Professors and activities at Catholic schools helped Obama win, group claims

Nov 10, 2008 / 21:11 pm

The Cardinal Newman Society (CNS) is claiming that several outspoken professors and political activities on Catholic university campuses helped Sen. Barack Obama win the Catholic vote.

Citing exit polls showing Obama’s capture of 54 percent of the Catholic vote and his inroads among Mass-attending and white Catholics, the Cardinal Newman Society’s report voices concern that prominent Catholic educators and schools helped elect the pro-abortion rights President-elect Obama.

In particular, the CNS report claims Boston College theology professor Lisa Sowle Cahill, Duquesne law professor Nicholas Cafardi and Notre Dame theology professor Cathleen Kaveny “publicly challenged” bishops’ statements encouraging Catholics to oppose pro-abortion rights candidates.

Nine professors at Catholic colleges and universities served on Obama's Catholic National Advisory Committee.

Xavier University in Cincinnati hosted an Obama "Campaign for Change" rally on the eve of Election Day, while St. Peter's College in New Jersey hosted an Obama rally featuring a choir of Catholic schoolchildren.

The Cardinal Newman Society also notes that several Catholic colleges and universities have selected pro-abortion politicians as commencement speakers and honorees.

In 2004 the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops ruled that “the Catholic community and Catholic institutions should not honor those who act in defiance of our fundamental moral principles. They should not be given awards, honors or platforms which would suggest support for their actions,” the society pointed out.