piled on Nick Sandmann and his fellow pro-life students from Covington Catholic School, before realizing that a widely circulated video actually shows that the boys were the victims of an aggressive and hateful confrontation while waiting for their bus home to Kentucky. It’s not the error that was most offensive. It’s the vitriol with which the media quickly turned on pro-life Catholic kids. (Sure, the MAGA hats drew fire too, but I’m convinced that Catholic identity added fuel to the fire.)

To cap it all off, New York Times reporter Dan Levin jumped on the bandwagon and announced plans to write about the social media campaign #ExposeChristianSchools, which was launched as an attack on religious education. I suspect that the Times intended to accumulate allegations of discrimination—especially in the realm of sexuality and gender—but in fact Levin received a flood of very positive reports from Catholic and others defending and celebrating their schools.

Give Your Testimony

So what’s a good Catholic to do about the growing animus toward our faith and Catholic schools? The response to the New York Times project, which resulted in a biased article that could have been much worse had Christians not intervened, suggests a counter-measure. For Catholic Schools Week and throughout the year, let’s keep highlighting the best of the best Catholic education.

To be clear, I’m not particularly interested in the broad marketing messages for Catholic schools that have poured out this week. Although it’s encouraging that our dioceses increasingly promote Catholic identity and are not shy about the mission of Catholic education, nevertheless they are unable to distinguish lukewarm Catholic schools from those that inspire and excite faithful Catholic families.

What would truly be exciting—and what would truly stand up to the anti-Catholic bigots who look to tear down or at least water down Catholic education—is for Catholics to witness to the impact of those Catholic educators who are extraordinary. I mean they are not just great with kids, but they truly lead young people to sainthood.

I’m biased in this project, because for many years The Cardinal Newman Society has been devoted to publicly recognizing model Catholic schools and colleges by our Catholic Education Honor Roll and Newman Guide. This week and every week, my staff already works hard to make Catholic families aware of truly faithful Catholic education—and not just the brick-and-mortar institutions, but also the great blessing of homeschooling to many Catholic students.

But the most powerful testimonials are the personal stories from students, parents, alumni and teachers. Those we can’t produce on our own, but we’re eager to re-tell what others can share.

The truth is, despite the growing secularism that corrupts many Catholic institutions, there is also a renewal of faithful Catholic education that is underway in many homes, schools and dioceses. Instead of cowering before the critics and subversives who hate Catholic moral formation, parents and Catholic educators are taking up the front lines, standing firmly and confidently in the truth of our Catholic faith.

It’s stories of truly faithful Catholic education that others need to hear. Because given the scandals at even the highest levels of the Church, I’m not sure that many Catholics believe the good news when we report it.

Families Need Hope

Think about it: most Catholic adults today have never experienced faithful Catholic education as it should be. We’ve done a poor job of catechesis over the last few decades, and many of today’s adults experienced the post-Vatican II meltdown of schools and their presiding religious orders, followed by the rapid hiring of laypeople who didn’t belong in a Catholic classroom. The rapidly declining enrollment in Catholic schools—which still has not leveled off—means that an increasing portion of Catholics never had even a year or two of weak Catholic education. And of course there’s the shameful secularization of many Catholic colleges since the late 1960s.

We might be tempted to conclude that the era of Catholic education is over in the United States. However, a renewal of faithful Catholic education is key to the renewal of the Church and society—to increased vocations and holy priests, well-formed parents and citizens, doctrinal literacy and fidelity, appreciation for Catholic culture and liturgical beauty, and ability to reason with compassion and respect for the common good. Giving up hope for Catholic education is, in my view, giving up on our youth.

In a time when even celebrated priests and once-admired bishops have let us down, it’s all the more difficult to persuade families of the necessity of sainthood—and the value of forming young people for sainthood. But such formation is the vocation of Catholic parents.

By the Grace of God, there are today young people who have been blessed by truly faithful Catholic education. We need to hear from them… to learn from them.

So, if you can testify to the renewal of faithful Catholic education, please tell your story. Find an outlet: a local newspaper, a Catholic blog, a parish lecture, a letter to your niece. Use the hashtag #FaithfulCatholicEd to share your story on social media—it’s wonderful how many Americans have interrupted this anti-Christian campaign with beautiful stories of faithful religious education. Share your story with me at the Newman Society (president@cardinalnewmansociety.org), and it may help us make a stronger case.

