Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia told a room full of college students that Georgetown University, his alma mater, has drifted from its Catholic roots, according to The Daily Progress.
Scalia, whose appearance at the University of Virginia was sponsored by the St. Anselm Institute for Catholic Thought, said that Georgetown’s Catholic identity was stronger when he attended, according to the report.
“When I was at Georgetown, it was a very Catholic place. It’s not anymore – and that’s too bad,” Scalia said, according to the Progress. “What has happened to Catholic universities, that they would lose their reason for being?”
He alluded to an incident from 2009 when Georgetown agreed to cover up the “IHS” monogram of Jesus Christ when President Barack Obama came to speak, according to the article.
Scalia also said, according to the Progress, that Georgetown is not alone and that many other Catholic universities have drifted away from the faith. He said that while many in the educated and intellectual class view religious people as foolish or naïve, it’s important for Christians to be proud of their faith.
“You’ve always got to be open to discussing your faith,” he reportedly said. “Be eager to discuss it.”
Too many Catholics have shown an unwillingness to spread their faith, he reportedly said. Because of that, “the church has been in trouble for a while.”
The Cardinal Newman Society reported recently that Academy Award-winning writer and Georgetown University alumnus William Peter Blatty’s petition for the implementation of Ex corde Ecclesiae at Georgetown has been submitted to the Supreme Pontiff, Pope Francis.
Originally published by The Cardinal Newman Society's Catholic Education Daily on 9 October 2013.
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