DePaul University, the largest Catholic university in the United States, recently banned a pro-life poster from its campus.
The reason? Campus officials were afraid the sign’s message, “Unborn Lives Matter,” would “provoke” students who are sympathetic to the Black Lives Matter movement, The Daily Wire reports.
In an email to DePaul College Republicans, which put up the poster, University President Rev. Dennis H. Holtschneider reportedly told the group their message violates the campus’s free speech guidelines.
According to The Daily Wire, Holtschneider specifically quoted the following portion of the free speech code as being violated by students: “We accept that there is a distinction between being provocative and being hurtful. Speech whose primary purpose is to wound is inconsistent with our Vincentian and Catholic values.”
Ironically, the Catholic church upholds pro-life values, since the Bible suggests life begins at conception and Christian theologians have a long history of opposition to infanticide and abortion. So it doesn’t make sense why the president of America’s largest Catholic university would imply that a pro-life poster is “inconsistent” with the school’s Catholic values.
Curiously, administrative offices seem to have no problem with displaying gay pride flags or Black Lives Matter signs — the university’s Center for Identity, Inclusion, and Social Change office displays both.
This isn’t the first time DePaul has banned conservative ideas on campus for fear it would upset other students. In August, DePaul cancelled a speaking engagement with conservative writer Ben Shapiro for reportedly triggering students on campus. The university cited “security concerns,” and were afraid Shapiro’s presence would spur students to react violently.