Abortion Advocate to Speak at the (Jesuit) University of San Francisco

On October 30, USF's Lane Center for Catholic Studies and Social Thought will host a lady named Sylvia Marcos. From the USF webpage:

"Sylvia Marcos: Feminist Theology and the Zapatista Movement: A Report from Chiapas
Thursday, October 30, 2008
12:00 noon
Handlery Dining Room 100, USF Lone Mountain Campus

Co-sponsored with the USF departments of theology and religious studies, Latin American studies and Latina/Chicana studies and the USF Center for Latino Studies in the Americas (CELASA).

Internationally recognized professor of religion and sociology, Sylvia Marcos, will discuss Catholic pastoral activism and feminist theology in the woman-centered leadership of the Zapatista movement in Chiapas, México."


Ms. Marcos also happens to be one of the signatories to this document:

"A Faith-Filled Commitment to Development Includes a Commitment to Women’s Rights and Reproductive Health"

"Religious Reflections on the Millennium Development Goals
Prepared for the 2005 World Summit
14-16 September 2005

The document includes the following paragraph:

"Women must have access to comprehensive reproductive health services and information to prevent unplanned and high-risk pregnancies, which often lead women to abortion, even where abortion is unsafe and illegal. Unsafe abortion is a public health concern and where abortion is illegal governments and health systems should work together to change their country’s abortion laws and make safe abortion legal and accessible to those women who voluntarily choose to have one." (emphasis added).

The signatories of this document are arguing, on the basis of religion, that a woman has the "right" to kill her child. This might be a good time to remind the University of San Francisco of these words, from our United States Catholic Bishops:

"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. "

Such a guest is of course nothing new for USF's Lane Center. Go here to see a series of posts on Lane Center activities.