Let's Pray Bishop McManus Does What He Said He Would

College's Catholic status threatened for hosting pro-abortion groups at conference

(Source: Catholic News Agency) Bishop Robert J. McManus of the Diocese of Worcester, Massachusetts has condemned the decision by the Jesuit-run College of the Holy Cross to rent meeting space to a conference that includes Planned Parenthood and NARAL workshops. He has asked the college president, Father Michael C. McFarland, to cancel the event's reservations. The president's refusal could endanger the college's official Catholic standing.

The Massachusetts Alliance on Teen Pregnancy's Teen Pregnancy Institute is scheduled to use the college's conference facilities on October 24. Some of its speakers will discuss contraceptive methods and initiatives to provide teens access to such methods.

The chancery received hundreds of complaints from Catholics outraged about the college’s assistance given to the conference. The archbishop attacked the college's actions as "truly scandalous" for supporting "an attitude or behavior which leads another to do evil." He said that the college's apparent support for positions contrary to Catholic teaching was confusing and upsetting for the Catholic faithful.

He also clarified Catholic doctrine: "The moral teaching of the Catholic Church on respect for life at all stages of its development is manifestly clear. Life is a fundamental good that must be protected and respected from the moment of fertilization to natural death. This teaching is so basic and important that it provides the foundation upon which much of the Church's moral and social doctrine rests. It is beyond modification and compromise."

Holy Cross officials have reported that they will not cancel the Teen Pregnancy Institute's meeting despite the many complaints. They claimed "Holy Cross in no way supports or endorses Planned Parenthood, NARAL, or other organizations that engage in or promote practices contrary to the teachings of the Catholic Church

President McFarland said that contractual obligations required permitting the conference to go ahead. He also defended accommodating the conference: "…the college believes a meeting of adult professionals pooling resources, engaging in a dialogue and exchanging information is a beneficial way of grappling with pressing issues related to the health and well-being of Massachusetts teenagers and children."

Bishop McManus responded by explaining his pastoral and canonical duties to determine what institutions can properly call themselves Catholic. He suggested that permitting the event could endanger the college's Catholic status: "It is my fervent wish that the administration of the College of the Holy Cross will unequivocally disassociate itself from the upcoming conference sponsored by the Massachusetts Alliance on Teen Pregnancy so that the college can continue to be recognized as a Catholic institution committed to promoting the moral teaching of the Roman Catholic Church."

[The article is quoting from an official statement issued by Bishop McManus on 10 October 2007. (Complete text here)]

It is refreshing to see a Bishop who is willing to stand up & throw down the gauntlet to those who would sidestep or ignore the Church's teachings. Bishop McManus clearly states what the Church's teaching on Respect for Life is. Why they are important & why it is so important to follow them. He also clearly explains what is wrong with Holy Cross even allowing this event. & as for the College's excuses: "SORRY!" they do not pass muster.

He says: "To deny Planned Parenthood and NARAL Pro-Choice a forum in which to present their morally unacceptable positions is not an infringement of the exercise of academic freedom but a defensible attempt to make unambiguously clear the Catholic identity and mission of the College of the Holy Cross." ABSOLUTELY RIGHT!

The Bishop is right to call what Holy Cross is doing a scandal. & it is clear that he has a heart for his people for which he has spiritual responsibility. He is doing what he can & should do to get rid of the "confusion" this is causing for the faithful.

I suspect that Holy Cross will allow the conference to go on. I hope & pray they don't. But if they do, that Bishop McManus will have the courage & strength to follow through by taking away the recognition of the college as a Catholic College.