This is one of those recent stories that deserves telling in detail because it is emblematic of the strong undercurrent of secular mentality even at a school that advertises itself
as 'academically excellent, passionately Catholic". It's an obverse aspect of the Finnis case in Oxford. First, the latest update - background will follow.
BREAKING: Stephen Lewis removed as
Chair of Steubenville english department
January 11, 2018
Stephen Lewis, the professor at Franciscan University of Steubenville who is at the center of the recent controversy over his assignment of a "pornographic" and "blasphemous" French novel that included sexually graphic musings, some involving the Virgin Mary, has just been removed as the chair of the English Department.
The department description, above, listing Dr. Lewis as Chair, was I believe still up yesterday (the cache itself is from January 8th). But a new description, without the Chair designation, has now replaced it. And there is a new name and picture as Chair (Dr. Mary Ann Sunyoger).
This follows an initial defense of Lewis's actions by Steubenville's Public Relations Manager, Tom Sofio. However, after pressure from other faculty members, donors and alumni, the President of Steubenville, Father Sean Sheridan, quickly backtracked and issued an apology.
According to Christina Niles at Church Militant, which initially broke the story, Stephen Lewis himself remained "defiant".
Lewis has been a controversial figure for some time. Among other things he had backed Rachel Bratten Weiss, the self-proclaimed "leftist feminist" that Steubenville had decided not to re-hire in 2017. His wife, Suzanne M. Lewis still edits the journal Convivium with Weiss and the two worked together on the Revolution of Tenderness festival in Pittsburgh.
As I reported on my Twitter feed, just last night most web links to the journal and the festival were suddenly made "private", even though the until then very public pages had previously been used by Lewis, Weiss and others to raise money for and publicize their writings and events. [Obviously, you can still view most of the pages by choosing the "cache" option in your Google search.]
The incident has been an embarrassment to Steubenville and perhaps a minor tragedy for its students. But I hope I will be forgiven for thinking it also has its comic elements. The Lewis-Weiss axis seems to have an obsession with juvenile vulgarity, whether it is assigning French "erotic" novels to graduate students or making political comments on Twitter.
Bratten Weiss spent much of yesterday defending Stephen Lewis in the twittersphere.
"We're basically open-minded and unprudish Catholics. Why is Steubenville being so fascist?" was the general if predictable gist. But her last tweet was something else:
What a lovely young lady. Definitely Steubenville English Department material.
Now, for the background:
Steubenville prof assigns French novel
with graphic speculation on Mary's sex life
by Christine Niles
(This article received 342 comments)
January 8, 2019
STEUBENVILLE, Ohio (ChurchMilitant.com) - Franciscan University of Steubenville is defending a reading assignment that includes graphic depiction of pornography and claims the Mother of Christ "had sex" and perhaps "even masturbated."
In a course for spring 2018, Dr. Stephen Lewis, chair of the English department, assigned his students
The Kingdom: A Novel, by Emmanuel Carrère, an atheist who rejects the Catholic faith. The book is written from the author's perspective and is a hotch potch of random musings on various figures in the early life of the Church, from Zacchaeus to the Apostles to Mary and Martha, and others.
In the midst of his thoughts, which seem to be written in a disorganized, stream-of-consciousness style, he abruptly and without warning begins a graphic discussion of internet porn, in particular a female masturbation scene and how it relates to his thoughts on Our Lady.
The author details a female masturbation scene and how it relates to his thoughts on Our Lady.
Saying that evenings are quiet in a mountain village in the Valais region is an understatement, and I dedicate some — in fact almost all — of them to watching pornography on the Internet. Most of what's on offer leaves me indifferent, not to say disgusts me: extreme gang bangs, pu****s getting f***** by machines, pregnant women screwed by horses ... My most persistent inclination is toward female masturbation...
Carrère details an example of "incredibly exciting" porn titled "brunette masturbates and has two orgasms," going on to discuss how the porn is "intimately linked" to his speculation of Mary. He also offers gratuitous discussion of the female pubic area.
He follows this with a frame-by-frame account of the masturbation scene... going into graphic details... The author admits, "I have watched it twenty times over, and I will watch it again."
In the next section the author makes clear he rejects the existence of "the Holy Virgin," but acknowledges that Jesus had a mother, although a human mother who "had sex" and probably "masturbated."
