Frankly, I think Notre Dame should just declare its independence from the Catholic Church and get it over with. Really, in my opinion, if you belong to a religion or any group you either walk the talk or find another walk and it appears that Notre Dame needs to find another walk, whatever that might be.
In the Catholic Church pro-life is a major big-time position and always has been. I’m not a practicing Catholic primarily because of the patriarchy stuff (like, when women can be priests, give me a call), but I do give credit to the church for its consistency on this issue: pro-life; against capital punishment; and the previous Pope very strongly and openly opposed the Iraq war.
So, inviting the most pro-abortion POTUS I’ve ever seen to the commencement and giving him an honorary degree is a complete slap in the face to the Catholic religion. What the heck did they expect would happen?
The latest episode in this saga was announced yesterday when Mary Ann Glendon, former ambassador to the Vatican, announced that she would not accept the Laetare Medal-- the highest honor conferred by the University of Notre Dame-- at this year's commencement exercises.
Glendon is a Harvard Law professor and pro-life feminist who recently stepped down from her post as US ambassador to the Holy See. She indicated that she decided to decline the Laetare Medal because of her concerns about the commencement address that will be delivered by President Barack Obama.
In her April 27 letter to Father John Jenkins, the president of Notre Dame, she wrote:
….as a longtime consultant to the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, I could not help but be dismayed by the news that Notre Dame also planned to award the president an honorary degree. This, as you must know, was in disregard of the U.S. bishops’ express request of 2004 that Catholic institutions “should not honor those who act in defiance of our fundamental moral principles” and that such persons “should not be given awards, honors or platforms which would suggest support for their actions.” That request, which in no way seeks to control or interfere with an institution’s freedom to invite and engage in serious debate with whomever it wishes, seems to me so reasonable that I am at a loss to understand why a Catholic university should disrespect it.
Then I learned that “talking points” issued by Notre Dame in response to widespread criticism of its decision included two statements implying that my acceptance speech would somehow balance the event:
• “President Obama won’t be doing all the talking. Mary Ann Glendon, the former U.S. ambassador to the Vatican, will be speaking as the recipient of the Laetare Medal.”
• “We think having the president come to Notre Dame, see our graduates, meet our leaders, and hear a talk from Mary Ann Glendon is a good thing for the president and for the causes we care about.”A commencement, however, is supposed to be a joyous day for the graduates and their families. It is not the right place, nor is a brief acceptance speech the right vehicle, for engagement with the very serious problems raised by Notre Dame’s decision—in disregard of the settled position of the U.S. bishops—to honor a prominent and uncompromising opponent of the Church’s position on issues involving fundamental principles of justice.
You go, Mary Ann! How refreshing to hear from someone who stands by their beliefs; who walks their talk. You are a fine example of a person of honor and integrity. All of those Notre Dame students should be swooning over you, not some two-bit Chicago politician who talks out of not two sides of his mouth but at least eight…the man with the octagon-shoped mouth.
Other news on this situation, comes from David DiFranco, a Michigan businessman and Notre Dame graduate, who started an effort to withhold donations to the college.
DiFranco reports that alumni have withheld a total of $8.2 million in planned donations to the Catholic college as a result of its decision to have Obama give the commencement address at its upcoming graduation ceremonies.
Defranco says, “We knew many donors and alums were unhappy with the decision to honor a pro-abortion president, but we never expected this large of a response. We can hardly keep up, and this is only the beginning. We can only imagine what fundraisers at the University are experiencing, but understandably not reporting.”
DiFranco says the $8.2 figure is a very conservative estimate.
Of course the gentlemanly thing to do, and the most diplomatic and unifying, would be for Obama to withdraw from the commencement ceremony. And, of course, he won’t, because one of his goals is to create discord and creating discord within the Catholic Church is very important to his secular, socialist agenda because the Catholic Church is a powerful and cohesive force which, if unified, could compete with the adoration now directed towards him.
Now, we wouldn’t want people to focus on God, when they could be focusing on Obama, would we? If he's going to hell for creating false idols (namely himself), well he's not going to go alone; the fighting Irish will be right there in the fires with him.
Darn right! that's commitment to one's principles and values and it was very courageous of her to boot.
Posted by: goesh | April 29, 2009 at 10:17 AM