LORETTO, Pa. — A Catholic university in central Pennsylvania has canceled a speech by Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist Ellen Goodman because she supports abortion rights.
The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette says the syndicated columnist was scheduled to speak at St. Francis University in Loretto on Oct. 12. The university rescinded the invitation after the Cardinal Newman Society, a lay watchdog group that monitors how colleges adhere to church teaching, objected to her appearance.
Goodman was to lecture on civility in public discourse and told the newspaper for a story Wednesday of her "disappointment at having my plea for civility returned with a pie in the face."
Provost Wayne Powel says the school typically screens speakers but says there "was a broken process in this case."
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