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ANALYSIS: Catholic leaders say Catholic colleges should not be promoting the LGBT agenda
More than half of American Jesuit universities are celebrating “Pride Month” this June, a new College Fix report has found.
Of the 27 Jesuit universities in the country, 14 have recognized “Pride Month” in a social media post or are participating in “Pride Month” events. The College Fix reviewed websites and social media pages for the 27 Jesuit universities in the United States.
Those universities include Canisius University, Creighton University, Fairfield University, Georgetown University, Gonzaga University, Loyola University Chicago, Marquette University, St. Peter’s University, Seattle University, the University of Detroit-Mercy, the University of San Francisco, and Xavier University.
In its Instagram post from June 2, USF announced it will be participating in San Francisco’s Pride Celebration and Parade.
At least four others have resources dedicated to LGBT Pride in general, such as a library page created to promote resources for June.
While Georgetown did not post to social media, it is maintaining a page called “Pride Month 2026 Schedule of Events,” highlighting various LGBTQ-themed events in Washington, D.C. It also hosted a pro-LGBT Catholic conference this month.
The College Fix performed the same review of Jesuit universities in June 2024, finding that 13 schools celebrated “Pride Month.”
While there was overlap between the two surveys, several Jesuit universities that previously showed support for “Pride Month” have not done so this June, such as the College of the Holy Cross, John Carroll University, Le Moyne College, Loyola University Maryland, Loyola University New Orleans, Rockhurst University, and St. Louis University. At least some of these colleges still play host to pro-LGBT organizations.
The College Fix also reviewed the eight universities associated with the Congregation for the Holy Cross for “Pride Month” activities. The University of Notre Dame noted the occasion on June 3 in a social media post.
“In keeping with Notre Dame’s Spirit of Inclusion and in light of Pope Leo XIV’s call for a Church that ‘strives to be close’ to our LGBTQ brothers and sisters, we embrace our LGBTQ students, faculty, staff, and alumni,” the university said in a statement. “Let us continue to work together to ensure that every person in this community experiences a true sense of belonging.”
However, at least three other colleges, Stonehill, University of Holy Cross, and University of Portland, promoted resources for Pride Month through their libraries.
The Catholic Church teaches that homosexual acts are “intrinsically disordered” and “contrary to natural law.”
The Catechism of the Catholic Church states that homosexual acts “close the sexual act to the gift of life,” “do not proceed from a genuine affective and sexual complementarity,” and “[u]nder no circumstances can they be approved.”
Several Catholic thinkers criticized the universities for supporting a celebration at odds with Catholic teaching.
“Catholic colleges and universities should never, under any circumstances, participate in the Luciferian celebration known as ‘Pride Month,’” C.J. Doyle, the executive director of the Catholic Action League of Massachusetts, told The College Fix.
“Catholic institutions should ban any such celebrations initiated by students or faculty, and must refuse to recognize, fund, or provide access to university facilities to any student organization which repudiates Divine and natural law,” Doyle said.
Patrick Reilly, the president of the Cardinal Newman Society, also criticized Catholic universities celebrating homosexuality this month.
“Catholic teaching is clear that sexuality is a gift intended for the beautiful and lifelong union of marriage,” he stated via email. “Yet these Catholic universities publicly celebrate lifestyles and ideologies that oppose their own faith—a scandal that is all too common at Jesuit institutions.”
“At Catholic colleges, ‘pride’ instead implies a public rejection of Catholic morality. Students and faculty rebel against the faith that ought to be the foundation of the college,” he stated further.
The Cardinal Newman Society, which maintains a list of colleges that uphold Catholic Church teaching, also noted the discrepancy between Catholic universities celebrating “Pride Month” in a blog post on June 10.
The post observes that DePaul University, run by the Congregation of the Mission (the Vincentians), teaches students about the “use of gender-neutral and diverse pronouns” and provides a list of “Trans, Non-Binary, Asexual, and Bisexual-focused websites” through its LGBTQIA+ Resource Center.
The College Fix emailed Canisius University, the University of Detroit-Mercy, and the University of San Francisco for comment, specifically asking whether they wished to respond to the criticism. None responded before publication in the past week.
In his comments to The College Fix, Doyle, with Catholic Action League, explained that Catholic teaching on homosexuality is not based in hatred of those with same-sex attraction, but love.
“Affirming people in mortal sin is demonically evil,” Doyle said. “It is the depth of uncharitableness. It represents a spiritual abandonment of souls.”
“It makes those rendering such affirmations complicit in the sins of others,” Doyle said. “Like the rest of us poor sinners, practitioners of sodomy are called to repentance, interior conversion and the personal pursuit of holiness.”
“Our Savior founded His Church to convert the world, not to submit and conform to the dominant secular culture,” he said.
MORE: Some colleges delete ‘Pride Month’ posts because of institutional neutrality
