Jesuit university cancels production of V-Monologues

Mar 5, 2009 / 23:59 pm

Joining the trend of colleges steering clear of the “lewd” activist feminist play, Fr. Michael Engh, SJ, president of the Jesuit college Santa Clara University, has canceled a production of the Vagina Monologues.

The Cardinal Newman Society (CNS), which has campaigned against allowing the performances, has reported that 15 Catholic college campuses are hosting productions of the play in 2009, down from a peak of 32 in 2003.

According to the CNS, the V-Monologues is a “sexually explicit and offensive play” that favorably describes same-sex immorality and group self-abuse. It also describes the lesbian seduction and rape of a teenage girl as a “salvation.”

The play is often performed with the stated aim of raising awareness about violence against women and girls, a purpose the CNS argues is thwarted by the play’s “pornographic and demeaning content.”

CNS President Patrick J. Reilly praised Fr. Engh’s decision, calling it “an encouraging sign toward renewal.”

“He deserves the thanks and gratitude of the Catholic faithful who have been praying for an end to the Monologues on Catholic campuses for the past seven years,” Reilly said in a Thursday statement.

The final list of Catholic colleges and universities which have hosted or have been scheduled to host the play is available at the CNS web site.

Schools still hosting V-Monologues performances include Boston College, DePaul University, Fordham University, Georgetown University, Loyola University Chicago, Seattle University and the University of San Francisco.