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"Those in authority at Georgetown seem committed to
'political correctness' rather than fidelity to the Church!”
-- Cardinal Wilfrid Napier

Imagine a mass-murderer being welcomed to speak on a college campus. Now imagine that campus is also the oldest Catholic campus in the nation. Does this sound farfetched? It should. However, this is almost exactly what is happening at Georgetown University.

Georgetown has invited Cecile Richards, president of Planned Parenthood Federation of America, to speak on campus next month. Although the event is being sponsored by a student group known as the Lecture Fund, the university has the ability to stop it. Rather than follow this course of action, however, Georgetown decided to allow the pro-abortion invitation to stand in the interest of not limiting “speech either in the content of the view being expressed or the speaker expressing the view.”

The fact that a university which prides itself in being America's oldest Catholic institution of higher learning and “firmly committed to the sanctity and human dignity of every life at every stage” has permitted such a scandal to occur engendered reactions from many – including high ranking prelates.

Cardinal Donald Wuerl, the Archbishop of Washington, D.C. where Georgetown is located, said: “The apparent unawareness of those pushing the violence of abortion and the denigration of human dignity that there are other human values and issues…lends credence to the perception of the ‘ivory tower’ life of some on campus. This unfortunately does not speak well for the future… The Jesuit community on campus clearly has its work cut out for it and a long way to go… In our present culture, we have seen an increase in antagonism against Catholic teaching and the Church itself… It is precisely in these times that the Catholic institution of higher learning is called to continual self-examination to ensure that it maintains and promotes an authentic Catholic identity, that it recognizes the importance of virtue, and that it attempts to be a beacon of Christ’s truth and love as manifested in and through the Church.”

The fact that Georgetown would place the interests of Planned Parenthood above the teaching of the Church is indicative of what many see as a crisis in the Church.

According to South African Cardinal Wilfrid Napier, “If there's a crisis in the Catholic Church today, it's the disjuncture between the imperative to live and teach the Gospel and the obsession to be fair and broadminded on moral and critical life issues. Georgetown's hosting Cecile Richards is an obvious case… Those in authority at Georgetown seem committed to 'political correctness' rather than fidelity to the Church!”

Sign the protest petition here

Georgetown's unCatholic behavior is not entirely surprising. The university has allowed the Lecture Fund to invite a myriad of other atrocious speakers on campus, including the founder and publisher of a notorious pornographic magazine. As the president of the Cardinal Newman Society, Patrick Reilly has said, “This is the latest in a long history of scandal at Georgetown University. Disguised as an academic event, this is nothing more than a platform for abortion advocacy at a Catholic university and under the nose of the Catholic bishops, featuring a wicked woman who defends the sale of baby body parts and is responsible for the deaths of millions of aborted children.”

Catholics nationwide are scandalized by Georgetown’s latest choice to give a platform to Cecile Richards, a woman who is responsible for the killing of over 2.8 million children and has even publicly lauded her own abortion. To date, over 15,000 people have signed petitions calling on Georgetown to rescind its invitation to Richards. TFP Student Action's petition alone gathered more than 8,815 signatures.

Sign the protest petition here

Perhaps the cry of the faithful and the condemnation of prelates will cause the administration to come to its senses and make the right decision.

Our Lady Help of Christians, pray for us.