By Kathleen Gilbert
SCRANTON, Pennsylvania, April 7, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Four Scranton-area Catholic colleges have told Bishop Joseph F. Martino and Auxiliary Bishop John M. Dougherty that their campuses do not provide contraception, after the bishops had asked the schools to provide information on their student health services to assure that they do not practice anything in violation of Catholic teaching.
A letter dated yesterday and signed by the schools’ four presidents – King’s College president Fr. Thomas J. O’Hara; Marywood University president Sr. Anne Munley; Misericordia president Michael A. MacDowell; and University of Scranton president Scott R. Pilarz – told the bishops that they had “independently reviewed the concerns” aired by the bishops and that “condoms are not available on our campuses and our student health services and centers do not provide oral and other forms of contraceptives.”
“We are, therefore, confident in assuring you that our health centers practice in ways that respect and do not violate Catholic teaching,” states the letter.
The bishops had issued the request for student health services information in an April 1 letter, requesting “any documents available which will indicate policies, procedures or practices authorized by (the institution) for the provision of student health services,” as well as “assurance from you that no practice is occurring which would be in violation of Catholic teaching.”
The bishops explained that the inquiry was prompted by a March 25 article in Hawk, the student newspaper of St. Joseph’s University in Philadelphia. The article describes how the university finds the “middle ground between Church doctrine and student healthcare.”
“We’re very fortunate that we’re not in a very rural pocket, we’re right here on City Avenue,” director of student health Laura Hirst told the newspaper. “Students can just walk to Rite Aid to get condoms, so they are easily accessible if they need them.”
Said Hirst: “It’s always a fine line between staying within the values of the University, which we completely respect, and offering services to the students. We are fortunate that there are other medical centers in the area, and that there are health care providers other than us.”
While the University has a policy against sexual activity, the Hawk article says the school’s Student Health Center provides STD screenings and prescribes oral contraceptives for “medical necessities,” citing debilitating menstrual cramps as an example.
Bishop Martino and Bishop Dougherty said the idea that “middle ground” must be sought between Church teaching and health services indicates little respect for Catholic moral teaching.
Bishop Martino has drawn attention in recent months for firmly enjoining Misericordia University to provide an account of their fidelity to Catholic moral teaching on sexuality, after the school invited a homosexualist speaker earlier this year.
See related LifeSiteNews.com coverage:
Bishop Martino Won’t Meet with Misericordia without Proof of Sound Catholic Sexual Teaching
https://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2009/mar/09031903.html
Pro-Life Leaders Hail Bishop Martino’s Courageous Outspokenness for Pro-Life, Pro-Family Values
https://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2009/feb/09022713.html