Bishop John M. D'Arcy of the Diocese of Fort Wayne-South Bend, which includes Notre Dame, has released a statement onthe university's invitation to President Obama to deliver the main commencement address and receieve an honorary degree on May 17.Bishop D'Arcy says ND president Father John Jenkins, CSC didnot inform him of the invitation until shortly before Obama's acceptance was announced, and that he will not attend the commencement, the first time he will boycott it inhis 25 years as bishop. He also said he spoke with Mary Ann Glendon, who is to receive the Laetare Medal at the ceremony, and "encouraged her to accept this award and take the opportunity such an award gives her to teach."He concludes with a jab at Notre Dame,saying it must ask itself "if by this decision it has chosen prestige over truth."Peggy Steinfels pointed outthat Archbishop Dolan has invited Obama to his installation in NYC, as indicated in this Newsday story. As Tom Reesepoints out, no one said anything much when Obama the Candidate was invited to the Al Smith Dinner by Cardinal Egan. But I wonder if that will change now. Maybe D'Arcy will boycott Dolan?Full text of statement after the jump...But first, a couple other links:One is the CNS story in which Father Jenkins says he is standing firm on the invitation:
"The invitation to President Obama to be our commencement speaker should not be taken as condoning or endorsing his positions on specific issues regarding the protection of human life, including abortion and embryonic stem-cell research," said Holy Cross Father John I. Jenkins, president of the University of Notre Dame. "Yet, we see his visit as a basis for further positive engagement," he said in a March 23 statement.
He adds:
"We will honor Mr. Obama as an inspiring leader who faces many challenges -- the economy, two wars, and health care, immigration and education reform -- and is addressing them with intelligence, courage and honesty," he said. "It is of special significance that we will hear from our first African-American president, a person who has spoken eloquently and movingly about race in this nation. Racial prejudice has been a deep wound in America, and Mr. Obama has been a healer."
As theCNS story indicates, not everyone agrees. In a column at The Catholic Thing, Ralph McInerny, a philosophy professor at Notre Dame, writes: "For one whose 54-year career as a member of the Notre Dame faculty is coming to an end this June, it is a bitter thing to reflect on the 2009 commencement speaker."Deal Hudson is rather scathing towards Jenkins, and here, too. The Cardinal Newman Society (which NCR's Joe Feuerherd was fairly scathing about, calling its leader Patrick Reilly an "academic ayatollah"--though his story was spot on) says it has collected54,000 sigantures on its petition drive to disinvite Obama. And the blogosphere is rancid with all maner of anti-Obama and anti-Notre Dame invective.Perhaps the worst is Operation Rescue's Randall Terry (oh, beware us converts!), who has set up a special website with graphic photos and equally graphic language, such as saying Obama is worse than Herod. He titles it, "Our Lady of Guadalupe conquered Human Sacrifice. Notre Dame now Honors it"--sweet--and includes an odd locution: "...we will raze hell in this battle to keep Obama from speaking at Notre Dame."Lest you think Terry is a fringe player, he just announced that hewas given an interview with Archbishop Raymond L. Burke, formerly of St. Louis and now Prefect of the Apostolic Signatura, and that he will broadcast it tomorrow: "Everyone who has seen this interview is stunned at Archbishop Burkes candor and clarity. His words thunder, and are without equivocation."Stay tuned.
Concerning President Barack Obama speaking at Notre Dame graduation, receiving honorary law degreeMarch 24, 2009
On Friday, March 21, Father John Jenkins, CSC, phoned to inform me that President Obama had accepted his invitation to speak to the graduating class at Notre Dame and receive an honorary degree. We spoke shortly before the announcement was made public at the White House press briefing. It was the first time that I had been informed that Notre Dame had issued this invitation.
President Obama has recently reaffirmed, and has now placed in public policy, his long-stated unwillingness to hold human life as sacred. While claiming to separate politics from science, he has in fact separated science from ethics and has brought the American government, for the first time in history, into supporting direct destruction of innocent human life.This will be the 25th Notre Dame graduation during my time as bishop. After much prayer, I have decided not to attend the graduation. I wish no disrespect to our president, I pray for him and wish him well. I have always revered the Office of the Presidency. But a bishop must teach the Catholic faith in season and out of season, and he teaches not only by his words but by his actions.My decision is not an attack on anyone, but is in defense of the truth about human life.I have in mind also the statement of the U.S. Catholic Bishops in 2004. The Catholic community and Catholic institutions should not honor those who act in defiance of our fundamental moral principles. They should not be given awards, honors or platforms which would suggest support for their actions. Indeed, the measure of any Catholic institution is not only what it stands for, but also what it will not stand for.I have spoken with Professor Mary Ann Glendon, who is to receive the Laetare Medal. I have known her for many years and hold her in high esteem. We are both teachers, but in different ways. I have encouraged her to accept this award and take the opportunity such an award gives her to teach.Even as I continue to ponder in prayer these events, which many have found shocking, so must Notre Dame. Indeed, as a Catholic University, Notre Dame must ask itself, if by this decision it has chosen prestige over truth.Tomorrow, we celebrate as Catholics the moment when our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, became a child in the womb of his most holy mother. Let us ask Our Lady to intercede for the university named in her honor, that it may recommit itself to the primacy of truth over prestige.
