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OTTAWA, Ontario, March 30, 2012 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The student association at an Ottawa Catholic university is continuing to distribute condoms at their office despite a request by university administration and complaints by numerous students on campus.

Ottawa’s Saint Paul University, which holds a Pontifical charter, was at the center of a media flurry early this month after students launched a campaign against the administration’s request that the Saint Paul University Students Association (SPUSA) cease handing out the prophylactics.

Danielle Tessier, the university’s vice-rector, had written SPUSA saying it is “evident that the distribution of condoms must cease.”

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But some students shot back with an online petition alleging that condoms are needed to “prevent unwanted pregnancies and sexually transmitted infections.” The petition generated coverage in national media including CBC, Metro, and the Ottawa Citizen.

On March 15th, the university and SPUSA responded with a joint statement saying they had sought mediation. “The University has not banned condoms at the University. The Administration only asked the Student Association to cease the distribution of condoms from their office,” the statement read.

“We never said that it was not a good idea to use condoms, it’s only because we’re talking about Saint Paul,” Tessier told CBC. “We have to stand behind what is Saint Paul.”

Students at Saint Paul’s have informed LifeSiteNews that the condoms remain available in a vase on a table at the SPUSA office, and have sent in photographs as verification. They say SPUSA has been handing out free condoms for two years now.

Fr. Adrian Sharp, a priest of the Archdiocese of Brisbane and a canon law student, says he objects to SPUSA using Catholic property to encourage actions that violate Catholic teaching.

“To acquiesce in the provision of condoms in a Catholic institution is to fail to properly form young people in a Christian view of human sexuality,” he said. “Surely a Catholic institution should be trying to present a Catholic view of sexuality, not just in classroom teaching, but in the very life of the university campus.”

“The allowance of condom distribution, and the lack of presentation of what the Church actually believes in regards to human sexuality, is a failure of Christian leadership, about which I feel obliged to speak up,” he added.

Paul Matenaer, another canon law student, said the flap over the condoms went on throughout the fall, with several students complaining about SPUSA’s actions and meetings being held with both SPUSA and the administration.

He said that when he and Fr. Sharp met with SPUSA’s president and treasurer on Nov. 30th, “their response was basically that they were totally unaware of the school’s Catholic identity, almost as if they had been tricked into coming here.  They also said that they never signed anything saying that they would obey these Catholic norms.”

The administration has also flagged a new ‘Pride Centre’ for homosexual students that SPUSA launched in the fall.

When SPUSA sent out an e-mail to students in September announcing the Centre, the university followed up with their own e-mail stating they had had “no prior knowledge” of the Centre and were launching an investigation.

St. Paul University has caused controversy in the past for hosting talks and other events by abortion advocates and dissenting Catholics.

LifeSiteNews.com did not hear back from SPUSA or Saint Paul University by press time.

Contact Information:

Saint Paul University
223 Main Street
Ottawa, Ontario K1S 1C4
Phone: 1-800 637-6859
Email: [email protected]