Catholic families need good reason to return to Catholic education and reject hollow secular education. The testimony of those who have been blessed by faithful education is key to bringing them back.

But marketing lukewarm schools and scandalous colleges with state-of-the-art facilities and exorbitant tuitions just won’t cut it.

This article was originally published on January 31, 2019 at the National Catholic Register.

Catholic High Schoolers Give Extraordinary Witness at March for Life

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Some of the nation’s best Catholic high schools will be displaying their strong Catholic faith by joining the March for Life in Washington, D.C., this Friday.

These are schools recognized by The Cardinal Newman Society and our Catholic Education Honor Roll. They agree to uphold key principles of Catholic identity, and participation in the March for Life is an excellent way of witnessing to human dignity and teaching a Christian worldview.

Many of the school groups are traveling significant distances to make it to this year’s March, including The Atonement Academy in San Antonio, Texas; Everest Collegiate High School and Academy in Clarkston, Michigan; Bishop Thomas K. Gorman High School in Tyler, Texas; John Paul the Great Academy in Lafayette, Louisiana; The Lyceum in South Euclid, Ohio; St. Francis Xavier High School in Appleton, Wisconsin; St. James Academy in Lenexa, Kans.; St. Joseph High School in South Bend, Indiana and West Catholic High School in Grand Rapids, Michigan

These schools make the most of their time in D.C. St. Francis Xavier, for instance, has an impressive agenda! Students will attend the pro-life youth rally and Mass before the March, visit and celebrate Mass at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception, visit the Holocaust Museum (a great pro-life activity), celebrate Mass at St. Matthew’s Cathedral, visit the St. John Paul II National Shrine, pray outside of a Planned Parenthood center, participate in Eucharistic adoration and confession, and share their experiences and impressions during small-group sessions and talks. On the way home, they will stop at Mundelein Seminary for Mass, a tour and breakfast sponsored by the Diocese of Green Bay Vocations Office.

Students in the Schola Cantorum at The Lyceum will sing Palestrina’s Missa Brevis during an Extraordinary Form Mass at St. Dominic’s Church in D.C. before the March. They too will visit the Holocaust Museum and President George Washington’s Mount Vernon.

In addition to several sites in D.C., John Paul the Great Academy makes its long journey from Louisiana a pilgrimage, stopping along the way at the Shrine of the Most Blessed Sacrament in Hanceville, Alabama; the Grotto of Our Lady of Lourdes at Mount St. Mary’s University in Emmitsburg, Maryland; and the St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Shrine in Emmitsburg.

Students from schools closer to Washington are able to participate more easily, and their numbers are impressive. More than 250 students from Paul VI Catholic High School in Fairfax, Virginia, will be marching this year, after attending the pro-life rally and Mass with Bishop Michael Burbidge of the Arlington Diocese that morning.

Bishop O’Connell High School in Arlington, Virginia, is closing its doors on Friday to allow a group of more than 150 students and chaperones to attend the March in person – and many more are with them in spirit. As part of their “March for Me Initiative,” students from the school’s Pro-Life Club visited parishes in the area and solicited names of parishioners unable to attend the March. The students carry the names with them and pray for their intentions while marching.Other schools may not make it to the March for Life in Washington, but that doesn’t stop them from attending other pro-life events around the country. Students from St. Anne Catholic School in Rock Hill, South Carolina, partnered with the parish youth group to attend last weekend’s March and Rally in Columbia, South Carolina. And in Spring, Texas, Frassati Catholic High School’s Culture of Life Club will sponsor a daylong pilgrimage to the Texas Rally for Life in Austin on Jan. 26.

Faithful Catholic schools play no small part in the renewal of our culture, especially when they bear witness to the dignity of all human life. The sacrifice and witness of these students and their families is an inspiration and blessing.

This article was first published at The National Catholic Register.

Statement Regarding Franciscan University of Steubenville and The Newman Guide

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Earlier this week, a report by Church Militant revealed that the chairman of the English department at Newman Guide-recommended Franciscan University of Steubenville (FUS) assigned a blasphemous and pornographic book in an upper-level class last spring. The University’s spokesman initially seemed to defend the choice as part of the University’s intellectual formation to prepare Catholic students for a secular world.

The Cardinal Newman Society and many others, including Franciscan University parents and alumni, expressed deep concern. We reached out directly to the University and have been communicating with the president, Father Sean Sheridan, TOR.

