Alex Sink with running mate Rod Smith on election night. Credit: Melanie Munger

Former state CFO Alex Sink, the Democratic gubernatorial candidate who lost to Rick Scott in November, will be speaking at a Catholic university later this month. The invitation comes despite taking a number of positions against Church teachings on core issues, including abortion and allowing same-sex couples to adopt children.

Sink will be speaking at St. Leo University, a Catholic school, in Pasco County on March 30 to close out Women’s History Month.

In recent years, Catholic activists, who share the Church’s positions against abortion, have grown increasingly critical of Catholic universities and colleges providing forums for and honoring politicians who stand against the Church on key issues. Most noticeably, when President Barack Obama was awarded an honorary degree by the University of Notre Dame and spoke at the commencement in 2009, traditionalist Catholics criticized the university’s decision.

During the 2010 gubernatorial campaign, Sink called for repealing Florida’s ban on allowing same-sex couples to adopt children and defended abortion rights, opposing a measure in the Legislature which would have required women considering having abortions to have an ultrasound.

In response to inquiries from Sunshine State News of why a pro-abortion politician was speaking at the school, the university responded in a statement.

“Saint Leo University is a Catholic, liberal-arts-based university serving people of all faiths. Rooted in the 1,500-year-old Benedictine tradition, the university seeks balanced growth in mind, body and spirit for all members of its community,” the statement read. “In keeping with our mission, Saint Leo University will wrap up our ongoing celebration of March as Women’s History Month with a keynote address from 2010 Democratic gubernatorial nominee Alex Sink at 7 p.m., March 30. She will speak on ‘Building Your Personal History.’ She has had a prominent career in public service and business, having served as Florida’s chief financial officer, and before that having risen through the ranks of Bank of America in Florida to become head of Florida operations.”

A spokesman for Bishop Robert Lynch of the Dioceses of St. Petersburg, who will be saying mass earlier in the week before Sink’s speech, referred Sunshine State News to St. Leo University, saying the decision was entirely theirs.

The Cardinal Newman Society, a group looking to ensure that Catholic colleges and universities follow Church teaching that had helped lead the opposition to Obama speaking at Notre Dame, weighed in on the matter.

“A university exists to teach truth, and a Catholic university should be committed to teaching the horrible truth about abortion,” said Patrick Reilly, the president of the Cardinal Newman Society. “Choosing a ‘pro-choice’ politician to lecture students on women's dignity, of all things, sends a dangerous message and is contrary to St. Leo University's Catholic mission.

“It also conflicts with the U.S. bishops' 2004 ban on platforms for ‘those who act in defiance of our fundamental moral principles,’” added Reilly.

Reach Kevin Derby at kderby@sunshinestatenews.com or at (850) 727-0859.