A Catholic University Hires Pro-Abortion Bob Casey to Mentor Students

A private Catholic university in Pennsylvania has hired former pro-abortion U.S. Sen Bob Casey Jr. to “mentor” students in coordination with its religious mission.

The University of Scranton’s announcement last week was met with criticism by some pro-life Catholics who pointed to the senator’s pro-abortion voting record.

Casey (pictured left), a three-term Democrat senator, will serve as the Leahy Distinguished Fellow in Public Service at the Catholic university this fall, according to a news release.

His role will include mentoring students on public service and advising the university’s Center for Ethics and Excellence in Public Service. He also will give lectures and seminars on “health care, aging, ethics, government accountability and public service issues.”

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“I believe it’s critically important that young people are inspired and even taught that if you serve in public office, you have to do it ethically. You could have different points of view or a different philosophy, but everybody’s got to be ethical,” Casey said in a statement.

Casey said he believes Catholics should bring their “values to the public square and try to move our society forward.”

University president the Rev. Joseph Marina (pictured right) highlighted Casey’s Catholic background in the announcement.

“His Jesuit education has served him well for decades and I have no doubt he will continue to bring his Jesuit values to bear in this exciting, new role,” Marina stated.

However, some believe the Catholic university is compromising its values by hiring the former politician.

In a letter to the editor Tuesday in The Times-Tribune, local resident Robert McCloskey wrote that Casey’s words “ring hollow” when considering his voting record.

The senator’s “fealty to Jesuit values seemed to weaken in 2020, when his voting pattern shifted noticeably towards the pro-abortion camp,” McCloskey wrote.

Later, he added: “In addition to utmost respect for the unborn, another among the Jesuit values is courage. Had Mr. Casey demonstrated the courage to defy his abortion-loving Democratic Party by upholding the pro-life principles that he often mouthed, perhaps the university would be justified in bestowing this honor upon him. But unlike his father, staunch pro-life Gov. [Bob Casey Sr.], he folded.”

Francis Sempa, an alumnus of the university, expressed a similar sentiment at The American Spectator, writing that the former politician “betrayed the pro-life cause for political reasons.”

Casey lost a bid for re-election in November to Sen. Dave McCormick, a Republican, after angering pro-life constituents following his last successful campaign for office in 2018.

At the time, Casey promoted himself as a pro-life Democrat. However, just a few months after winning re-election, he was spotted at a major pro-abortion lobbying group’s annual gala, LifeNews reported. Later, he went on to vote for several pro-abortion bills and, in his 2024 campaign, dropped the pro-life label, according to a CatholicVote article.

To have a Catholic university honor the senator “would be laughable if it wasn’t so sad,” Sempa wrote.

The Catholic Church teaches that abortion is a grave moral evil because it destroys the life of an innocent human being, created in the image of God.

The University of Scranton has emphasized this as part of its mission in the past.

In 2015, the university stopped covering elective abortions in its employee health plans, calling the change “necessary … to remain faithful to [the university’s] mission and identity as a Catholic institution,” according to an email from its president at the time, Kevin Quinn.

The university also has an active pro-life club on campus.

LifeNews Note: Micaiah Bilger is assistant editor of The College Fix, where this column originally appeared.

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