Yesterday Father Sheridan issued a strong apology and an affirmation of the University’s Catholic identity. He apologized for the University’s initial weak response and acknowledged that the assigned book is “so directly pornographic and blasphemous that it has no place on a Catholic university campus.” He promised action “to immediately review and revise our existing policy on academic freedom to prevent future use of scandalous materials,” and the Newman Society hopes to be able to share that new policy with other Catholic colleges to prevent similar scandals.

Although Father Sheridan insisted in his statement that the professor who assigned the book—then chairman of the University’s English Department—had no “malicious” intent and sought to prepare students “for challenging conversations” with non-Catholics, the professor was quickly replaced as department chair.

Franciscan University’s Catholic Identity

What to make of this? First, it is important to stipulate that an English reading assignment that viciously blasphemes the Mother of God and is explicitly pornographic—all with the apparent intent of leading readers away from God—is reprehensible, disgusting, and without academic merit. It is contrary to the mission of a Catholic college. Catholic families who send their children, at great expense, to Newman Guide colleges do so precisely because they are avoiding these types of problems.

Second, to defend assignment of the book on academic freedom grounds completely warps the true meaning and purpose of academic freedom. As Saint John Paul II explained, academic freedom protects teaching and research within the confines of a professor’s discipline and in conformity to truth, which is foundational to the college’s Catholic mission. (Here are some resources on the often misunderstood notion of academic freedom: LINK and LINK and LINK.)

Third, Father Sheridan’s apology was clear and strong, he promised policy changes that would prevent future scandals, and the University appears to have acted quickly in replacing the professor as chair of the English Department. In charity, we should accept the apology while watching to confirm that this indeed never happens again.

While disappointed and shaken by the scandal, we see very encouraging signs that Franciscan University continues to uphold its much-deserved reputation as a strongly faithful Catholic college. How many other Catholic college presidents would have condemned this error, apologized publicly, and promised to ensure that it will never happen again? What other colleges would have responded with a Holy Hour of Reparation to Mary, Mother of God, and a request that all faculty members—in all academic departments—profess the Oath of Fidelity during a forthcoming Mass? We have long said that no Newman Guide college is immune from error, but Franciscan University is one that retains our great admiration, not least because it has been a leader in the renewal of faithful Catholic education for more than four decades.

This scandal comes on the heels of a series of articles late last year that claimed that Franciscan University administrators were working, or at least hoping, to water down its faithful approach to Catholic higher education. The articles were deeply disconcerting, but they relied primarily on anonymous quotes and conjecture. We responded by reaching out to trusted professors and to University leadership. The professors did express some concern for Franciscan University’s future; they worried about the intent of actions to promote “diversity,” and they cited claims by other professors that Catholic teaching might be undermined. But none of them could or would provide conclusive evidence of any actual problem, on the record. None suggested that faithful Catholic families should avoid Franciscan University or that the Newman Society should remove it from the Newman Guide. On the contrary, they continued to value Franciscan University as a place where students would be strengthened in their faith from the classroom to the dorm room.

Moreover, Franciscan University has an army of faithful faculty members, students, parents, and alumni who are watchmen for the University’s Catholic mission. In that we have great hope! Deo gratias!

The Newman Guide

The fact is that every Catholic college today faces a strong pull from the culture, secular society, and even some Church leaders to compromise Catholic identity in order to be more “modern,” “diverse,” “welcoming,” or “pastoral.” Only those Catholic colleges that are intentional about remaining faithful to their Catholic mission—at all times and in all areas of campus life—will be able to avoid the temptation of compromise and hypocrisy and withstand society’s assault on morality and religious freedom.

Newman Guide colleges are not immune to this pressure to secularize, and they are neither perfect nor identical. To their credit, however, we find that when they discover things contrary or threatening to their mission, they fix it. The Newman Society quietly works with many of our recommended colleges each year to help make them aware of problems, which they diligently work to correct.

More than that, most of the Newman Guide colleges have begun to collaborate with each other through a series of working groups that we established. These help college leaders and staff support each other and learn from each other, developing best practices for maintaining and enhancing Catholic identity. This is good news for the Church and for Catholic families.

The Newman Guide has and continues today to proudly recommend Franciscan University of Steubenville to Catholic families. None of the Newman Guide colleges is right for every student; no college is. But we strongly believe that Catholic education is valuable and that Catholic families should give preference to our recommended colleges, including Franciscan University, for an authentic and faithful Catholic education. Collectively they are the best the Church has to offer today, and with the support and encouragement of faithful Catholic families, God willing they will continue to renew and improve faithful Catholic higher education.

