Catholic universities are expected to inculcate among their students the teachings of Jesus Christ, such as the value of human life and the need to protect it.
However, Georgetown University—the oldest Catholic university in the United States based in Washington D.C. which is ran by Jesuit priests—recently allowed the president of Planned Parenthood to enter its campus to speak about killing babies.
Planned Parenthood President Cecile Richards delivered a speech last Wednesday before some 400 students at the Georgetown University's Lohrfink Auditorium, where she particularly advocated reproductive rights and abortion.
"The decision to have a child is the most personal...we believe this is not decision to be made by politicians," Richards said in her speech, according to campus newspaper The Hoya.
In her speech, the Planned Parenthood head likewise addressed the controversy faced by her organisation, maintaining that the group "has never sold foetal tissue and never would."
The university's controversial move to welcome America's leading abortion advocate was met with outrage by some students. Michael Khan, president of Georgetown Right to Life, told Breitbart.com that he was shocked to learn how the university allowed someone to advocate values that oppose Christian teachings right within their campus.
"We're probably the most liberal Catholic university in the nation. Many of our students and faculty aren't Catholic and are very hostile to Catholic doctrine," said Khan, who organised protests after Richards' appearance at Georgetown.
Bentley Hatchett, a volunteer with Tradition, Family and Property, meanwhile described Richards' speaking engagement at Georgetown as a "scandal."
Hatchett stressed that the first responsibility of a Catholic college should be "to be faithful to the church and consistent with the church's message."
To counter Richards' Georgetown appearance, some pro-life students invited Abby Johnson, a former Planned Parenthood clinic director turned pro-life advocate, to give the other side of the story.
"I think even religious universities have really succumbed to the liberal mindset out there that abortion is helping women and that we don't need to judge that choice. We need to be supportive of women whenever they are considering an abortion," Johnson told CBN News.
The Archdiocese of Washington also expressed strong opposition to Richards' speaking engagement at Georgetown.
"What we lament and find sadly lacking in this choice by the student group is any reflection of what should be an environment of morality, ethics and human decency that one expects on a campus that asserts its Jesuit and Catholic history and identity," The Archdiocese of Washington said in a statement.
