The Cardinal Newman Society has sent out a new bulletin of the latest information concerning Hillary Clinton speaking at a New York Catholic college.
Marymount Manhattan College is confusing protesters about its official status as a Catholic institution. The fact that its website presents a highly secularized college—an accurate portrayal—seems to confirm the College’s claims that it is not Catholic. At least officially, THIS IS NOT TRUE!!
In fact, the College IS OFFICIALLY CATHOLIC and this has been confirmed by the Archdiocese of New York—but thanks to your continued protests, we are confident that Cardinal Egan will be taking steps to correct the confusion VERY SOON.
PLEASE DO NOT STOP YOUR PROTESTS. INDEED, NOW IS THE TIME TO MAKE YOUR VOICE HEARD! WE ARE ON THE VERGE OF A MAJOR DEVELOPMENT THAT WILL SEND A CLEAR SIGNAL TO ALL WAYWARD CATHOLIC COLLEGES!
Didn’t our new pope say something about a smaller but more believing Church? If this sort of “pruning” of the non Catholic “Catholic” U’s becomes more common, then I think we may be seeing the start of this process.
I would think that the feeling ‘someone’s got your back’ [in Rome] will embolden some to speak out who may have been reticent to do so before. For instance, I wonder if the Holy Thursday confusion in Boston would have happened under Benedict XVI?
By my reading of the Eliot-Spitzer-at-Marist College incident, Cardinal Egan did not revoke that college’s Catholic status. Rather the Cardinal’s spokesman merely confirmed that the college had previously and voluntarily renouced its Catholic identity—without any pressure from the Archdiocese of New York.
Also when the State of New York offered public funds for private colleges and universities (called “Bundy money” after the then head of that state’s Board of Regents, which controls all levels and aspects of education in New York state), religious colleges and universities were not eligible for such aid because of the state constitution’s “Blaine amendment,” which was added to the state constitution in the 19th century by the the then Protestant-dominated state assembly. The amendment forbids public aid for religious educational institutions. That amendment was especially aimed at Catholic schools and is named after the anti-Catholic James G. Blaine (“the man from Maine”), who also inspired similar amendments in other states (including Masssachusetts), where they still remain especially because of the opposition of public school teacher unions, a majority of whose members are ironically Catholic. Blaine was also the 1884 Republican presidential candidate and lost the election because of a last-minute remark by one of his influential supporters that the Democratic Party was the party of “rum, Romanism, and rebellion”—that is, did not support the prohibition of alcoholic beverages but instead was supported by “immigrant Catholics” (and all bad things that phrase implies) as well as those that supported the Confederacy during the Civil War. (The latter charge is also called “waving the red [or bloody] flag” in remembrance of Union blood shed during the Civil War.)
To be eligible for such state money, most Catholic colleges and universities in New York state changed the status of their lisiting in the state records from “religious” (i.e., Catholic) to “independent” (i.e., private). Fordham University retained consultants to advise on what to do to display its “independent” status—not only removing crucifixes from the classrooms but also statues from public areas and its listing from the Official Catholic Directory (although a fews years later its listing reappeared and continues there).
I’ve always prayed for and hoped for a leader who provides “top cover” to use a military term for those of us who have to battle in the trenches of this culture. It appears we have such a leader in Pope Benedict. Deo gratias!
Mind you, Pope John Paul II of happy memory also was such a leader. I simply hope that Pope Benedict carries on the leadership provided by his predecessor.