continue at Newman SocietySt. Norbert College has apparently decided to go ahead with hosting prominent abortion-rights advocate Gloria Steinem, despite the recent disapproval of Bishop David Ricken of the Diocese of Green Bay. The College’s current trajectory is both offensive to its bishop and reflects a deeper misconception about its own Catholic identity, argued Cardinal Newman Society President Patrick Reilly in a recent interview with the National Catholic Register.
Earlier this month, Bishop Ricken strongly criticized St. Norbert’s decision to host Steinem, noting, “[h]er whole career and life is a grand affirmation of the pro-abortion movement.” Indeed, in the article that broke the news that Steinem was invited to the College, the Newman Society cited a 2013 Washington Post interview in which Steinem said that women need abortion and it “should be part of reproductive rights.”
Bishop Ricken clarified his role in relation to the College in issuing his statement. He wrote, “As bishop, I have the responsibility to ensure the Catholic identity of the Catholic colleges in our diocese.”
But St. Norbert’s response, as published by the Register, blows off Bishop Ricken’s concerns. College spokesman Mike Counter reportedly said, “Obviously, we have a somewhat different view of the question of speakers on a college campus, but we respect [Bishop Ricken’s] desire to comment on something he feels so strongly about.” Counter reportedly added that the College is proud of its “116-year record as a Catholic institution.”
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1 comment:
When the statement of disapproval is not followed up with consequences, the Bishops' disapproval becomes nothing more than his opinion. If he had threatened to remove the faculties of all the Norbertine priests and turned it back on them when they cried "The Bishop is denying the Sacraments to to the St Norbert College Community" this would not be an ongoing issue.
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