Politics
Thursday July 5, 2007
Catholic Colleges Asked to Withdraw Support from Amnesty International for Abortion Advocacy
TODAY'S HEADLINES
E-MAIL
PRINT
By Elizabeth O'Brien
MANASSA, VA, July 5, 2007 (LifeSiteNew.com) - The Cardinal Newman Society (CNS), a national organization for Catholic renewal in Catholic universities and colleges throughout the United States, has recently urged American schools to cut off their affiliations with Amnesty International (AI) on account of its recently announced policy of pro-abortion advocacy.
In a letter to the presidents of U.S. Catholic colleges and universities, CNS Executive Vice President Tom Mead wrote, "If your institution has an AI chapter, CNS urges you to work with your students to reorganize the club and continue its important work promoting human rights without an Amnesty International affiliation."
In a recent press release, CNS stated that more than 50 Catholic colleges and law schools have AI student chapters. Encouraging presidents to use these as a means of influencing AI to rescind its new stance, Mead wrote, "AI is proud of its college chapters and you could help convince the leadership to drop the new position."
CNS founder and president Patrick Riley told LifeSiteNews.com, "We don't think that any Catholic college or university should be sponsoring a club that is formally affiliated with Amnesty International."
Riley emphasized, however, that CNS does not want university and college clubs to stop their activities or shut down, but rather simply to disassociate themselves from AI. "Not only are those clubs officially affiliated, but they are sending dues money," he stated. "We would like to see those clubs continue the type of activity they've been doing as long as it is consistent with Catholic teaching and can continue independent of Amnesty International."
In May AI expressed its support for abortion "in cases of rape, incest or when a woman's life or health is at grave risk." The new position specifically advocates the worldwide decriminalization of abortion, a motion that includes the removal of all penalties for those who obtain or perform abortions.
Catholic bishops of Canada, England, Wales and the United States have condemned the new move. Cardinal Renato Martino, president of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, stated, "If in fact Amnesty International persists in this course of action, individuals and Catholic organizations must withdraw their support, because, in deciding to promote abortion rights, AI has betrayed its mission." Even more recently, the USCCB urged AI to change its abortion policy during the meeting of its International Council in Mexico next month.
In light of these statements, CNS urged college presidents to join the Vatican and USCCB in their efforts to encourage AI to change its position of abortion-advocacy.
Read previous LifeSiteNews.com coverage:
Pro-Abortion Stand by Amnesty International Leading to Loss of Support
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2007/may/07052807.html
Bishop: "I, for one, will cease my financial support for Amnesty International"
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2006/may/06050805.html
UK Branch of Amnesty International OKs Abortion Support
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2007/mar/07032804.html
Amnesty International Publicly Admits New Policy to Lobby for Abortion
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2007/may/07051103.html
Amnesty International Canada Approves Abortion Advocacy
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2006/may/06053006.html
Back to TopLatest Headlines
- Cardinal Rigali: You Can't Claim to be "Reducing Abortions" but Publicly Funding them in D.C.
- General Electric to Use Embryonic Stem Cells for Testing, Phase out Lab Rats
- Ohio Supreme Court Allows Planned Parenthood to Conceal Abortion Records in Sexual Abuse Case
- LifeSiteNews Canada Day and Independence Day Message. Taking a few days off. LSN returns Monday July 6
- Heroically Pro-Life Brazilian Archbishop's Resignation Accepted Under Cloud of Vatican Newspaper Misrepresentation
- Pro-Life Groups Announce New Colorado Personhood Initiative
- Judge Puts Kibosh on DC Gay "Marriage" Referendum
- Al Franken Win Hands Supermajority to Senate Democrats
- Group Funded by Canadian Bishops' D&P Joins with Others to Denounce the "Natural Family" and "Family Rights"
- Financially Troubled Planned Parenthood of El Paso Closes Doors
- Abortion Linked to Subsequent Pre-Term Births, New Research Again Confirms
- New Orleans Homosexual Couple Ask Fed. Court to Overturn Marriage Amendment
- Slim Hope Of New Ontario Progressive Conservative Party Leader Promoting Pro-Life, Pro-Family Issues
- Pope Accepts Resignation of Bishop Caught Involved in Homosexual Encounters
- Young Children Removed from UK Schools for "Inappropriate Sexual Behaviour"
- Northern Ireland Politician Cleared of Wrongdoing after Reiterating Christian Teaching on Homosexual Acts
- UK Conservative Leader Speaks at Gay Pride Fundraiser
- More Letters to the Editor on Canadian Catholic Development and Peace Scandal (July 1)
- Letters to the Editor - Readers Respond to Development and Peace Scandal
- Watch This Dramatic New Video on Catholic Bishops Conference Funding of Pro-Abortion Groups
Most Read this Week
- Homosexual Duke U. Director Charged with Offering Adopted 5-Year-Old for Sex
- Famed Fr. Corapi Calls Canadian Bishops' Dissent from Humanae Vitae "Catastrophic"
- Pope: It is a Childish Faith to Oppose the Church Teaching on Life and Family
- Heroically Pro-Life Brazilian Archbishop's Resignation Accepted Under Cloud of Vatican Newspaper Misrepresentation
- LifeSiteNews Detailed Response to Canadian Bishops' Whitewash Report on Development and Peace
- Young Children Removed from UK Schools for "Inappropriate Sexual Behaviour"
- General Electric to Use Embryonic Stem Cells for Testing, Phase Out Lab Rats
- Is Pro-Choice the New Pro-Life?
- Swedish Parents Won't Tell if Child is Boy or Girl as Gender Experiment
- Cardinal Rigali: You Can't Claim to be "Reducing Abortions" but Publicly Funding them in D.C.
MORE NEWS: 
LifeSiteNews.com Home Page Last 10 Days Archives Special Reports
Copyright © LifeSiteNews.com. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-No Derivatives License. You may republish this article or portions of it without request provided the content is not altered and it is clearly attributed to "LifeSiteNews.com". Any website publishing of complete or large portions of original LifeSiteNews articles MUST additionally include a live link to www.LifeSiteNews.com. The link is not required for excerpts. Republishing of articles on LifeSiteNews.com from other sources as noted is subject to the conditions of those sources.