Aberdeen, Scotland
With the first 40 Days for Life vigil in Aberdeen in progress, some
student groups at Aberdeen University have tried to raise a ruckus about
the Catholic chaplaincy on their campus.
It seems there are 40 Days for Life posters on the building. And some of
the students are complaining, circulating petitions – and trying to
drum up media support for having the posters removed.
As the Aberdeen Feminist Society put it, “it is deeply inappropriate to
display posters encouraging people to take action outside maternity
clinics. Our campus is a place for discussion, but displaying material
that appears to condemn those who have had abortions is actively
harmful.”
The “harmful” posters? Merely the standard 40 Days for Life message of prayer and fasting for an end to abortion.
A spokesman for the local Catholic bishop refused to budge. “The
decision by the Catholic chaplaincy to display a poster advertising a
peaceful pro-life vigil cannot in any way be deemed harmful or
distressing,” he said. “The 40 Days for Life vigils are peaceful, yet
poignant reminders of the tragic reality of abortion.”
Despite the complaints, the university administration said it could do
nothing. The chapel building belongs to the Catholic diocese, “and as
such, is not a university-owned or managed facility.”
