Diocese Cancels Nun's Duluth Talk Because of Anti-Bush Newspaper Ad

RELIGION: The author of "Dead Man Walking" was scheduled to speak at an October Catholic fundraiser, which is now canceled.

Catholic Sister Helen Prejean, author of "Dead Man Walking" and a longtime social activist, has been uninvited as the keynote speaker at the Diocese of Duluth education dinner in October.

In a letter to some diocese residents sent Monday, Duluth Bishop Dennis Schnurr said the decision to cancel the event and Prejean's address was based on her name appearing on an Aug. 3 New York Times advertisement calling for President Bush to be removed from office.

Schnurr said the ad was brought to his attention by lay people in the diocese.

"Upon reviewing the advertisement, I find that I share their concerns," Schnurr said in the letter. "Therefore we have made the difficult decision to cancel her appearance."

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On her Web site, [Prejean] said, "There is... one issue addressed in the ad that I cannot endorse, which if I had seen the final version of the ad would have led me to withhold my signature. My stance on abortion is a matter of public record. I stand morally opposed to killing: war, executions, killing of the old and demented, the killing of children, unborn and born."

But Prejean offered no apologies for her direct criticism of the Bush administration, saying her faith demands action against Bush.

"I signed the ad because as a follower of the way of Jesus and a U.S. citizen, I cannot stand by passively and silently as I witness my government wage such grievous oppression and violence," Prejean wrote on her Web site. "For me, personally, it would be sinful not to raise my voice publicly in opposition to the life-destructive policies and practices of the Bush administration."

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My Comments:
Funny, but I don't recall Sister Prejean calling for Bill Clinton's impeachment in light of his "life-destructive policies" such as support for abortion on demand, support for expansion of federal crimes subject to capital punishment, and his decision to bomb Serbia into submission.