This woman knew a man in her youth. She had sex. She might have come, let's hope so for her, maybe she even masturbated. Probably not with as much abandon as the brunette who has two orgasms, but whatever else is true she had a clitoris between her legs.
Church Militant has confirmed that various faculty are upset that the novel was assigned reading at a Catholic school that touts itself as orthodox and concerned for the spiritual welfare of its students. But In spite of being confronted by administration, Lewis has defended his decision to assign the novel in his course.
Church Militant asked the university why it was allowing this book to be assigned reading for students, why it was sold in the campus bookstore , and whether it had any plans to ensure the book was removed. The university issued a statement defending the novel as assigned reading. Tom Sofio, public relations manager, sent an email to Church Militant requesting that the following statement be quoted in full in our report:
Franciscan University challenges students intellectually, helps form them professionally, and engages them spiritually. This includes arming our students with the knowledge and wisdom to confront the challenges of a coarse modern culture, which often runs contrary to Catholic teaching.
Heresy, and sinful acts such as murder and adultery that go against Catholic teaching, are addressed at Franciscan to help to strengthen students’ faith and prepare them to engage with today’s culture. While this happens through the study of literature by authors such as Homer, Virgil, Dante, and Shakespeare who portray many sinful acts, it can also happen when they grapple with significant challenges to Catholic faith by contemporary writers.
Franciscan students learn through critical comparison to consider multiple sides of an issue or argument, led by professors who always promote Catholic spiritual and moral perspectives. Thus, our students graduate better prepared to solve problems and engage with integrity in a world that desperately needs to hear the truth.
Where would we be, for example, if Catholics were unable or unwilling to engage with and push back against calumny such as The Da Vinci Code or against worse heresies and dangerous heterodoxies? Franciscan University promotes an authentic and vibrant Catholic faith—inside and outside the classroom—that helps students succeed spiritually, morally, and intellectually. We remain firm in providing the integration of faith and reason that will give them the best chance at lifelong success.
In a follow-up statement sent after this article went to press, Sofio clarified that only one copy of the book was sold as a textbook in the bookstore, but that it is no longer there. "There are no plans to use the book at Franciscan University again," said Sofio. Even so, the university defends Lewis's choice to assign the book in his previous course.
Franciscan styles itself a Catholic university faithful to the Magisterium, and among the few Catholic schools that offers an authentically Catholic education, thus appealing to a more traditional and conservative crowd. That orthodox branding, however, has come into serious question in light of a series of damaging reports revealing problems with the administration and faculty.
In 2017, Rebecca Bratten Weiss, an adjunct faculty member in Lewis's English deparatment, was asked by the administration not to return to Franciscan after she was exposed as a "pro-choice" feminist. She was also criticized for assigning reading to students that involved pornographic content. Weiss was supported and backed by Lewis, whose wife Suzanne is reportedly close friends with Weiss, and remains so to this day.
George Neumayr has published articles exposing the connection between relatively recent hire William Gorman, chief operating officer, and disgraced Cdl. Donald Wuerl of Washington, D.C., for whom he previously worked, and Fr. Sean Sheridan's decision to hire Gorman.
"Sheridan hired Gorman to liberalize the school because he wants Wuerl to get Pope Francis to name him a bishop," a source told Neumayr. "Sheridan desperately wants to be a bishop and sees Steubenville as a conservative backwater that is beneath him."
Church Militant has confirmed with multiple reliable sources at Franciscan that, in spite of Sheridan's public denials about Gorman's role — he is allegedly implementing a "diversity" plan that includes greater welcome for LGBT members — the agenda is real and moving forward quietly, behind the scenes, and away from the view and knowledge of most faculty.
This is apparently the reason why solid professors like Dr. Scott Hahn could write a piece defending Franciscan's Catholic identity in the face of Neumayr's reports — because orthodox, conservative professors are being misled and deliberately kept in the dark.
Church Militant has also learned that the development department at Franciscan has received multiple complaints from parents and donors unhappy with the direction in which Franciscan is moving, some threatening to drop support, and that Gorman is on a "damage control" tour with various faculty in order to minimize the bad publicity and salvage Franciscan's reputation.
In light of this latest scandal, it remains to be seen whether that reputation is salvageable.
