MANASSAS, VA, February 7, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) - In the seventh year of the Cardinal Newman Society’s campaign to rid Catholic colleges of the obscene and offensive play The Vagina Monologues, 20 Catholic campuses will host the play in the weeks surrounding Saint Valentine’s Day. The number of performances has declined annually from a peak of 32 in 2003.
"In the holy season of Lent and just weeks before the Holy Father visits the United States, these nominally Catholic colleges will shame themselves publicly in defiance of Catholic morals and basic civility," said Patrick J. Reilly, president of the Cardinal Newman Society (CNS). Pope Benedict XVI will address the presidents of all American Catholic colleges on April 17, and he is likely to repeat the Vatican’s calls for the reform of Catholic education.
"Most disturbing of all is the return of The Vagina Monologues to the University of Notre Dame," Reilly said. "In the absence of moral leadership, Notre Dame will again thumb its nose at Bishop D’Arcy, who has publicly condemned the play and chastised the university."
Fort Wayne Bishop John D’Arcy has complained that The Vagina Monologues is "offensive to women" and "antithetical to Catholic teaching." Last year the play was moved off Notre Dame’s campus, but this year campus performances will be sponsored by the Anthropology and Sociology Departments. CNS has written to Bishop D’Arcy urging him to intervene.
In The Newman Guide to Choosing a Catholic College, CNS refused to recommend Notre Dame, noting one professor’s chilling comment that "a kid who is struggling with his faith will sink like a stone." But Newman Guide editor Joseph Esposito expressed hope that Notre Dame would strengthen its Catholic identity.
By contrast, 193 Catholic colleges in the United States will not participate in the annual "V-Day" college campaign, which occurs each year around Saint Valentine’s Day.
"The nominally Catholic colleges that host this vile play are increasingly marginalized," Reilly said. "The progress is slow, but we’re winning the fight against the Monologues."
More than half of the colleges hosting the play in 2008 are Jesuit, a fact with particular significance following recent statements by Pope Benedict XVI urging the Jesuits to fidelity and loyalty to the Church.
The Vagina Monologues is a sexually explicit and offensive play that favorably describes lesbian activity, group masturbation, and the reduction of sexuality to selfish pleasure. In one scene, the lesbian seduction of a teenage girl is described as the girl’s "salvation" that "raised her into a kind of heaven."
CNS has contacted the president of each host college by mail, urging them to halt the play. CNS is also calling on its more than 20,000 members and other Catholics to convey their concerns about the Monologues to college presidents. The full list is below.
The following Catholic colleges and universities are hosting the lewd play The Vagina Monologues.
Bellarmine University
Dr. Joseph McGowan, President
president@bellarmine.edu
College of the Holy Cross
Fr. Michael McFarland, S.J., President
mmcfarla@holycross.edu
College of Mount Saint Vincent
Dr. Charles Flynn, Jr., President
charles.flynn@mountsaintvincent.edu
College of Saint Rose
Dr. R. Mark Sullivan, President
sullivam@strose.edu
DePaul University
Fr. Dennis Holtschneider, C.M., President
president@depaul.edu
Dominican University of California
Dr. Joseph Fink, President
jrf@dominican.edu
Fordham University
Fr. Joseph McShane, S.J., President
president@fordham.edu
Georgetown University
Dr. John DeGioia, President
president@georgetown.edu
John Carroll University
Fr. Edward Glynn, S.J., President
president@jcu.edu
Le Moyne College
Dr. John Smarrelli, Interim President
smarrelj@lemoyne.edu
Loyola Marymount University
Fr. Robert Lawton, S.J., President
rlawtonsj@lmu.edu
Loyola University Chicago
Fr. Michael Garanzini, S.J., President
mgaranz@luc.edu
Loyola University New Orleans
Fr. Kevin Wildes, S.J., President
wildesk@loyno.edu
Marygrove College
Dr. David Fike, President
dfike@marygrove.edu
Regis College
Dr. Mary Jane England, President
england@regiscollege.edu
Saint Louis University
Fr. Lawrence Biondi, S.J., President
biondi@slu.edu
Saint Mary’s College of California
Br. Ronald Gallagher, President
brg@stmarys-ca.edu
University of Detroit Mercy
Fr. Gerard Stockhausen, S.J., President
gstock@udmercy.edu
University of Notre Dame
Fr. John Jenkins, C.S.C., President
jenkins.1@nd.edu
University of San Francisco
Fr. Stephen Privett, S.J., President
privett@usfca.edu