Cardinal William H. Keeler is "very concerned" that the sexually explicit videos shown in a Loyola College seminar may conflict with Roman Catholic teachings, a spokesman for the cardinal said yesterday.
The videos, part of a human sexuality seminar for undergraduates, have sparked controversy on the Jesuit college's campus in North Baltimore. The videos show intimate sex acts of men and women, including gays and lesbians.
Roman Catholic doctrine calls homosexual activity sinful. The church also condemns pornography as "a grave offense."
"Cardinal Keeler's concern focuses mainly on the course materials -- the films specifically -- and whether their use is consistent with Catholic teachings and moral values," said archdiocesan spokesman William Blaul. "He believes the administration at Loyola College is responsible for rectifying the situation, and he is confident it will do so."
Loyola's president has promised to share with the cardinal "posthaste" the recommendations of a college committee reviewing the seminar's content and methods, he said.
As the Catholic archbishop of Baltimore, the cardinal would be concerned "when any explicit materials of this nature are used anywhere in the archdiocese, in an academic setting or otherwise," Mr. Blaul said. Sex education is part of the curriculum in the church's primary and secondary schools as well as at the college level, he added.
Archdiocesan officials have been aware of the controversy over the voluntary, noncredit course since a group of Loyola students placed a full-page ad in the campus newspaper Feb. 7 describing the videos. Critics of the six-session evening seminar, being taught for the third year by psychology Professor Charles T. LoPresto, have called for its cancellation.
He teaches the course with Cynthia Mendelson, another member of Loyola's psychology faculty.
Dr. LoPresto denied that the videos shown to students during the two-hour, Thursday night sessions are "pornographic" -- as critics have charged -- because their intent is not to titillate but to instruct. The professor said he believes the course will be continued next year without significant changes, despite the review by the committee of Loyola faculty and administrators.
Much of this week's issue of the Greyhound, the student newspaper, was devoted to the campus debate touched off by criticism of the seminar. The debate has grown to include discussions of censorship, academic freedom and whether Catholic doctrinal stands on homosexuality, premarital sex and masturbation are justified.
Mark Kelly, Loyola's director of public relations, said alumni had made a substantial number of inquiries about the seminar.
Speaking for the Rev. Harold Ridley, Loyola's president, and the college administration, Mr. Kelly said the institution "is supportive of and conducive to a values-based education in the Jesuit and Catholic tradition, teaching students in mind, body and spirit to lead and serve in a diverse and changing world."
Acknowledging that some instructional materials used in the seminar are "explicit," Mr. Kelly said there would be "ample opportunity . . . for further reaction or response."