The name of the school is CATHOLIC UNIVERSITY. Think a little about what that means before you apply.
These muslims shouldn’t have applied in the first place, but now that they had, they must live under the university. The university can’t be asked to change the identity, structure of the university for the whim of a small minority.
The crosses and crucifixes stay.
Actually, I wouldn’t see the big deal of having one room without crosses for the Muslim students to pray in. As long as it is just one room, what is the harm exactly?
That said, a lawsuit is silliness.
Should a Catholic University then provide a Menorah for the Jewish students, a Kwanzaa candle for Americans who happen to be black and practice the customs and traditions of Kwanzaa? If this is true, then I think public institutions should provide separate rooms for folks practicing different beliefs.
Isn’t this episode an intrusion of the secular into the religious? What happened to separation of church and state?
As others have stated, the Muslims at the university have nothing to do with this. In fact, Muslims outside of the university have nothing to do with this. This is a lawyer who goes after every odd thing that he can come up with.
For those who do not konw it, The Catholic University of America (my alma mater) is a pontifical university. It’s chancellor is the local archbishop. It is not a private university as is Franciscan University or Notre Dame. Those are private Catholic universities.
However, the status of the university has nothing to do with this. The case here is very simple. The Office of Campus Ministry may have given the Muslims a room of their own to pray, if they had asked for it. The Student Union is very large and can accomodate them. They have not asked for it. They asked for an organization for Arabic students, which the university granted. To this organization belong Christian students as well. The organization celebrates Arabic culture. We know that Arabic and Muslim are not interchangeable. That would be as silly as saying that European and Catholic are interchangeable.
When I was a student at CUA the Iran crisis was in progress. There were many people who were hostile toward Iranians in the USA. I remember walking across the campus in my habit. Two Iranian students approached me and said, “Please pray for us. We’re afraid.” These girls were about 19 years old.
They felt safe at CUA, because they had a zero tolerance policy against bullying anyone for race, sexual orientation, religious affiliation, political differences and so forth. You could be expelled and the university reserved the right to press charges against you. On the other hand, the administration has said no to requests that are in conflict with the Catholic faith, such as gay student organization.
It has a long history as a place that exists to proclaim the Gospel, educate the common man, and protect those who are frightened. Like all institutions, there have been mistakes. However, targeting people is not one of them. I was there for 8 years. I’m very proud to say that I’m a graduate of The Catholic University of America, as are other faithful Catholics as Bishop Fulton Sheen and Cardinal Sean O’Malley and many other prominent Catholics.
Fraternally,
Br. JR, OSF
