(WTVR) – The 81-year-old author of the novel “The Exorcist” is fuming after Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius was allowed to speak at Georgetown University last week.
In fact, William Peter Blatty is so outraged that students at the Catholic school extended the invitation to Sebelius – and that she was allowed to speak – he said on his website that he plans to sue the school in a Vatican court.
According to FoxNews.com, the final straw for Blatty was Sebelius’ invitation. He said over the last 21 years the school has invited inappropriate speakers, like abortion rights advocates, and has not followed the orders of the late Pope John Paul II or canon law.
On Blatty’s The Father King Society website, he outlines exactly why he finds fault with the school and asks friends to cut off donations to the university for one year.
Blatty also goes into detail about how his Georgetown education contributed to his success.
“Like many men of my generation, I owe much to the Jesuit fathers and to Georgetown University,” wrote Blatty on the website. “My hard-working mother had faith that I could win a scholarship to attend Georgetown, a “rich boys’ school.” Georgetown gave me that scholarship, and I am ever- grateful. With it came a rich liberal education that included the keys of reason to unlock the mysteries of my Lebanese mother’s Faith.”
Blatty also credits the Catholic Church for his “undeservedly wonderful life.”
The latest controversy started when Sebelius delivered a speech during the Georgetown Public Policy Institute awards last Friday. The address blended inspirational messages to graduates with a discussion of public policy’s tough decisions, including health care and honoring religious freedom.
Conservative Catholic organizations objected and said the university validating her positions on abortion and contraception by allowing her to address.
The speech did not mention the controversy directly, but Sebelius did address faith in public life in a section of the speech devoted to John F. Kennedy, the first Catholic president of the United States.
“Kennedy was elected president on November 8, 1960,” she said. “And more than 50 years later, that conversation, about the intersection of our nation’s long tradition of religious freedom with policy decisions in the public square, continues.”
A few minutes into the speech, a protester in the crowd stood up and shouted at Sebelius. “Georgetown should be ashamed,” he yelled, drawing boos from the crowd.
Though the protester continued, the crowd largely drowned out his statements. Police escorted him out, but his chants could be heard inside the room as he left.
Sebelius received a round of applause as she continued her speech.
The CNN Wire contributed to this report.