Concerns remain despite Steubenville apology
for blasphemous book as required reading
Faculty claim Dr. Stephen Lewis is damaging the credibility of the university
by Christine Niles
January , 2019
STEUBENVILLE, Ohio (ChurchMilitant.com) - After intense backlash from outraged donors and parents, Franciscan University of Steubenville is backtracking on its defense of a blasphemous and pornographic reading assignment. Inside sources who have spoken with Church Militant make clear, however, that
the apology is meant to placate donors and supporters, and signals no real change at the university.
Father Sean Sheridan, president of the university, issued a letter to staff Wednesday evening regretting the choice of a novel assigned by English department chair Stephen Lewis in a spring 2018 course.
"I would like to apologize for the use of Emmanuel Carrère's
The Kingdom, in an advanced literature course at Franciscan University last spring," Sheridan wrote. "Above all, I would like to apologize to Our Blessed Mother and Her Son, and to anyone who has been scandalized by this incident."
Sheridan's apology came 24 hours after Church Militant broke the story that Lewis had assigned the novel, which includes graphic and explicit discussion of Carrère's internet porn addiction, the types of porn he watches, and how it relates to his thinking about Mary, mother of Jesus. Details from the novel are too graphic to include here.
In response to Church Militant's queries, the university, through spokesman Tom Sofio, initially defended Lewis's decision, claiming among other things that such literature helps prepare students to grapple with the Faith by considering multiple sides of an issue.
The backlash was intense and immediate; hundreds of outraged Catholics called, wrote and left comments online making clear they would drop all support for the school.
"It is unconscionable to me that Franciscan University of Steubenville actually issued a statement defending the assigned reading of a grotesque blasphemy against the Mother of God," wrote
one graduate student who disenrolled from a $1,500 course in light of the scandal. "You have actually defended evil. You actually defended a satanic attack against the Queen of Heaven and Earth. I am horrified and disgusted. This evil goes well beyond the tepid and poorly reasoned statement issued by the University public relations manager Tom Sofio. Unbelievable."
"We homeschool our eight children, and this WAS one of the colleges we were going to look into to sending our oldest next year," said one mother of eight. "We will no longer need to waste our time visiting their campus. I wrote them a letter today telling them they will not see one of my dollars or any of my children."
Her comments were echoed by many others, who also made clear Franciscan was no longer a viable option for their family or friends. Financial supporters wrote, called and left comments online promising never to give to the university again.
Dr. Scott Hahn, professor of biblical theology and the New Evangelization, expressed dismay at the administration's initial response.
"Academic freedom is valuable, but it should not be exercised in a vacuum," Hahn wrote in a Facebook comment. "Rather it must be in service to the truth, and not serve as a license for perversity and sacrilege. Assigning this book was irresponsible and imprudent. Defending it is unwise and wrongheaded. Please pray for our university."
Dr. Anne Hendershott, professor of sociology at Franciscan, said in comments to Church Militant, "The novel is horrific — something that no student at a faithful Catholic university should have been required to read. It was a betrayal of the Catholic identity and mission for a professor to assign such a novel."
Sheridan's Wednesday letter makes clear the university's initial response defending Lewis was inadequate: "Again, the professor did not intend to scandalize, but
The Kingdom is so directly pornographic and blasphemous that it has no place on a Catholic university campus," Sheridan wrote. "I regret that the University's earlier statement did not make this clear."
Missing from Sheridan's letter was an apology from Lewis, who sources make clear continues to defend his choice to assign the novel.
When administration confronted Lewis privately about the novel, before the story went to media, sources confirm Lewis was defiant, insisting on his right to assign such literature as a matter of "academic freedom." Faculty tell Church Militant he continues to stand by his decision, regardless of what Sheridan wrote.
A number of Catholics, including faculty, remain dissatisfied with Sheridan's response and want action against Lewis, who reportedly has a long track record of assigning questionable and inappropriate content to students.
According to multiple inside sources, Lewis is a large part of the problem at Franciscan and one of the main reasons the university has suffered damage to its credibility and reputation. Faculty in other departments are upset that one man overseeing a single department is being allowed to bring their beloved university into disrepute.
For instance, Lewis was behind the support for Rebecca Bratten Weiss, an adjunct professor in his English department for 11 years, who was forced to leave Steubenville in 2017 only after media exposed her as a "pro-choice" feminist. Since then, Weiss has also made clear her sympathy for the LGBT movement, repeatedly praising Jesuit celebrity priest Fr. James Martin, best known for his attempts to normalize homosexuality.
