On May 22, 2009, the University of San Francisco (USF), a Catholic, Jesuit institution, plans to honor and provide the undergraduate commencement platform to South African Bishop Kevin Dowling, who has publicly criticized abstinence-only programs and supports condom use by those infected with or at risk of contracting HIV/AIDS. USF also plans to provide the graduate school commencement platform to a prominent supporter of gay marriage.

“Our Holy Father was viciously attacked during his recent visit to Africa for teaching that condom use is gravely immoral,” said Patrick J. Reilly, President of The Cardinal Newman Society. “Bishop Dowling’s concern for the plight of AIDS victims is admirable, but he has become a champion of dissent against the Vatican’s clear teaching on condoms, and USF’s decision to honor him will be seen as approval for his dissent and encourages division in the Church.”

After Bishop Dowling expressed his view regarding condoms in a 2001 interview, the South African bishops’ conference condemned his statements and has reaffirmed that condoms are “immoral” and a “misguided weapon in the fight against HIV.” The papal nuncio of South Africa has also rebuked Bishop Dowling at least twice.

In a 2008 interview with U.S. News and World Report entitled “Why the Pope is Wrong About Condoms,” Bishop Dowling argued that for women who sell sexual favors, “It's not prostitution in my view but simply a mechanism for them to survive. I believe the one way they can take control, in the desperation they're in, is by demanding that the men they have transactional sex with use a condom.”

Regarding “nurses and community leaders” in his diocese, Bishop Dowling says, “We give them full, accurate, and nonjudgmental information about HIV… including information about condoms. We tell them that although condoms aren’t 100 percent effective, they’re very successful at preventing HIV transmission if you use them consistently, carefully, and correctly every time.”

According to Time Magazine, Bishop Dowling argues that condoms “should be accepted as a tool for protecting millions of vulnerable lives against AIDS… rather than denounced as a form of birth control.”

On May 23, the University of San Francisco is also planning to provide the graduate school commencement platform to gay marriage proponent Kamala D. Harris, the San Francisco District Attorney.

According to the Bay Area Reporter, Harris has spoken at rallies against California Proposition 8. The proposition, which passed, defined marriage as between one man and one woman. Harris said that was an expression of “prejudice” and “hate.”