Seton Hall Tells Students To Stop Cursing At Prospective Priests

SOUTH ORANGE, NJ - Seton Hall students were told they need to give more than lip service to the idea of inclusion, as Seton Hall Interim President Mary Meehan issued a rebuke of the campus community for hurling invective at seminarians studying for the priesthood.

Meehan said that her office was informed of several instances of foul language and incivility being aimed at members of the Immaculate Conception Seminary.

According to a report on NJ.com, the negative comments were tied to the fallout the Catholic Church is dealing with surrounding the most recent priest sex abuse scandal.

The Seminary offers men preparing for the priesthood the personal, academic, ministerial and spiritual formation for their commitment to a life of service to the Church.

"This is unacceptable and cannot be tolerated," Meehan said.

Meehan said that the school had a wonderful weekend in September training 48 upperclass students for the peer-to-peer lessons on inclusion that they will lead in University Life classes as well as lectures planned on the same subject.

"It saddens me to need to remind everyone that these efforts have to be more than lip service to the idea that we are all welcome," Meehan said. "And that we all belong here at Seton Hall."

Seton Hall Spokesperson Laurie A. Pine told Patch that as a Catholic university they hold themselves to the highest standard.

“We expect all members of the Seton Hall community to be welcoming and civil in their interactions with one another,” Pine said.

Meehan said that sometimes the concept of inclusion is wrongly narrowed to race or ethnicity.

"Inclusion means all of us," Meehan said. "We are all welcome here – seminarians, professors, students, gardeners, administrators, deans and all the others who make up our great community."

Meehan said that despite the coarse, uncivilized and hurtful discourse seen elsewhere, she expects better on campus.

"We must stand firm in our shared commitment which is grounded in the belief that we are all God’s children, and we all deserve kindness and respect," Meehan said. "Please let’s stand together as witness in a world that desperately needs a more caring presence."

(Photo courtesy of Seton Hall)

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