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Cardinal George has written of his concern that the OUT THERE Conference, taking place at DePaul University, will promote ideas that are inconsistent with Church teaching.  It appears that he is correct.  The descriptions indicate that some sessions will faithfully convey the Church's teaching, but that some others will propose that student life personnel encourage students to ignore that teaching.

Catholic universities, like all universities, protect freedom of inquiry.  This freedom is a requisite for any honest search for the truth, and DePaul will honor the right of our faculty and staff, as well as visiting faculty and staff, to speak of these issues at this conference.

In this case, however, the conference is not merely an intellectual exploration of a topic.  The conference also seeks to propose strategies for university personnel to serve LGBTQ students on their campuses.  To the degree that these strategies differ from the Church's teaching, the Cardinal quite understandably exercises his own duty to remind the participants of that teaching.  His words and concerns are welcome at DePaul.

It is the university's hope that the conference participants will also welcome these concerns and use them as they explore these important and complex issues.