Is St. Louis University Really Inviting the Vatican’s Chief Child Rape Denialist to Commencement?

If ever there were a less prescient time for a high-ranking member of the Catholic church to tell a graduating class of college students about what their future holds, it is right now. And yet Saint Louis University, with about 8,000 undergrads, will welcome Nuncio Pietro Sambi (Pope Benedict’s ambassador to the U.S. and an Italian archbishop) to deliver the commencement address. Students aren’t thrilled.

Not only does Sambi have a history of anti-gay activism (he protested against a gay pride festival in Jerusalem), but stands among these ridiculous Vatican types whom take an apathetic, if not ignorant approach to its pedophile sex scandal (to John Wojnowski, the man who stood on D.C. street corners with a placard claiming the Vatican was covering up child rape scandals, including his own, Sambi would tell him, “You are a loser. You are a loser with a camera. You are a total loser”).

Some 275 people have joined a Facebook group devoted to canceling his invitation. Which is nice, because this guy doesn’t need another platform, and he certainly doesn’t need to tell anyone else about their human potential.