Georgetown defends appearance by Planned Parenthood leader; African cardinal disagrees

March 08, 2016

Georgetown University has defended an appearance by Planned Parenthood president Cecile Richards in a student-run lecture series.

In a formal statement on the lecture, Georgetown cited its status as the nation’s oldest Catholic university. The statement continued: “We respect our students’ right to express their personal views and are committed to sustaining a forum for the free exchange of ideas, even when those ideas may be difficult, controversial or objectionable to some.”

The Lecture Fund, the campus organization that had invited Richards, gave a more spirited defense of the lecture:

Keep them coming, all of them — the radicals, the politicians, the spiritual leaders and whoever else can be roped into speaking here. To continue the Jesuit ideal of lifelong, comprehensive learning, our minds need to be challenged, inspired and opened.

The Archdiocese of Washington issued a statement observing that the Lecture Fund “is selective in what it accepts for discussion and whom they invite,” and adding:

What we lament and find sadly lacking in this choice by the student group is any reflection of what should be an environment of morality, ethics and human decency that one expects on a campus that asserts its Jesuit and Catholic history and identity.

Cardinal Wilfrid Napier of Durban, South Africa, entered the debate via his Twitter account. “Those in authority at Georgetown seem committed to 'political correctness' rather than fidelity to the Church!” Cardinal Napier wrote:

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 broad minded on moral and critical life issues. Georgetown’s hosting Cecile Richards is an obvious case!

 

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Further information:

• Archdiocese: Georgetown Invite of Richards Reflects Campus Environment Lacking ‘Morality, Ethics and Human Decency’ (Cardinal Newman Society)
• Card. Napier on Richards Invite: Georgetown Committed to ‘Political Correctness’ Rather Than Fidelity to the Church (Cardinal Newman Society)
• Planned Parenthood president to speak at Georgetown (CWN, 3/3)