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Larry Flynt Appearance at Georgetown University is Indefensible April 30, 1999 Bishop William Lori, Auxiliary Bishop of the Archdiocese of Washington, released the following statement in response to an appearance by pornographer Larry Flynt at Georgetown University today, Friday, April 30, 1:00 p.m. Bishop Lori spoke on behalf of Cardinal James A. Hickey, Archbishop of Washington, who is out of the country this week: “It is unbelievable that Georgetown University would allow our nation’s premier purveyor of pornography, Larry Flynt, to speak on its campus. Mr. Flynt’s appearance has nothing to do with free speech, as some may claim. No Catholic university should provide a platform which furthers the degradation of women, immoral behavior and the anti-religious opinions Mr. Flynt represents. This is utterly contrary to the Catholic identity of Georgetown University. The University’s actions are indefensible.” The Archdiocese of Washington spearheaded a major pornography awareness campaign last October, as part of national Pornography Awareness Week. A letter from Cardinal Hickey, information packets and a request for Catholics to speak out against pornography were sent to the archdiocese’s 141 parishes in Washington, DC and suburban Maryland. In June 1998, the United States Catholic bishops called for church leaders to speak out against pornography. The bishops’ statement, Renewing the Mind of the Media: A Statement on Overcoming the Exploitation of Sex and Violence in Communications, reads, “Pornography offends against the divine plan for the body and for the intimacy of sexual union…Isolating sexuality from a moral context and using it to titillate or degrade others for one’s own profit or pleasure is always wrong.” Contact:
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