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This Year's Goldie Hawn

Pro-Abortion Attorney General Addresses Loyola Marymount Graduates

BY LARRY CARSTENS

Less than five hundred feet from the entrance to Sacred Heart Chapel, in the area of the Loyola Marymount University campus known as the Sunken Gardens, California state attorney general Bill Lockyer delivered an address for the commencement ceremonies of Loyola Law School, on Sunday, May 15. For some members of the university's administration, Lockyer's appearance was entirely appropriate and welcome. For others, including some Loyola Marymount faculty members and the Cardinal Newman Society, a watchdog group which, according to its website, is "blowing the whistle on any Catholic college or university that blatantly disrespects the bishops by defying their clear command and teaching," the Lockyer invitation and subsequent appearance was a reprehensible violation of Catholic teaching.

In June of 2004, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops approved the statement, "Catholics in Political Life," which included the following: "the Catholic community and Catholic institutions should not honor those who act in defiance of our fundamental moral principles. They should not be given awards, honors, or platforms which would suggest support for their actions." The statement of the bishops' conference is considered an implementation of Pope John Paul II's Ex Corde Ecclesiæ, the apostolic constitution for Catholic colleges, universities, and institutions of higher learning, which was issued in 1990.

While Attorney General Lockyer has not claimed to be a Catholic, a number of Catholic observers hold that he has acted in defiance of fundamental moral principles and pursued an anti-Catholic agenda while in office. Dr. James Hanink, a professor of philosophy at Loyola Marymount, distributed a flyer to commencement attendees, which stated, "Lockyer is suing the federal government to block a federal law that would cut off federal funds amounting to about $49 billion if California punishes health care providers and insurance companies that refuse to provide, cover or give referrals for abortion." The federal law, the Hyde-Weldon Conscience Protection Amendment, signed into law by President George W. Bush on December 8, 2004, protects the freedom of conscience of health facilities and doctors who refuse to do abortions. The amendment was hailed as a victory for the pro-life cause and Catholic institutions. However, on the day after the amendment became law, Lockyer announced he would file suit to challenge it. His action was praised by a number of outspoken "pro-choice" politicians and groups, including Senators Dianne Feinstein and Barbara Boxer, California congresswoman Nancy Pelosi (D-San Francisco), and Planned Parenthood. They, like Lockyer, would favor state laws that would force Catholic hospitals to violate Catholic teaching against abortion.

So why was Lockyer invited to deliver the commencement at a Catholic institution? An e-mail asking this and other questions was sent to the office of Jesuit Father Robert Lawton, president of Loyola Marymount University, and David Burcham, dean of Loyola Law School. Dean Burcham did not reply, but an assistant to Father Lawton, Kathleen Flanagan, did. "As an elected official and the leading attorney for the entire State of California," said Flanagan, "we believe it was appropriate to have Mr. Lockyer provide remarks to our graduating law students. We welcomed his appearance. Guest appearances on the LMU campus from members representing our society's key institutions of government, industry, education and religion enrich the academic environment of the campus. These speakers often represent many different aspects of key social issues. We believe that universities such as LMU — which teach and practice social justice — are the ideal environment for thoughtful discussion and debate." Flanagan's reply contained no response to the question: "do you consider the invitation of Mr. Lockyer to be a violation of Church teaching?"

On the day Lockyer delivered his address, there was no thoughtful discussion or debate, at least not on a public level. This writer observed a number of people holding quiet side conversations or directing their attention here and there. Neither Lockyer nor the crowd seemed very enthusiastic. His brief speech concluded with the point that the field of law has been one of the main instruments of social progress, both in the past and at present. He spoke of how the law and the courts were instrumental in ending slavery and segregation (perhaps forgetting how Lincoln criticized and ignored "that eminent tribunal" in his efforts to end slavery); then described how the courts are making social progress today in the areas of "gay rights" and "privacy" (commonly recognized as a code word for "abortion;" e.g. on December 9, 2004, Senator Feinstein referred to the Hyde-Weldon Conscience Protection Amendment as "a back door attempt to chip away at our constitutional right to privacy.") While no one visibly protested during his speech, there was only mild, polite applause when Lockyer finished. An objective observer would be hard pressed to describe the response of the audience (of families and friends of the graduating law students) to Lockyer 's speech as anything other than apathetic. One gentleman who appeared to be a father of a graduate said he had no opinion about Lockyer's speech other than he was glad it was short.

