UNIVERSITY OF CONNECTICUT
From UConn we get this gem in The Daily Campus by Mike Kapralos, titled “Catholic Church a Mockery of the Ten Commandments,” (April 8). We suggested that the title should have been “U. Conn. a Mockery of Higher Education.”
Kapralos gives a catechism of how he thinks the Church fails the Ten Commandments. Here are some examples. The Third Commandment on the Sabbath: “the church does not really break, per se, but it definitely trivialize it [sic] with their ‘Holy Days of Obligation.’… These are not days with any basis in the bible [sic]. I believe they are days artificially created through church-doctrine to raise more money and instill more guilt on the people who, because of other obligations, are unable to attend them.”
On not having false gods: “I have seen many ‘pagan-type’ acts when I see pictures of the pope…. Every time, without fail, is [sic] some person genuflecting and/or kneeling…. This looks a tad to the untrained eye as idolatry, but according to Catholic dogma, it is acceptable.”
On not stealing: “Every time you or your neighbor gives money into the church collection plate on Sunday, it goes to places you are unaware. Some may say this stealing [sic] by the church’s upper hierarchy.”
On not killing: “During World War II, Pope Pius XII largely ignored the plight of the Jews. He would and did not publicly decry the actions of the governments of Germany and Italy, both heavily Catholic countries. Most recently, Pope John Paul decried the war in Iraq as only a last resort…the pope is lying to the world and allowing the further murder of scored [sic] of innocent people and several genocides.”
If this is an example of U.Conn’s academic standards, then it looks like the only high standards they maintain nowadays are in women’s basketball.
PENN STATE
On April 1 a column on Gay Pride Week appeared in The Collegian, Penn State’s student newspaper. Among the usual complaints about the treatment of homosexuals, student Daniel Moore actually blamed Catholic teaching regarding homosexuality for the sex abuse scandal. The Catholic League fired off a letter rebuking the author for his comments. The Collegian ran it the next day.
In our response, we noted that the author called abusive priests men ‘consumed with Catholic guilt.’ We quipped, “Apparently, they weren’t consumed enough. If they were actually faithful to Catholic teaching, the scandal would never have occurred.”
UNIVERSITY OF MISSISSIPPI
The cartoon shown at the left appeared on March 17 in the Daily Mississippian, the student newspaper of the University of Mississippi. Drawn by student Allan Innman, the cartoon is grossly insulting to all priests. When a member alerted us to the cartoon, the Catholic League responded with a letter to the editor, which was published on March 21. In it, we advised, “Lent is a time to take on suffering, not dole it out. Perhaps Innman should consider giving up his cartoons for Lent.”
