Omaha, Neb., Aug 31, 2007 / 07:35 am
The president of Creighton University said the decision to cancel the speaking engagement of an assisted suicide advocate was not the result of pressure from outside pro-life groups but rather of prayerful reflection on the the speaker’s latest book and on the mission of a Catholic university.
In a letter to colleagues, Fr. John P. Schlegel, SJ, explained that he made the final decision to cancel the talk Aug. 24, after reading Anne Lamott’s most recent publication and discussing the situation with the Jesuit university’s director of the Center for Health Policy and Ethics.
“My reflection on this question started well before the bloggers latched upon the invitation,” Fr. Schlegel wrote.
The university has “a responsibility to foster intellectual engagement with various perspectives and forms of knowledge,” he said.
“But as a Catholic university, we have the added responsibility of fostering engagement among these perspectives and forms of knowledge with the Catholic intellectual tradition,” he added. “As Pope John Paul II wrote, the Catholic university is ‘a primary and privileged place for a fruitful dialogue between the Gospel and culture.’”