Finally, it is important to note that our recommendations are not written in stone, and the college leaders know this well. Today, we are confident that the ten percent of Catholic colleges recommended in the Newman Guide are serious about upholding their Catholic mission—but if we find sufficient reason to doubt this, after careful review and documentation, we will remove them from the Newman Guide without hesitation. Ultimately the Newman Society’s first priority is to serve the needs of Catholic families and to uphold the authentic mission of Catholic education, wherever and however it may be provided to our precious young people, who deserve genuine Catholic formation.

John Henry Newman

With Second Miracle, Will Newman Be Canonized Soon?

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Deo gratias! The Vatican reportedly has recognized a second miracle through the intercession of Blessed John Henry Newman, paving the way to a possible canonization next year.

Newman—a champion of both fidelity and reason, both of which are sorely lacking in the Church today—could be the perfect saint for our times!

In his sermon, “The Infidelity of the Future,” delivered to seminarians preparing for the priesthood, Newman seemed almost to foresee the great damage that scandals among our priests would cause the faithful, especially in a secular society that is eager to destroy religious faith altogether.

As Newman told the seminarians:

I think that the trials which lie before us are such as would appall and make dizzy even such courageous hearts as St. Athanasius, St. Gregory I, or St. Gregory VII. And they would confess that, dark as the prospect of their own day was to them severally, ours has a darkness different in kind from any that has been before it.

His concern?

The special peril of the time before us is the spread of that plague of infidelity, that the Apostles and our Lord Himself have predicted as the worst calamity of the last times of the Church. …I do not mean to presume to say that this is the last time, but that it has had the evil prerogative of being like that more terrible season, when it is said that the elect themselves will be in danger of falling away.

Already in the 19th century, Newman saw the radical turn against religion by intellectuals and social leaders. He expressed concern that Catholics “shall become more and more objects of distrust to the nation at large,” and perhaps “we may suffer disadvantages which have not weighed upon the Catholic Church since the age of Constantine.”

A special danger to the Church would be the sins of its priests.

With a whole population able to read, with cheap newspapers day by day conveying the news of every court, great and small to every home or even cottage, it is plain that we are at the mercy of even one unworthy member or false brother. …There is an immense store of curiosity directed upon us in this country, and in great measure an unkind, a malicious curiosity. If there ever was a time when one priest will be a spectacle to men and angels it is in the age now opening upon us.

How appropriate to these dark days of scandal, cover-up and denial, reaching to the very highest ranks of our priests and bishops!

But if Blessed Newman only foresaw the problems ahead, he would not be so important a model and sage for our present day, without also leading us to reform and renewal. This he did, especially in his devotion to faithful Catholic education—a key means of evangelization in a highly secular age.

In The Idea of a University and his other writings, Newman shows his conviction that authentic education ultimately leads one to the fount of Truth, the Creator, and therefore has the same object as theology in each of the ways it teaches knowledge.

Blessed Newman’s very first sermon in his university church in Dublin is particularly helpful. He recalled mankind’s creation, when by grace all the human faculties acted “in common towards one end.” But because of the fall of Adam and Eve, Newman argued, the young person has “all these separate powers warring in his own breast—appetite, passion, secular ambition, intellect, and conscience, and trying severally to get possession of him.”

The object of the Church in promoting Catholic education, then, “it is to reunite things which were in the beginning joined together by God, and have been put asunder by man.”

How much today has been put asunder, causing great confusion and even dissent among our young people?

Newman is often wrongly portrayed as emphasizing the intellectual purposes of education over the religious aspects. Quite the contrary, Newman viewed his role as rector of a Catholic university, above all, as a pastoral duty. He wrote in his journal this prayer for his students:

May I engage in them, remembering that I am a minister of Christ… remembering the worth of souls and that I shall have to answer for the opportunities given me of benefitting those who are under my care.

It is this sort of educator, this sort of education, this sort of pastoral care, that offers the promise of improving and correcting a society that neglects Truth and has turned against Faith.

Newman was certainly correct about the immense challenges facing the Church in a secular society. Nevertheless, he also knew how the battle ends. We know, too.

We look with hope to Blessed John Henry Newman’s eventual canonization, knowing that he can be a powerful patron for the renewal of Catholic education and the whole Church.

This article was first published at The National Catholic Register.

apple on desks

3 Eye-Opening Lessons for Catholics under Common Core

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It’s been five years since controversy peaked over the Common Core State Standards and their use in Catholic schools. What have we learned?

