Protestors oppose Charles Rice lecture
WATERLOO – At least two groups led by professors protested the appearance of Charles Rice as keynote speaker at the Pascal Lectures on Christianity and the University at the University of Waterloo. Rice, a professor emeritus at the University of Notre Dame Law School and devout Roman Catholic opposed to same-sex “marriage” and abortion, will give a lecture on Natural Law. The organizers plan to make sure that the engagement is not shut down by protesters like Christie Blatchford’s appearance at the university last year was when she planned to speak about her book on the aboriginal occupation of Caledonia. Rice dismissed the controversy. “This is not mount-the-barricades stuff,” he told the Waterloo Region Record. “What can you know? Can you really know, objectively, right and wrong?” Still, there is controversy. Steven Bednarski, a professor of medieval history at the school, led one counter-event, “An Evening of Christian Tolerance and Inclusivity” at St. Jerome’s College at the University of Waterloo, as a form of protest against Rice, saying his group was not interested in censoring retired Notre Dame professor. Bednarski told the Record the evening was designed as a “teaching moment” for students.
Catholic teachers union to host LGBT conference
TORONTO – The Ontario English Catholic Teachers Association (OECTA) will host a conference from May 4 to 5 “for classroom teachers and administratyors (sic) on supporting maginalized (sic) and LGBT students in Ontario’s Catholic schools” with the theme “Reach Every Student. Know Their Story.” Speakers include Catherine Taylor, the author of a 2011 survey commissioned by EGALE that has been used to incorporate homosexuality into school curricula; Dorothy Espelage, a U.S. educational psychologist working to help homosexual youth develop their identities; Mark McGowan, principal of St. Michael’s College at the University of Toronto who denounced renowned Catholic philosopher Peter Kreeft for presenting Catholic teaching about homosexuality during a 2003 lecture at the college; and Paul Cavalluzzo, who advised OECTA that expectations for Catholic teachers to be true witnesses to the faith were “idealistic.”
