Majority of Catholic colleges host pro-homosexual groups: survey

by Johanna Dasteel

(LifeSiteNews.com) – Georgetown, Notre Dame and Creighton Universities are counted among the whopping 52% of Catholic colleges that sponsor pro-homosexual student clubs that violate Catholic Church teaching, up from 45% in 2009, according to a Catholic student group. Students and parents are petitioning their schools, asking for a disbandment of the clubs that they say are un-Catholic.

A survey by TFP Student Action has found pro-homosexual student clubs at 111 out of the 211 schools listed by the most comprehensive reference material available, “Ganley’s Catholic Schools in America,” published by Fisher Publishing Company. TFP’s comprehensive list with corresponding clubs includes links to school websites and club descriptions.

TFP claims that many of the mentioned clubs act as platforms of Catholic dissent, advancing the idea of same-sex “marriage”, the acceptance of homosexual lifestyles, gender confusion, and the rejection of Catholic teaching.

In one case, the Queer Straight Alliance club at the College of St. Scholastica held a “Vote No” rally against a traditional marriage initiative in Minnesota. 192 faculty and staff members at the college attacked the marriage amendment in a public statement.

At another Catholic university, the University of San Diego, its pro-homosexual “PRIDE” club was allowed to sponsor a “drag show” on campus.

America’s oldest Catholic university, Georgetown, promoted a month-long schedule of pro-homosexual activities in October. The various “Coming Out” events included a public “kiss-in.”

In a press release announcing their survey, TFP Student Action quoted from a 2008 address of Pope Benedict XVI to Catholic educators at the Catholic University of America.

“Teachers and administrators, whether in universities or schools, have the duty and privilege to ensure that students receive instruction in Catholic doctrine and practice,” said the pope. “This requires that public witness to the way of Christ, as found in the Gospel and upheld by the Church’s Magisterium, shapes all aspects of an institution’s life, both inside and outside the classroom. Divergence from this vision weakens Catholic identity and, far from advancing freedom, inevitably leads to confusion, whether moral, intellectual or spiritual.”

Over 24,000 students and concerned parents have already signed a protest petition drafted by TFP Student Action, urging Catholic university presidents to disband pro-homosexual clubs within their institutions.
“At the heart of so many famous Catholic universities, a real dictatorship of ‘tolerance’ is sidelining the truth, throwing 2,000 years of Catholic teaching right out the window,” said TFP Student Action Director John Ritchie. “More and more students are confronted with visible, active and well-funded pro-homosexual clubs that openly contradict natural law and undermine good moral values.”

TFP Student Action hopes to collect 50,000 petitions before Christmas.