A national Catholic higher education organization has identified 10 Catholic colleges and universities that are promoting student internships with organizations whose missions or activities are directly opposed to the moral teachings of the Catholic Church, including on fundamental issues such as abortion and marriage.
“This discovery validates the concerns of so many thousands of faithful Catholic parents and students, that public scandals at Catholic colleges are just the tip of the iceberg,” said Patrick J. Reilly, President of The Cardinal Newman Society. “Under what definition of ‘Catholic education’ do students receive academic credit to work for leading pro-abortion organizations?”
Last week, CNS wrote to the presidents of these colleges and universities to inform them of the problems with their internship programs. None have yet indicated that they will take steps to remedy the problems.
The internship programs—along with concerns about theological dissent, weakening academic standards and declining campus culture at many Catholic colleges and universities—help explain why most students and recent graduates of Catholic institutions believe that abortion and gay marriage should be legal, despite the Church’s clear teachings to the contrary. That was one of the disturbing findings of a November 2008 study published by the CNS Center for the Study of Catholic Higher Education and titled “Behaviors and Beliefs of Current and Recent Students at U.S. Catholic Colleges.”
Inappropriate internships were discovered at the following institutions:
Boston College
A page on the Boston College website recommends “Non-Profit Internship Sources” including two pro-abortion advocacy groups, the Feminist Majority Foundation and the National Organization for Women. A Boston College Law School website also recommends to students opportunities for “pro bono” legal work, including the Planned Parenthood League of Massachusetts which “depends on the work of volunteers and interns to make it possible to achieve its mission of providing low-cost, high-quality medical, educational, counseling, and advocacy services to men and women across the state.” Also listed are the ACLU-Massachusetts and the Gay and Lesbian Advocates and Defenders (GLAD), both of which advocate homosexual “marriage.”
Georgetown University
A 2007 change in policy by the Georgetown Law School permitted students to receive university funding through the Equal Justice Foundation for interning at abortion advocacy organizations. The change came after a student was refused funding for an internship at Planned Parenthood. After lobbying from pro-abortion Georgetown students and faculty ensued, the law school altered its policy and no longer considered the mission of organizations in determining grants for internships. A recent review of Georgetown Law School and the Equal Justice Foundation gives no indications that this policy has been altered from the 2007 decision.
Loyola University of Chicago
The Loyola University of Chicago Women’s Studies and Gender Studies website lists opportunities for internships and volunteer opportunities at the following pro-abortion organizations: Chicago National Organization for Women, the Feminist Majority Foundation, Planned Parenthood, and the Chicago Abortion Fund.
University of San Francisco
USF’s Media Studies program promotes internships at Girlfriends Magazine (which requires applicants to be “conversant in lesbian culture and politics”) and the California Abortion and Reproductive Rights Action League.
Link (here) to the full list at The Cardinal Newman Society
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