Another "Catholic?" College, Another Pro-Abort Speaker, Another Bishop Speaks Up

Bishop Lori is chair of the USCCB's Committee on Doctrine as well as Supreme Chaplain of the Knights of Columbus. While SHU is in Loris' diocese, like so many "Catholic" colleges, there are limits on his role with the college. But, I highly suspect that the next Trustees meeting will be a lot more lively than originally planned on.

What is really strange is how this invite stands in contrast with another recent act by the University. Recently, The Hartford Courant published an op-ed by Associate Professor Steven Michels where he was critical of comments made by the Pope during his visit to Africa on AIDS & condoms. Shortly thereafter SHU removed Dr. Michels from his post as the Director of the Thomas More Honors Program.

Bridgeport Bishop Announces Boycott of
Sacred Heart University, Criticizes Notre Dame on Obama Invite

Manassas, Va. – Bishop William Lori of the Bridgeport Diocese, chairman of the Board of Trustees of Sacred Heart University (SHU), will boycott the university's Discovery Awards and Scholarship Dinner on April 22 because it will honor Kerry Kennedy, a pro-abortion Catholic, the Fairfield County Catholic reports. The bishop also expressed his disapproval of the University of Notre Dame’s decision to honor and host President Obama at commencement.

“The nearly quarter million people who have signed the petition opposing Notre Dame’s honoring of an abortion rights supporter will be thankful for Bishop Lori’s public boycott of Sacred Heart University,” said Patrick Reilly, President of The Cardinal Newman Society. “SHU and all Catholic colleges must learn from the mistakes at Notre Dame, where defiance toward the U.S. bishops’ speakers and honorees policy has provoked outrage from Catholics nationwide.”

Sacred Heart University is a Catholic university located in Fairfield, CT. The university will honor Kerry Kennedy at its 20th Annual Discovery Awards and Scholarship Dinner on Wednesday, April 22, 2009 in Old Greenwich, CT. Bishop Lori was an honoree at the 2004 dinner.

The Fairfield County Catholic reports that “Bishop Lori indicated that he will neither support nor attend Sacred Heart University’s Discovery Awards and Scholarship Dinner on April 22 because it will honor Kerry Kennedy, a longtime Catholic pro-choice activist.”

Kerry Kennedy has a personal commitment to supporting abortion rights. According to the Connecticut Post¸ she “has disagreed with the Catholic [C]hurch's stance on many issues, including abortion, stem cell research and gay marriage.”

Kerry Kennedy is the author of the 2008 book Being Catholic Now: Prominent Americans Talk About Change in the Church and the Quest for Meaning. The book divorces the Catholic faith from the institutional Church.

The Fairfield County Catholic also reported that Bishop Lori joined many other U.S. bishops in their condemnations of the University of Notre Dame’s decision to honor and host President Obama at the May 17 commencement ceremonies.

The bishop said, “Notre Dame extended this invitation unilaterally, seemingly without regard for the consequences for the mission of the Catholic Church in the United States. It is contrary to the efforts of bishops, parish priests, and laity to resist the anti-life decisions, policies, and legislation promoted by the Obama administration.”

Several U.S. bishops opposing the scandalous Obama invite at Notre Dame have recently cited the USCCB 2004 statement, “Catholics in Political Life,” as support for their position. The statement reads, “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.”