The Catholic University of America has dismissed one of its professors for bringing an abortion advocate to class to speak to students.
A Tuesday email from the school’s president, Peter Kilpatrick, obtained by CNA said that the school began an investigation last week after learning of reports of an abortion advocate being invited to a class. The president said the school also learned that a student had an audio recording of the class in question.
The Daily Signal, which obtained and released a copy of the recording last week, identified the psychology professor as Melissa Goldberg.
“Now that we have clear evidence that the content of the class did not align with our mission and identity, we have now terminated our contract with the professor who invited the speaker,” Kilpatrick wrote on Tuesday.
Goldberg’s faculty page was no longer available on the university website as of Tuesday afternoon.
“As a Catholic institution, we are committed to promoting the full truth of the human person and to protecting human life from conception to natural death. In our rigorous pursuit of truth and justice, we engage at times with arguments or ideologies contrary to reason or to the Gospel,” he wrote.
“But we do so fully confident in the clarity given by the combined lights of reason and faith, and we commit to never advocate for sin or to give moral equivalence to error,” Kilpatrick added.
“As witnessed by the life and virtue of St. Thomas Aquinas, whose feast we just celebrated as a community, such engagement with opposing ideas helps us both to grow in our command of truth and to respond to error with empathy, compassion, and mercy.”
According to the Daily Signal, which spoke to a student who was part of the lecture, Goldberg invited Rachel Carbonneau to the class on Jan. 23. Carbonneau, the founder and CEO of the doula company Family Ways, spoke to the class about working with women who have elective abortions and abortions that are “for medical reasons,” according to the recording.
Doulas are most commonly associated with providing emotional and physical support to women prior to, during, and after birth, though a range of doula services exist for events such as death or miscarriage.
Discussing abortions, Carbonneau in the recording said that the “goal for a lot of providers is to try to perform the abortion before the baby’s nerve endings are formed. So the goal is to do it at a time when the baby is not going to feel any pain.”
Carbonneau also discussed what she called “the risk to the birthing person” including “a risk of hemorrhage and a risk of [a] baby that’s not going to survive, and the conversation to have with her older children about why she’s been pregnant and now there’s no baby.”
“There are a lot of pieces to these puzzles, emotionally and socially,” she said.
When asked by a student to expand on her use of the term “birthing persons,” Carbonneau said that she works with clients who identify as transgender. “Birthing person” is a term transgender advocates often use to avoid gendered language such as “woman” or “mother.”
Kilpatrick said in his letter this week that “at Catholic University, we have the unique opportunity and common blessing to pursue truth, to grow in faith, and to exercise charity. Our studies aim at producing wisdom, which includes excellence in living and sharing the truth with others.”
“May our common study help us to understand life, to love goodness, and to promote and protect the dignity of the human person,” he wrote.
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A photo of Deborah Emmanuel’s photo on her Facebook page. Emmanuel, a Christian student in Nigeria, was killed by an Islamic mob on her college campus on May 12, 2022. / CNA
Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Jun 23, 2022 / 14:01 pm (CNA).
Deborah Emmanuel, the Nigerian Christian student who was murdered by a Muslim mob last month, spent her final hours with a close friend who has shared exclusive details of the brutal killing with CNA.
CNA is using the pseudonym “Mary” for the woman’s protection. A Christian herself, she nearly was killed by the same mob.
Significantly, Mary’s account contradicts the claim of authorities that they attempted to rescue Emmanuel from the mob but were “overwhelmed.”
On the contrary, the police “could have stopped the murder if they had really tried,” Mary told CNA.
Emmanuel’s so-called “blasphemy murder” took place on May 12 on the campus of Shehu Shagari College of Education in Sokoto, Sokoto State, a major city located in the northwest corner of Nigeria. The city is home to the Muslim Sultan who serves as the top religious authority for Nigeria’s 100 million Muslim believers.
Prior to the attack, Emmanuel, a home economics major who attended Evangelical Church Winning All, was bullied by fanatical Muslim students at the teacher’s college for audio statements she made on WhatsApp, a messaging platform. She credited Jesus Christ for her success on a recent exam, and when threatened and told to apologize she refused, invoking the Holy Spirit, saying “Holy Ghost fire! Nothing will happen to me,” according to WhatsApp messages reviewed by CNA.
In the aftermath of these heated exchanges, a Muslim mob attacked Emmanuel on the college’s campus. After an hours’ long siege, the mob beat and stoned her to death, then set her body on fire with burning tires, according to graphic video footage posted online. The rioters also rampaged in a Catholic Church compound in Sokoto, according to reports. The riots spread to other Christian-owned properties over two days.
A relative of Emmanuel’s, who said he was standing approximately 60 feet from the mob, also told CNA he believes the police could have saved her. He, too, asked that his identity be withheld for his safety.
Unarmed campus security personnel made a futile attempt to rescue Emmanuel, according to a campus security report shared with CNA. But Emmanuel’s relative said there were dozens of armed police officers on the scene who didn’t fire their weapons.
