Bellarmine Rebukes Catholic Faith; Embraces Culture of Death

Many regard Bellarmine University as a solid Catholic institution of higher education. Founded by the Archdiocese of Louisville in 1950, with the help of the Conventual Franciscans, the university took the namesake of Saint Robert Bellarmine – a 16th century scholar and doctor of the church. Robert Bellarmine was known for his enlightened theological mind and defense of Church teaching after the Council of Trent. Unfortunately, a short 70 years after its founding Bellarmine has chosen to rebuke its Catholic heritage and founder by fully embracing the culture of death.

In January 2022, Bellarmine University officially approved the Bellarmine Pro-Choice Association to activate on campus – a group that advertised where to obtain abortions, among other anti-Catholic beliefs. Thanks to the efforts of a devout Catholic student, the group was temporary suppressed, only to return later that year as the Bellarmine Reproductive Justice Association (BRJA). The group is the same, the ‘Pro-Choice’ moniker was simply removed in some veiled effort to appease faithful Catholics. Unfortunately, the work of the organization is the same – advocating for abortion and a host of other anti-Catholic beliefs. You can see the group’s response to the Dobbs decision on the group’s Instagram page.

Tragically, Bellarmine’s embrace of the culture of death doesn’t end there. The university seems to have been infiltrated with anti-Catholic personnel. The university, not satisfied with simply having a proabortion group on campus, also fundraises for the group. Last month, during the university’s Day of Giving, the BRJA used the full resources of the university to raise funds so it can share the abortion industry’s lies across this once-Catholic institution. Little do faithful Catholics / Christians know their donations are used to support this demonic activity.

If the embrace of the culture of death only included a proabortion group on campus, some might shake this off as young college kids exploring their internal selves. However, not only does this run afoul of Bellarmine’s In Veritatis Amore motto (In the Love of Truth), but the facts don’t support this. As we shared above, Bellarmine has been infiltrated with those who are decidedly anti-Catholic. How else can you explain the Bellarmine Office of Identity & Inclusion. Who exactly is included in this inclusion? If you look past all the pronoun references you’ll learn it certainly isn’t the unborn child. Up until Right to Life of Louisville publicly called out the university last week, Bellarmine was referring students to Planned Parenthood for sexual health. This was actually posted on Bellarmine’s website. A. Catholic. University.

Does that sound like the work of an authentically Catholic university? Of all the prolife resources available, Bellarmine refers to Planned Parenthood!?! After Right to Life of Louisville called out the university, Bellarmine deleted the direct reference to Planned Parenthood, but one doesn’t have to look too far to find others. The reality is Right to Life of Louisville has been playing a virtual game of ‘Whac-A-Mole’ with the university; we call Bellarmine out for its very poor decisions, the university quietly makes a minor adjustment to its website in an attempt to keep up appearances as a Catholic institution. In reality, they want it both ways – to accept the tuition dollars and financial support of the Archdiocese of Louisville and faithful Catholics, while also going full woke and espousing a range of liberal ideologies.

The only real solution is a top-to-bottom evaluation of Bellarmine, its staff, and policies to determine how the university veered so far from its Catholic founding. Who, for example, ever thought it was a good idea to allow a proabortion group on a Catholic campus? Which staff member(s) are so committed to the abortion mindset they keep including Planned Parenthood documents and referrals on its website? Why does Dr. Susan Donovan, the university’s president, laugh off our concerns about the proabortion group being active on campus?

The logical question becomes why does the Archdiocese of Louisville allow these atrocious acts to continue while asking faithful Catholics of the diocese to fund the university each year? Why does the Archdiocese allow Bellarmine to continue leading young minds toward sin? We wish we had an explanation for you; unfortunately, our last two attempts to communicate these concerns with the Archdiocese have gone unanswered.

Priest assignments in the Archdiocese were announced this week. More and more work continues to be asked of our clergy as numbers decline. Why then does the Archdiocese allow priests to be assigned to Bellarmine – which uses these resources to perpetuate the illusion the university is indeed a Catholic institute of higher learning.

If you want to share your opinion, email Bellarmine’s president and ask Dr. Donovan to restore Bellarmine to its Catholic intellectual tradition and stop all proabortion activity! Donors, use the power of your purse and let Bellarmine know you will not support this behavior by withdrawing any planned giving. And next time you see Archbishop Shelton, kindly request he require Bellarmine to be authentically Catholic or remove its designation as a Catholic institution. Allowing the university to play both sides of this issue lets students believe anti-Catholic beliefs and actions are somehow acceptable.