This is my latest report on Catholic education. I start with two reports of pro-life displays being removed or destroyed with absolutely no consequences.
Vandals destroy Cemetery of Innocents at Jesuit university
Vandals at St. Louis University, a Jesuit institution, destroyed and stole crosses from a Cemetery of Innocents display commemorating lives lost to abortion and other tragedies, according to LifeNews.com.
“Once again, pro-life free speech has been squelched on a university campus,” said Kristan Hawkins, president of Students for Life of America. “The Students for Life group at St. Louis University was bringing a message of truth, love, and compassion to their campus. The intolerant people who ruined a display about the value of life should feel ashamed.”
Hawkins encouraged the university to “quickly find the perpetrators and replace the crosses.”
Brielle Heraty, a member of SLU Students for Life, said the club “wholeheartedly forgives” those who destroyed the display, but vows to continue being a voice “for the most vulnerable among us regardless of age, appearance, ability, or background.”
Pro-life posters destroyed at LMU… cue the crickets
Vandals destroyed a number of pro-life posters around the Loyola Marymount University campus, according to Renew LMU, an organization committed to enhancing the Jesuit institution’s Catholic identity.
The Padre Pio Society, a campus student group, placed posters around the California campus earlier this month, which were similar in imagery and style to immigration-themed posters by other student groups. The posters essentially drew an equivalence between immigration and abortion by saying, “Don’t abort my fellow humans #NoHumanBeingIsIllegal #AbortionIsAnImmigrationIssue.”
A Woman and Gender studies major at the university reportedly wrote on Facebook, “Yeah we’ve been scrambling to take [the posters] down.” One professor criticized the lack of consequences for the students who took down Padre Pio’s posters.
This is not the first time that pro-life posters were destroyed at LMU. Last year, similar posters met the same fate.
Also last year, a university employee who removed LGBT signs was accused of a “hate crime” and investigated for bias. Now, pro-life signs are removed with little or no action.