Jeffrey Miller

Creative Minority Report does an excellent fisk on the reply letter by St. Joseph University regarding the Chris Matthews invite.

The reply is no real surprise and I think I could have wrote it for them. Not just a single issue – check. Can’t please everybody – check. He is a respected journalist – check. Once you throw in that diversionary template you don’t have to give any real answers.

I guess big deal that he called pro-lifers terrorists for opposing Catholic abortion supporter Gov. Sevelius. But hey you can’t please everybody. Besides he has a wealth of experience being a host of a second rate news show on a third tier cable news network. We can’t all be as smart as Jesuit educated Matthews who thinks when human life begins is a “metaphysical” questions as he said before. So what if he also opposes the church on homosexual acts and contraception since he covered the fall of the Berlin wall. Timothy R. Lannon, S.J. the President of the university goes on to say:

Chris Matthews is also a proud, Jesuit-educated Catholic, who attended The College of the Holy Cross. In 2003, that school granted Matthews an honorary degree but came under fire because of his view on abortion. In my conversations with Chris, he told me that he has never questioned the teaching authority of the Church. He is an active member of his parish in Washington, D.C. He is a political commentator who raises issues on how intrusive government should be. Matthews has also received honorary degrees from eight other Catholic universities.

Yes, other people did it is an acceptable excuse for a Catholic university president. Besides if you don’t follow what the Church teaches on abortion you sure as Hell are questioning the teaching authority of the Church. Such as phrase can only make sense with a view of teaching authority that means absolutely nothing, more like tolerance in that they are allowed to teach, but that you have no responsibility to follow the teaching.

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.”

Do they have a booking agency for pro-abortion Catholics for commencements and awards for Catholic universities? It seems that way at times.

Please pray for Fr. Jaki who is still in the ICU in Madrid and likely to die soon since they are unable to operate on him.

Update: Fr. Stanley Jaki died this afternoon in Spain. R.I.P. Having read some of his books I will certainly miss him as a writer on science and theology. I really enjoyed his book “Science & Creation, from eternal cycles to an oscillating universe.” whose title might sound off-putting, but is really a fascinating history of science that explores why so man cultures never developed the scientific method.

“People are human beings, and one cannot expect people to be abstinent. I think the Pope justly could and should express the Catholic Church’s position; however, when he discusses it he can also discuss compassion for those that can’t follow the Church’s position, of course not everyone is Catholic in Africa.”

Comment made by Father Mark C. Aita, S.J., assistant director of St. Joseph University’s Institute of Catholic Bioethics in regards to Pope Benedict XVI’s recent comments against using condoms. So I guess only Catholics must follow Divine law by this faulty line of reasoning. You can always tell a dissenter when they use “Church’s position” as if the Church was a think tank that issued position papers and talking points. Funny how compassion has come to mean allowing people to do gravely evil acts. I guess I am just old fashioned since I though compassion meant “suffering with” and that it would lead to wanting people not to gravely harm their souls.

Good Jesuit, Bad Jesuit also includes this tidbit:

The director of student health services for St. Joseph University in Philedephia , Laura Hurst, believes that “the school’s location offers enough convenience and opportunity to encourage students to purchase” condoms. “We’re very fortunate that we’re not in a very rural pocket, we’re right here on City Avenue,” she said. “Students can just walk to Rite Aid to get condoms, so they are easily accessible if they need them.” She continued.

“It’s always a fine line between staying within the values of the University, which we completely respect, and offering services to the students. We are fortunate that there are other medical centers in the area, and that there are health care providers other than us.