Graduation season is drawing near, and along with it comes controversy about who should or should not speak at a Catholic University. Gonzaga University is putting its foot down and sticking with plans to have Archbishop Desmond Tutu speak at its commencement, despite protests against Tutu’s invitation.
Even before graduation rolls around, Georgetown University faculty are speaking up against Rep. Paul Ryan, who is scheduled to speak at the school this week. Nearly 90 Georgetown faculty members issued a letter that points out Ryan’s misuse of Catholic teaching to justify his budget proposal, though they’re not trying to prevent him from coming to speak at the university.
Politics are even making their way into the younger grades of Catholic schools, as teachers in a Canadian Catholic school stirred up trouble by asking students to sign a political petition.
In other news, people are still talking about the Vatican’s call for reform of the Leadership Conference of Women Religious in the United States. Mark Silk at RNS puts things in a historical context, while Sally Quinn of the Washington Post thinks we might be seeing a “war on women” in the church.
People are still talking about the bishops’ “religious liberty” crusade too–including Sarah Posner of Religion Dispatches and Grant Gallicho of Commonweal, who have a discussion about the problems with the bishops’ “Fortnight for Freedom” campaign.
Catholic News Service has a video looking back at Pope Benedict XVI’s first seven years as pope, as the pontiff himself looks ahead to year eight.
And a former Catholic priest tells his story of living on low wages and falling deep into debt before leaving the priesthood, turning his life around, and becoming, of all things, a financial advisor.
