Not in Kansas Anymore

THE KANSAS CITY STAR, Feb. 18 — Archbishop James Keleher of Kansas City, Kan., has called on Catholic groups not to invite pro-abortion politicians or activists to speak at their institutions.

The archbishop issued a statement Feb. 13 in The Leaven, the archdiocesan newspaper, a day after pro-abortion Gov. Kathleen Sebelius, a Catholic, spoke at the University of St. Mary in Leavenworth.

“It is imperative that our Catholic churches, schools and institutions,” Archbishop Keleher said, “make ever y effort not only to support the pro-life movement but especially to ensure that the public understand our unequivocal stand on this issue.”

‘Scandal!’

THE BALTIMORE SUN, Feb. 18 — In its ongoing effort to condemn the showing of “The Vagina Monologues” at Catholic colleges and universities, the Cardinal Newman Society ran full-page ads against the play in USA Today in mid-February.

The ads' headlines stated: “Scandal! Notre Dame, Georgetown, Boston College, Holy Cross, Loyola, DePaul and 24 more Catholic colleges to host X-rated ‘play’ that glorifies child seduction and other horrors.”

The advertisements, which ran in the Baltimore-Washington, Boston and Chicago areas, also noted by name the secular schools that planned to present the play.

Packed for Passion

THE NEWS-GAZETTE (Champaign, Ill.), Feb. 23 — Members of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign's Fellowship of Catholic University Students planned to pack a local theater for the opening of The Passion of the Christ, which opened Feb. 25.

Elizabeth Boever, the director of the campus' Focus chapter, saw a screening of the movie at Focus' conference in Denver in January.

“It's a very accurate description of the sacrifice that Christ made,” she told the paper. “That love is expressed on the screen.”

A benefactor had contacted the campus Newman Foundation, where Boever's office is headquartered, and sent 200 tickets to Focus ministry members.

Tough Times Ahead

THE CHRONICLE OF HIGHER EDUCATION, Feb. 20 — As the first Catholic university in the former Soviet Union, Ukrainian Catholic University in Lviv, Ukraine, has overcome some long odds.

However, it still has a way to go, according to the higher education periodical.

For example, the country's Education Ministry still will not recognize diplomas from the school, in part because of the lack of theological-education standards in the country.

“The university is issuing diplomas that it doesn't have a right to issue,” said an Education Ministry accreditation and licensing supervisor.

And recently, a government accreditation commission refused to recognize the Harvard doctorate degree held by the university's rector, Father Borys Gudziak.

Play Protesters

WNDU (Notre Dame, Ind.), Feb. 16 — Members of the local Right to Life and campus ministries stood firmly against the presentation of “The Vagina Monologues” on Feb. 14 at the University of Notre Dame.

“This has kind of been a blight on the Catholic image of the university,” Father J. Steele said.

Although the play had been presented on campus for the past two years, the news station noted, this was the first year protesters showed up outside.

Inside, however, the show was sold out.