Weiss had also received complaints during her time at Franciscan for assigning students inappropriate literature — something she could not have done without the permission and approval of her department chair.
Weiss remains close to Lewis' family, working closely with Lewis' wife on editing a literary journal as well as hosting meet-ups with likeminded writers. She came to Lewis's defense in the latest controversy, publishing a blog post defending his choice to assign the novel while dismissing his critics as "far-right" journalists too unintelligent to comprehend his scholarly work.
In light of the latest controversy, Sheridan is now calling on all faculty to take the Oath of Fidelity. Ex Corde Ecclesiae, the 1989 Vatican document on authentic Catholic education, requires that
any professor teaching on matters directly pertaining to morals or doctrine must take an oath promising adherence to the Magisterium. Currently the theology faculty takes the oath, but other departments, including the English department, are not required.
Faculty have offered mixed responses to Sheridan's apology, with some grateful the president is adequately addressing faculty's concerns, while others are dissatisfied because he refuses to discipline Lewis.
"The first response from the university was disappointing," Hendershott told Church Militant. "Since Franciscan University prides itself on its support for Ex Corde Ecclesiae, it seemed to me to be a betrayal of that. Fr. Sheridan's response finally reflected the real concerns that faithful faculty at Franciscan University have had for quite a while now."
Even so, Hendershott says it's "time for action — not just promises for the future. It is clear that a distorted view of academic freedom has emerged among some on the faculty at Franciscan."
Hahn published a follow-up statement thanking Sheridan for his apology. "I am very thankful to Fr. Sean Sheridan, TOR, the President of Franciscan University of Steubenville for his heartfelt response — a strongly worded and clear message — to address an unfortunate situation that emerged this week," Hahn wrote. "Please read it and then share it with whoever asks if our university is still wholeheartedly committed to being 'academically excellent and passionately Catholic.'"
But faculty who have contacted Church Militant make clear
the administration has known "for years" about the problematic texts assigned and taught by Lewis. According to one faculty member who asked to remain anonymous for fear of reprisals, concerns about Lewis and his department were routinely "brushed aside" by Sheridan and the administration.
"Many of us on the faculty are appalled at the response of Fr. Sheridan," said the faculty member, who claimed that the president is making the situation "sound like a mistaken policy that needs to be addressed, instead of a scandalous professor who needs to be disciplined."
Sheridan claimed in his Wednesday letter that he was "unaware" the novel was being assigned in Lewis's course in spring 2018, and that he would ensure curriculum guidelines would be reviewed "to prevent future use of scandalous materials."
Although his statement is technically true, faculty confirm Sheridan has been aware of the graphic contents of the novel since at least the fall semester — long before his public apology.
"I can confirm without a doubt, 100 percent that Sheridan was aware of the contents of this novel last fall," said one faculty member who spoke with Church Militant on condition of anonymity. "Faculty approached him with concerns about the novel and about Lewis, and he dismissed them... He offered no apology to the Blessed Mother then, nothing," the source said.
Sheridan also failed to offer any assurances that the novel would not be assigned in a future course.
"He only offered the public apology after he was caught," the faculty member said, and only after donors called up threatening to drop financial support.
As to the call for faculty to take the Oath of Fidelity, some faculty members say the move is hypocritical and "highly insulting," as it is largely the administrators who "have yet to prove their fidelity" to the Magisterium, according to one source.
The public has also offered mixed reactions to Sheridan's letter. Although some are grateful for the clarification, others wonder why Lewis remains at the school.
"This is a garbage response that is meant to placate everybody," said Mark Ingoglio on Facebook. "We'll use the word 'scandalize' and that will satisfy the pious. We'll use the term 'unintentional' and that will let the prof off the hook. We'll get the committee to reword a policy so things like this won't have the potential to be discovered so easily in the future."
"If Fr. Scanlan was still there Lewis would have been gone yesterday," read another online comment.
"Good, but they have broken their trust with the people and would have gone forward with everything," said Elizabeth Shepherd Warynick on Facebook. "I would call for new leadership that people can trust to be REAL Catholics — I'd never send my child there until then."
Catholics also took to Twitter to insist Lewis should be fired.
I thought the ff would be a purifying touch for this post:
Vergine delle Rocce (Virgin of the Rocks), Fra Filippo Lippi, 15th cent.
[Modificato da TERESA BENEDETTA 12/01/2019 17:52]