Cardinal Wuerl , Archbishop of Washington, is coming to GW this weekend to celebrate the 7:30 pm student Mass at St. Stephen's! The students and I are so excited to welcome back His Eminence.
The following is an editorial from the Catholic Standard, a publication of the Archdiocese of Washington. The students and I are so grateful for the full support of the Archdiocese.
Editorial: GW Gay Students' Protest Against Chaplain
Threatens Religious Freedom on Campus
During
an Easter Sunday appearance on a nationally televised news program, Cardinal
Donald Wuerl was asked how the Catholic Church responds to Catholic homosexuals
who attend Mass and seek to be part of the life of the Church. Cardinal Wuerl
responded by saying that the Church welcomes everyone and tries to walk with
them on life's journey while, at the same time, upholding a moral law by which
we are all obligated to live. He also expressed his concern that, in light of
efforts to change the definition of marriage, there will be pressure to label
the Christian belief in marriage and sexual morality as bigotry or hate speech.
He called for tolerance and respect among all people. "There has to be room
enough in a society as large, as free and as pluralistic as America, to make
space for all of us," he said.
Recent events on the campus of the George
Washington University (GW) suggest that the Cardinal's concerns are
well-founded. According to reports in the student newspaper, The
Hatchet, two students who identify themselves as homosexual have embarked on a
campaign to silence and remove the Catholic chaplain, Father Greg Shaffer, for
simply teaching the tenets of the Catholic faith on sexual morality and the
right to life. Since 2009, Father Shaffer has served as chaplain at the Newman
Center there, a place for Catholic students and those interested in learning
more about the Catholic faith, to attend Mass and participate in other religious
activities and discussions. Judging from multiple accounts - including those
shared on a student-initiated blog, "The Chaplain We Know" - Father Shaffer is a
welcoming presence on campus, and his ministry has inspired a deeper
appreciation for the faith among the students, Catholic and non-Catholic
alike.
In addition to their efforts to force Father Shaffer off campus,
the two students who have filed a complaint against the Catholic priest with the
university's administration have demanded that GW initiate an approval process
for determining who may serve in Catholic ministry there. What they are
essentially asking is for the university to sit in judgment of Catholic
teaching.
The radical intolerance of this effort to dictate what a
particular religious group may and may not teach - and how students of a
particular denomination may practice their faith - should concern all of us. Any
university worth the name should not engage in this style of thought control.
Today, we face an increasingly aggressive movement in our culture which seeks to
marginalize people of faith and diminish the role of religion in society. This
has become increasingly true for the Catholic Church, in particular, including
individual Catholics who strive to live and express their faith in the public
square.
It should never be acceptable - and certainly not at a university
- to silence opposing views. The spurious claim that people who voice the
Church's teachings on moral truth and the nature of the human person engage in
hate speech should never be used as justification for attempts to silence and
exclude from public life religious institutions and people of faith. Sadly, the
GW case is only the latest example of this phenomenon. This type of censorship
of religious ministers and their beliefs and teachings is contrary to the
principles of fundamental liberty that our nation has historically valued and
for which George Washington himself fought.
It is important to affirm
that the Catholic Church is and always will be welcoming of any person who seeks
a deeper relationship with Jesus Christ. We are called to live and to share the
truths of our Catholic teaching, and to do so with love. According to the many
students who have spoken out in Father Shaffer's defense - including those who
do not embrace all of the Church's teachings - he has demonstrated this through
his ministry. "Through Father Greg I met God's love and forgiveness," says one
person who initially took exception to him defending the Church's teaching.
"Father Greg's kindness changed my life. . . . I still don't fully agree with or
understand all of the teachings from the Church, but I will always stand for
Father Greg, because I know that he would never disrespect or discriminate
against anyone based on his or her beliefs....[H]e is the most compassionate
non-judgmental person that I have ever met." Another writes, "Father Greg is one
of the holiest, kindest, most devoted priests I have had the privilege to meet."
Indeed, there has been a marked increase in Catholic students' participation at
the Newman Center during his tenure, and the sacramental life has been greatly
expanded.
Those who are in positions of authority, including in higher
education, should resist the increasing demands to silence the voices of faith
or to otherwise assert control over the Church's ministries on campus and in the
world. In our country, there should be room for all of us to live our faith
freely. The Church not only has the fundamental religious liberty to engage in
the public square, but by doing so, we contribute greatly to the common good -
as Americans, and as people of faith.
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