The commissioner of police in the state also said officers did not fire their weapons. However, he maintained that only 15 of his officers were at the scene, according to a report in The Epoch Times.
Bishop Matthew Hassan Kukah of the Diocese of Sokoto has strongly condemned the attack and called on Emmanuel’s killers to be brought to justice..
“This matter must be treated as a criminal act,” he said. You can read his full statement here.
A plea for help
On the day of Emmanuel’s death, Mary received a frantic phone call from her around 9 a.m, asking for help. By that time, women who lived in her dormitory had begun slapping Emmanuel, Mary told CNA.
Mary arrived at the campus to see her friend surrounded by a mob and being led by a campus staffer to a gatehouse building for her protection. The Muslim students had bloodied her face and head with blows from rods and were joined by male students who believed their duty was to execute a blasphemer on the spot, Mary said.
“Allahu Akbar!” meaning “God is Great” was bellowed for hours, she said.
Mary initially stayed outside the building and tried to intercede for her friend, but she said it wasn’t long before the mob turned on her, too. Within moments Mary was trying to ward off punches and blows from sticks as she backed away from the gatehouse and toward the gate of the college 40 feet away.
Mary said a college lecturer rescued her and brought her to join Emmanuel inside the gatehouse by 10 a.m.
At 10:25 a.m., the relative said, six officers of the Department of State Security (DSS) — the equivalent to the FBI in the U.S. — arrived, firing their rifles in the air but with no effect. Five minutes later, he said, a group of Sokoto police came on the scene and fired tear gas, temporarily scattering the mob.
The above map is based on eyewitness accounts of the murder of Nigerian Christian student Deborah Emmanuel on her college’s campus on May 12, 2022. Graphic by Alexander Hunter
For about 10 minutes police had an opportunity to disperse the mob and force their way to the gatehouse to extract Mary and Emmanuel, Emmanuel’s relative believes. But that did not happen.
By 11 a.m., the mob had returned to the building, holding cloths against their faces to ward off the tear gas. The mob tried hurling stones at Mary through the windows of the locked gatehouse, but Mary barricaded herself behind a table.
The mob then threw gasoline on the women through the front windows and attempted to burn them alive, Mary said.
“Deborah was soaked with gasoline, but when lighted plastic was pitched in through the windows, I quickly stamped the flames out,” Mary said.
No escape
All of this transpired as police and DSS officers watched from a safe distance, according to Emmanuel’s relative.
The traumatized women said little to each other, but Emmanuel was still hoping to do her examination that day, Mary said. At one point, she recalled, Emmanuel asked, “What time is it? I have an examination at noon.” Mary said she looked at her cell phone and told her it was 1 p.m.
After another excruciating hour of siege, the mob pushed down a single Sokoto policeman guarding the door, broke the padlock on the door, and rushed in to find Mary and Emmanuel hiding behind furniture, Mary and the relative related. Two rioters placed a chain around Mary’s neck and pulled it hard, trying to strangle her, she recounted.
“Let this girl go! She is not an offender,” Mary recalled one of the rioters shouting. But as they released her, a young man in the mob grabbed Emmanuel and took her to the front steps of the gatehouse. There she was bludgeoned with steel pipes and wooden rods and stoned, the relative said.
Two DSS officers attempted to rescue Emmanuel but were hit by stones and pushed aside, the relative said. The police officers remained in position and did not come to her aid, he alleged.
Mary collapsed inside the gatehouse gasping from the strangulation. Approximately 40 minutes later, she said, she was roused by one of the mob to leave the building, which was on fire.
As she walked through the smoke, Mary saw the gatehouse burning and Emmanuel’s lifeless body in flames.
The face of Christian persecution
In the aftermath of Emmanuel’s murder, human rights advocates and others have leveled sharp criticism at Nigeria’s government leaders for not doing enough to stem the rising tide of violence directed at Christians and other non-Muslims.
Relatives of Deborah Emmanuel at her burial in Niger State, Nigeria. Courtesy of the Emmanuel family
Anti-Christian hatred was evident in days of rioting in Sokoto following the arrest of two suspects in Emmanuel’s murder. The rioters reportedly were incensed that there were any arrests at all.
“Deborah Emmanuel, like kidnapping victim Leah Sharibu (who was enslaved by Boko Haram insurgents in 2019), has become the face of Christian persecution in Nigeria,” said Kyle Abts, executive director of the International Committee on Nigeria (ICON). “There has not been an official report from the security forces on the lynching of Ms. Emmanuel. Her killing and subsequent riots show clear government complicity and coverup.”
Tina Ramirez, founder of the international nonprofit Hardwired Global, also believes the Nigerian government has been unwilling to take a strong stand against blasphemy killings.
“The recent attacks on students are reminiscent of the attacks at Nigerian colleges two decades ago that were the precursor to the growth of extremist groups across Nigeria’s North and Middle Belt,” Ramirez wrote in a text to CNA.
