Despite its Catholic mission, Trinity University in Washington, D.C., continues to extol two of its pro-abortion alumnae, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi and Kansas Governor Kathleen Sebelius. Both public officials identify themselves as Catholics but reject Catholic teaching on serious moral issues.

“It runs contrary to the very purpose of a Catholic university to applaud the pursuit of power for gravely immoral ends,” said Patrick J. Reilly, President of The Cardinal Newman Society.  “By deliberately associating itself with vocal advocates of what Pope John Paul II called a ‘Culture of Death,’ Trinity University has taken the low road.”

Featured on Trinity’s website is an announcement of Sebelius’s Democratic response to President Bush’s State of the Union address on Monday—which Trinity President Patricia McGuire attended as Pelosi’s special guest.  Also posted are an alumni magazine profile of Sebelius, a 2006 news release announcing her selection as head of the Democratic Governors Association, and a news release on TIME Magazine naming her a top governor.

But nowhere on the Trinity website is Sebelius’s support for abortion mentioned.  Instead, the site quotes Pelosi, who claims Sebelius “epitomizes the leadership that is moving America in a New Direction.”  The site links to a “blog” on which McGuire praises Sebelius as “an amazing political leader” who “has been able to build bipartisan coalitions around issues of importance to people in Kansas”—but not including the defense of innocent human life.

In 2003, Trinity honored Pelosi and Sebelius with honorary doctorates at a gala dinner.  In November 2006, Trinity hailed the reelections of both women to their posts.  In January 2007, Trinity again hailed Pelosi’s selection as House Speaker with a press release.  Then Trinity endured a barrage of criticism from The Cardinal Newman Society and other concerned Catholics when it hosted a special Mass for Pelosi on January 3, the day before she was sworn in as Speaker.

Worse still, the celebrant of the Mass requested by Pelosi was Jesuit Father Robert Drinan, a former member of Congress who had supported abortion rights and publicly defended President Bill Clinton’s veto of a bill to ban partial-birth abortion.  In his homily, Father Drinan had the audacity to recall “Christ’s personal love of children and His affirmation that ‘whatsoever you do for the least of My brethren you do for Me.’”  When Father Drinan died three weeks later, Trinity posted a tribute to him, yet another scandalous political figure.

Of Sebelius’s pro-abortion views, Archbishop Joseph Naumann of Kansas City said in September 2006, “It is difficult to find a single instance, either in a procedural or substantive vote, where she acted in a manner that would afford unborn children the maximum protection. …Sebelius voted to weaken or eliminate even such modest measures as parental notification, waiting periods and informed consent.”  He spoke on the occasion of her veto of a bill banning certain late-term abortions.