Catholic Leaders Sign Document Urging “Assumption of Chastity” on Catholic Campuses

MANASSAS, Virginia, December 19, 2006 (LifeSiteNews.com)Catholic colleges and universities must “faithfully and compassionately” address disordered attitudes towards sexuality on their campuses, a document signed by more than 50 leaders of Catholic organizations said, in particular calling for chastity in students and faculty dealing with same-sex attractions.

"We leaders of various Catholic apostolates encourage all Catholics, united in prayer and action, to faithfully and compassionately address rising homosexual activism, sexual scandals, pornography and sexual addiction, and harmful attitudes toward sexuality, human life, and marriage on Catholic college and university campuses,” the statement drafted by the Cardinal Newman Society (CNS) begins.

“The Christian response to the wound of same-sex attraction is not hatred or discrimination, but aggressive efforts to develop a prevailing 'assumption of chastity' among students, faculty, administrators, staff, and trustees on Catholic campuses, and an environment available to healing."Entitled Addressing Same-Sex Attraction and the Virtue of Chastity on Catholic Campuses, the statement calls on Catholic educational institutions to foster a campus culture that is “conducive to moral student life,” remembering the Church’s call to chastity for all Christians.

“The overall message is that Catholic universities have the responsibility not to give in to the intellectual fashion today, but that they stay with the teachings of the Catholic church,” President Nick Healy of Florida’s Ave Maria University, told the Naples News.

“The church teaches that [same-sex attraction] is an objective disorder, and should be discouraged.”

The statement urges institutions to educate students about Catholic moral teaching on marriage, human life, and sexuality, and calls for spiritual, psychological and medical guidance for students, faculty and staff who are “struggling with chastity.”“We’ve all got disorders and temptations toward evil,” Joseph Fessio, provost of Ave Maria, told the Naples News.

“That comes from original sin. If we were to find people having difficulty living a moral life, we would try to help.”While “there is no valid scientific evidence for a biological origin of same-sex attraction,” the document states, “there is evidence that persons with same-sex attractions can and do change.” [More]

I am happy to see this happening. I think it is a move in the right direction for the culture of life. I wish this would have been in effect in the 60's, but I thank God for giving our leaders the wisdom to take action on this today.
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