‘ The Holy Father went on: “The authentic progress of human society cannot forgo policies aimed at protecting and promoting marriage, and the community that derives therefrom. Adopting such policies is the duty not only of States but of the International Community as a whole, in order to invert the tendency towards the growing isolation of the person, which is a source of suffering and corrosion for both individuals and for society.
“If it is true that the defence and promotion of human dignity ‘have been entrusted to us by the Creator, and to whom the men and women at every moment of history are strictly and responsibly in debt’, it is equally true that this responsibility particularly concerns people called to positions of responsibility.” ‘
Is this the same Holy Father who surrounds himself in the Vatican with a cadre of homosexuals, who protects bishops who have preyed upon boys and young men, who rewards and encourages a fellow Jesuit who promotes homosexuality, and who praises and favors a Jesuit artist who raped and engaged in orgies with numerous nuns? Why then quote his words when his actions are in direct contradiction to them?
I was in a hurry and did not see that the quote is not from the current “Holy Father” but rather from his predecessor whose work he has completely overturned and destroyed. It is stunning that one has to go back 12 years to a different Pope to get a clear and explicit statement of the Catholic doctrine on this issue.
Someone should inform this babe that trans “birthing persons” who were not BORN female CANNOT give birth. Disgusting this would happen at a Catholic college. I would hope that by now all Catholic colleges worth their tuition costs would mandate that their professors sign a contract at hiring saying they cannot promote actions which are in opposition to Catholic belief, or else be subject to immediate termination. If you want to propagandize for this garbage, do so in the realm of public universities, which posit no moral framework except “do your own thing, no matter who gets hurt”. It would appear one of the students in the class reported this in. Bravo to that kid for having a spine and a strong belief system.
Something tells me that there were probably many red flags surrounding Professor Goldberg that should have precluded her from ever being hired at a Catholic university. I am sure there are more than a few members of the faculty who support strongly her views. It is good to read that openly promoting abortion in the classroom will get you canned at CUA (at least if there is a recording of the lecture that is made public). The bar, however, needs to be set much higher.
If you are thinking this wasn’t a one off by the professor, I agree with you Mr. Tony.
While this incident put an end to anything further at Catholic University I imagine it will open doors for her at other schools. Sadly.
Several Jesuit colleges probably will be in competition to offer her a job. If this incident had occurred at Georgetown, the administration likely would have defended her and expelled the student.
‘ The Holy Father went on: “The authentic progress of human society cannot forgo policies aimed at protecting and promoting marriage, and the community that derives therefrom. Adopting such policies is the duty not only of States but of the International Community as a whole, in order to invert the tendency towards the growing isolation of the person, which is a source of suffering and corrosion for both individuals and for society.
“If it is true that the defence and promotion of human dignity ‘have been entrusted to us by the Creator, and to whom the men and women at every moment of history are strictly and responsibly in debt’, it is equally true that this responsibility particularly concerns people called to positions of responsibility.” ‘
https://www.catholicworldreport.com/2012/09/24/pope-exhorts-christians-to-act-and-express-themselves-with-a-prophetic-spirit-in-public-square/
Is this the same Holy Father who surrounds himself in the Vatican with a cadre of homosexuals, who protects bishops who have preyed upon boys and young men, who rewards and encourages a fellow Jesuit who promotes homosexuality, and who praises and favors a Jesuit artist who raped and engaged in orgies with numerous nuns? Why then quote his words when his actions are in direct contradiction to them?
I was in a hurry and did not see that the quote is not from the current “Holy Father” but rather from his predecessor whose work he has completely overturned and destroyed. It is stunning that one has to go back 12 years to a different Pope to get a clear and explicit statement of the Catholic doctrine on this issue.
I was hoping the reader AND the current Holy Father would catch it without me spotlighting anything or harping.
Sorry if I misled.
Someone should inform this babe that trans “birthing persons” who were not BORN female CANNOT give birth. Disgusting this would happen at a Catholic college. I would hope that by now all Catholic colleges worth their tuition costs would mandate that their professors sign a contract at hiring saying they cannot promote actions which are in opposition to Catholic belief, or else be subject to immediate termination. If you want to propagandize for this garbage, do so in the realm of public universities, which posit no moral framework except “do your own thing, no matter who gets hurt”. It would appear one of the students in the class reported this in. Bravo to that kid for having a spine and a strong belief system.
I think you should inform her LJ. I wonder when she was called babe last?
🙂
Something tells me that there were probably many red flags surrounding Professor Goldberg that should have precluded her from ever being hired at a Catholic university. I am sure there are more than a few members of the faculty who support strongly her views. It is good to read that openly promoting abortion in the classroom will get you canned at CUA (at least if there is a recording of the lecture that is made public). The bar, however, needs to be set much higher.
If you are thinking this wasn’t a one off by the professor, I agree with you Mr. Tony.
While this incident put an end to anything further at Catholic University I imagine it will open doors for her at other schools. Sadly.
Several Jesuit colleges probably will be in competition to offer her a job. If this incident had occurred at Georgetown, the administration likely would have defended her and expelled the student.
No doubt, Mr. Tony. This probably earns her a prestigious position elsewhere. And a lecture tour.