Before the commencement began, Hanink and others held protest signs near the entrance, but when Hanink attempted to distribute flyers, perhaps to encourage "thoughtful discussion and debate," he was told by the chief of security that "they" said he wasn't allowed to do so.

Apart from the administration of the university, strong opinions about Lockyer's presence seemed in short supply. As an alumnus of Loyola Marymount (class of '89), I sent e-mails to ten former professors and spoke with one to solicit opinions about Lockyer's presence and the protestors. Several sent polite replies without offering any comments on the issues. However, Jesuit Father Richard Rolfs, whom I remembered as an outstanding professor of history, stated, "I don't know about the university's policies on accepting these people. I don't believe in what he [Lockyer] is doing; it isn't in consonance at all with what the Church teaches ... this 'pro-choice' business." Rolfs continued: "The Church can't tell people who are not Catholic to believe what Catholics believe, [but] the Church can certainly tell Catholics: this is what we hold [true]. As to why they asked him to speak out here, you'd have to ask the president of the university or whoever approves it. I would not have approved it, on the basis of what he stands for."

Father Rolfs mentioned that he had posted one of the flyers he had received from Dr. Hanink on the bulletin board of the Jesuit residence on campus. "We as a Catholic university can instruct Catholics," Rolfs opined, "because we' re a witness to the Church's tradition ... If we're a Catholic institution, we have to be a witness to ... [Catholic teaching]. If we're not, we're contradicting what the Church teaches, and are we really a Catholic institution? We have to raise that question."

Hanink responded to further questions as follows:

What are your thoughts about the protest of Bill Lockyer?

Hanink: "Pro-life work is for the long haul. Knowing this, we need to communicate boldly and effectively. Thousands of cars, driving very slowly, many packed with friends and families of the graduates, drove within a yard or two of our pro-life messages. In addition, hundreds of people read the copies of the U.S. bishops' clear statement calling upon Catholic institutions not to provide a platform, much less honor, pro-abortion leaders like Bill Lockyer."

About how many people protested (that you were aware of)?

"Three! Plus one volunteer sign-maker. You see, we had learned only a couple days before the event that Lockyer was to speak. This seems to be part of the administration's stealth policy. Last year, we had only a day's notice that Goldie Hawn would speak to the undergraduates."

What were some responses to your actions?

"We saw a lot of smiles [in response to] the poster that read: "LOCKYER + LOYOLA = IDENTITY THEFT." Happily, there were no middle-digits or obscenities. There was one [man] who shouted: 'Go home!' which was answered, in part, with: 'I work here.'"

Any further thoughts about this?

"Well, we certainly are getting our practice. In recent years, LMU has honored William Brennan, Richard Riordan, Christopher Dodd, Diane Watson, Jane Harman, and Bill Lockyer — all of them committed to pro-abortion policies."

Perhaps Hanink's comment about "getting our practice" can indicate something of a "silver lining" in a phenomenon which orthodox Catholics would regard as a sort of "dark cloud" over Catholic institutions of higher learning: public awareness and resistance seems to be on the increase. One possible sign of the times was a recent broadcast of the Laura Ingraham Show (which can be heard in the Los Angeles area on weekday mornings from 6 to 9 a.m., on 870AM). The talk show host (and recent convert to Catholicism) dedicated part of her show during the week following Lockyer's Loyola Marymount appearance to "Graduation Horror Stories" and invited callers from around the United States to describe their reactions to highly politicized, inappropriate graduation speeches that they had endured. The Cardinal Newman Society also pointed out that "bishops have ended recognition of four historically Catholic colleges since Ex Corde Ecclesiæ was issued in 1990...."

Patrick Reilly, president of the Cardinal Newman Society and a recent guest on MSNBC, commented: "we are monitoring the commencement speakers and honorees at all 220 Catholic colleges and universities in the U.S., and we will fight with bulldog tenacity to oppose any college president who chooses to embarrass his or her bishop. Our purpose is to restore Catholic identity where it has diminished, but if it has finally come to the point when a bishop must declare a college non-Catholic, he can rely on the support of our 16,000-plus members and many more grateful parents nationwide."

More information on the Cardinal Newman Society can be found on its website: www.cardinalnewmansociety.org.

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