Holy Cross hears outcry for renting space to teen pregnancy session

A decision by the College of the Holy Cross to rent space at its campus center for a teenage pregnancy conference has stirred an outcry among some students, alumni, and church leaders who contend that the meeting undermines Catholic doctrine.

Bishop Robert J. McManus, head of the Diocese of Worcester, condemned the Jesuit liberal arts college for allowing groups that support contraception and abortion rights to meet on campus Oct. 24 for the Massachusetts Alliance on Teen Pregnancy's annual statewide conference. He named Planned Parenthood and NARAL Pro-Choice Massachusetts as participants that promote practices that run counter to church teachings.

"The College of the Holy Cross should recognize that any association with these groups can create the situation of offering scandal, understood in its proper theological sense, i.e., an attitude or behavior which leads another to do evil," McManus wrote in a statement released Wednesday by the Diocese.

He urged Holy Cross to rescind its agreement with the conference, "so the college can continue to be recognized as a Catholic institution committed to promoting the moral teaching of the Roman Catholic Church." McManus also called the positions of NARAL and Planned Parenthood "morally unacceptable."

But Holy Cross officials said the college had no plans to back out of its agreement with the conference, which they said was in no way affiliated with the school.

"It is the college's position that providing rented meeting space to a conference of professionals from a variety of Massachusetts organizations discussing the safety and care of at-risk teenagers does not represent a disregard of Catholic teaching," the Rev. Michael McFarland, president of Holy Cross, wrote in a statement.

News of the conference generated outrage among some Catholics and social conservative groups, which urged people to contact the college and the diocese and voice their opposition. The diocese said it had received about 500 complaints about the college's action in the past few days.

The controversy also forced Catholic Charities, a longtime conference participant that planned to make a presentation on its work with teenage fathers, to drop out.

The conference, called "Messages that Matter: Strengthening Prevention and Supporting Young Families," includes workshops on new developments in family planning and preventing the spread of sexually transmitted diseases among teenagers.

A college spokeswoman said Holy Cross did not carefully study the conference's agenda but determined that the group's work with at-risk teenagers was not in opposition to Catholic teaching. The college has allowed the conference to rent space without controversy since 2001. The group paid $10,000 for the space this year.

Officials at other Catholic universities said the decision by the Worcester college to allow supporters of abortion rights and contraception use to meet on campus was unusual.

"As a fellow Jesuit university, we do not judge Holy Cross and are not aware of the circumstances that led to the decision," said Boston College spokesman Jack Dunn. "However, as a matter of policy, Boston College does not allow its facilities to be rented by groups in opposition to church teaching."

Joseph Esposito - director of research for the Cardinal Newman Society, which seeks to strengthen Catholic identity at Catholic colleges - said he didn't believe "these are the actions of an authentically Catholic university."

Raymond Delisle, spokesman for the Worcester Diocese, said the public would not grasp Holy Cross's distinction between renting space and hosting the event.

"No one's reading the fine print," he said. "The perception of support is there."

The Massachusetts Alliance on Teen Pregnancy, a Boston advocacy and policy group, said it chose Holy Cross for its location and was not trying to court controversy.

"We were surprised by the response, because this is just a business relationship," said Patricia Quinn, senior director of public policy and programs for the group. Quinn credited the college for resisting calls to renege on its agreement with the conference.

Quinn and a Holy Cross spokeswoman said they were not sure why the conference drew attention this year. Planned Parenthood and NARAL both had participated in the past, they said.

"I find it very hard to understand why this is an issue of great concern after six years," said John P. Hamill, chairman of the college's board of advisers, who said he supported the decision.

But Marissa Athanasiou, a junior and cochairwoman of the college's Students for Life group, said many students at the school were angry about the presence of abortion rights groups on the campus of 2,800 students.

"This is a Catholic school, and it should be following Catholic teaching," she said. "Allowing groups like Planned Parenthood to come to our school, whether or not they are officially sponsoring it, is inappropriate."