A conservative Roman Catholic organization is protesting the decisions this spring by five Catholic colleges and universities to invite commencement speakers “whose public opposition to the Catholic Church or its teachings are a scandal to students and the public.” The group, the Cardinal Newman Society, which objects to a bevy of commencement speakers every year, said the following institutions and speakers deviated from orthodoxy:

Fordham University: Sister Elizabeth Johnson, a theology professor at the university, who has argued against the church’s male-only priesthood, which she has called a “patriarchal resistance to women’s equality.” Marymount University: Colin Powell, the former general and secretary of state, who has supported abortion rights and condom use. Santa Clara University: Peter Steinfels, a former New York Times religion reporter, who has disagreed with various church teachings. Trocaire College: Mayor Byron Brown of Buffalo, N.Y., who as a New York State senator has voted for abortion rights. University of Notre Dame: Mary McAleese, president of Ireland, who has dissented from the church’s “infallible teaching on the male priesthood” and made “strident and offensive” statements about Vatican leaders.