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MANASSAS, VA, January 26, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The Catholic University of America (CUA) in Washington, D.C., denied a request to allow a gay rights group to cosponsor a pro-life conference on campus last Saturday, citing the university’s Catholic identity.

The Pro-Life Alliance of Gays and Lesbians (PLAGAL) advocates the right to life as the basis of all other human rights.  However, the organization’s support for “gay rights”—including same-sex “marriage”—and its apparent condoning of homosexual activity run significantly contrary to Catholic moral teaching.

An undisclosed university representative told leaders of the Students for Life of America annual conference, which was held last Saturday, January 24, that the homosexual rights group’s mission statement “goes against the teachings of the Catholic Church,” according to an article today in the campus newspaper, The Tower.  The article notes that CUA did not permit the group to co-sponsor the conference or set up an exhibit booth on campus, but still welcomed PLAGAL members to attend the conference.  A CUA spokesman told The Cardinal Newman Society that “the essential elements of the Tower article are accurate.”

“CUA made a difficult but admirable decision in restricting PLAGAL’s activity on campus,” said Patrick Reilly, President of The Cardinal Newman Society.  “We need a unified front in the fight against abortion, and PLAGAL has an important place in the pro-life movement.  Nevertheless, CUA is a public witness to the Catholic faith, and its first obligation is to its students.  PLAGAL has historically sought to convince pro-life Christians of its gay rights agenda, which in some respects opposes Catholic moral teaching.”

For many years, The Catholic University of America has hosted young people who travel nationwide to join the March for Life.  It also has had a strong presence at the U.S. bishops’ annual Mass to pray for unborn children, held adjacent to the CUA campus at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception.

This year the March for Life saw the participation of many other students from Catholic colleges and universities dedicated to their Catholic mission.  All 21 institutions of higher education recommended in The Newman Guide to Choosing a Catholic College are committed to supporting the pro-life movement.