By 2013 the Common Core was being adopted rapidly by Catholic schools and dioceses across the country, prompting deep concern among Catholic families. The Cardinal Newman Society launched its Catholic Is Our Core initiative to press for authentically Catholic standards. Urgent meetings with Catholic education leaders and bishops were convened to explain why the Common Core was the wrong approach for Catholic schools.

Thanks be to God, shortly thereafter the U.S. bishops’ conference advised dioceses to “review, study, consultation, discussion and caution,” noting that the Common Core was “incomplete” and not designed for Catholic schools.

Today, many dioceses have moved toward genuinely Catholic standards for their schools, but the Common Core has never been fully rooted out of Catholic education. It continues to impact testing, curriculum, and textbooks in many dioceses—although the impact varies and is never quite clear.

While the experience has been messy, hopefully it has given new insight to Catholics and Church leaders and reminded educators of the primary mission of Catholic education. Here are three key lessons that have emerged:

1. The Common Core seems unable to live up to its promises.

National test data suggest that the Common Core has failed thus far to live up to its promise of strengthening student achievement in math and language arts, even in public schools.

In an analysis of the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) published this week by Denise Donohue, deputy director of K-12 education programs for the Cardinal Newman Society, she finds, “Neither public nor Catholic schools experienced the upswing that was promised by the authors of the Common Core Standards.”

Public school scores from 2009 (pre-CCSS) to 2017 (post-CCSS) are relatively the same and are categorized in the “basic” range on the academic standards scale for the NAEP, whereas Catholic school 8th grade math scores have slid three points in the pre-test/post-test scenario (297 in 2009 to 294 in 2017). Interestingly, the cut-off for “proficient” according to the NAEP literature is a score of 299, leaving Catholic schools that much more to attain before reaching the mark. Meanwhile, the opportunity costs are unknown. Perhaps Catholic schools’ 8th grade math and reading scores might have continued their positive upward trend before the onset of the CCSS.

The U.S. Education Department’s NAEP, Donohue observes, has never been re-aligned to the Common Core like many state tests, so it is a good measure of pre- and post-Common Core achievement. International benchmarking tests also indicate that American students have not made any substantial progress relative to other nations, Donohue finds.

2. Catholic education needs Catholic standards.

Aside from the impact of the Common Core on secular education, the standards are simply wrong for Catholic schools. As the U.S. bishops conference declared in 2014:

Catholic schools must consider standards that support the mission and purpose of the school as a Catholic institution. Attempts to compartmentalize the religious and the secular in Catholic schools reflect a relativistic perspective by suggesting that faith is merely a private matter and does not have a significant bearing on how reality as a whole should be understood. Such attempts are at odds with the integral approach to education that is a hallmark of Catholic schools. Standards that support an appropriate integration should be encouraged.

The Common Core controversy helped many Catholics become aware that dioceses around the country had been relying heavily on secular state standards for many years. That is how the Common Core was initially adopted by Catholic schools without due caution and analysis. When the standards were adopted by states, dioceses quickly and voluntarily followed suit.

Now there is a greater realization that authentically Catholic standards are needed. Many dioceses have made great progress in this direction, such as the Diocese of Grand Rapids and the Diocese of Venice, which both work from the faithful Catholic Curriculum Standards published in 2016 to provide Catholic schools with an alternative.

3. Parents are the primary educators.

Many national, state and local organizations produced important analyses of the Common Core that ultimately halted its spread in Catholic schools. But it was parents who had the most important and influential voice—some voting with their feet and turning to independent Catholic schools and homeschooling.

The Common Core experience has helped remind Catholic bishops, educators and even families that parents are the first educators of their children. Catholic education serves the needs of families in educating and forming children, or it is not Catholic education at all.

Canon law states, “Catholic parents also have the duty and right of choosing those means and institutions through which they can provide more suitably for the Catholic education of their children, according to local circumstances.” If local Catholic schools aren’t enthusiastically and fully providing a truly Catholic education, parents are fully within their rights, and may have a duty, to find better, more faithful options for their children.

As Catholic school enrollment continues to decline, the Church urgently needs to renew the Catholic identity of Catholic schools to support only those that serve parents and the mission of the Church well.

For their part, parents should continue to find their voice and explain to their pastors what genuinely helps them form children for sainthood. This does not include secular fads such as the Common Core.

T This article first appeared at The National Catholic Register.