The Jesuit-run University of Scranton just announced it has hired former U.S. Sen. Bob Casey Jr. as a Leahy Distinguished Fellow in Public Service, with the school celebrating his role mentoring students and advising on “ethics” and leadership. This isn’t a minor appointment; it places a national politician whose record now advances legal abortion into a position of formation at a Catholic university. That is a grave scandal.
Alumnus Francis P. Sempa blasted the move, noting the president’s praise that Casey is “perfect” for “forming men and women to be agents of social change.” Translation: relativize the Gospel to fit the zeitgeist. A Jesuit school should form saints, not activists for a culture that discards the unborn.
Let’s be crystal clear about the facts. In May 2022, after years of branding himself “pro-life,” Casey publicly shifted and announced support for the Women’s Health Protection Act, a federal bill to codify Roe v. Wade nationwide. He said he would vote to advance debate and support the bill on final passage. That is not neutral; it is taking sides against the unborn.
Some claim such legislation would allow abortion “up to birth.” Fact-checkers dispute that shorthand, but even they affirm Casey voted to enshrine Roe’s regime nationally—the very framework the Church has opposed from day one. The bottom line remains: Casey used his office to expand legal protection for abortion. That is fundamentally incompatible with Catholic moral teaching.
Contrast that with his father, Gov. Robert P. Casey Sr., the pro-life Democrat whose name is literally attached to Planned Parenthood v. Casey (1992). While that ruling tragically reaffirmed Roe, it did so because Pennsylvania under Casey Sr. defended protections for mothers and children and pushed restrictions the Court had to address. The case bears his name because he fought. The son now fights for the other side.
What does the Catechism of the Catholic Church teach? It could not be plainer:
- “Human life must be respected and protected absolutely from the moment of conception.” (CCC 2270)
- “Since the first century the Church has affirmed the moral evil of every procured abortion… Direct abortion… is gravely contrary to the moral law.” (CCC 2271)
- “Formal cooperation in an abortion constitutes a grave offense,” and penalties—including canonical ones—may apply. (CCC 2272)
To give public honor and formative influence to a politician who promotes abortion law is to confuse the faithful and lead others into sin—what the Catechism calls scandal: “an attitude or behavior which leads another to do evil… a grave offense.” (CCC 2284).
Scranton’s own announcement wraps this hire in Jesuit language about ethics and service, even citing “Jesuit values” and the Center for Ethics and Excellence in Public Service. Ethics devoid of the first right—the right to life—is a costume, not a Catholic witness. A university that claims Christ and Ignatius cannot hold the coat for those who legalize the killing of the smallest among us.
So here’s the call to action, spoken with love and Catholic backbone: Alumni, parents, students, and bishops must demand accountability. Ask the University of Scranton to rescind this appointment or, at minimum, to end the pretense that such leadership models Catholic formation. Formation means conforming our minds to Christ—not to party platforms or polling. Anything less is betrayal.
Catholics, take a stand. Pray. Speak. Act. Withdraw honors from those who advance abortion. Support institutions and leaders who defend life without compromise. The Church’s teaching isn’t murky; it’s immovable. The unborn are not a policy debate. They are our brothers and sisters. And a Catholic university that forgets that has forgotten who and Whose it is.
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