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Editor-Surveyor:

As I think you know, you and I almost never agree on most matters religious. OTOH, as a Catholic I believe you are absolutely correct as to Notre Shame. Truth is, after all, truth even when denied by those who choose to deny it. You are right. Notre Shame's defenders are tragically wrong.

I do want all of you to know that the response of the Illinois Knights of Columbus State convention in 2009 (supporting each and every diocesan ordinary [presiding bishop] of each and every Illinois diocese) was to pass a resolution condemning Notre Shame for its invitation and honorary law degree to the heathen whom you appropriately designate as Abortion Man.

My own bishop at that time was Bishop Thomas Doran of Rockford who also sat on the Signatura which is the Church's Supreme Court. He condemned Notre Shame in no uncertain terms and called upon Catholics of our diocese to refuse to allow their offspring to attend Notre Shame as it would constitute a danger to their Faith.

Please also be aware that under the early heathen "leadership" of Fr. Theodore Hesburgh, Notre Dame declared itself no longer a Catholic university at the infamous Land o' Lakes Conference of 1967 which Hesburgh convened and ran so that all but six then Catholic colleges and universities in the USA could join together to repudiate Catholicism in their search for "academic freedom." Since then they fraudulently claim to be Catholic for fund-raising and recruitment purposes while having the amorality and immorality of any other college or university. Some of us call this grand theft academic since generations of actual Catholics bled themselves white financially to fund these institutions and their infrastructures only to have the assets seized by the revolutionaries against God who seized control.

Hesburgh was succeeded by Monk Molloy and then he was succeeded by Fr. Jenkins. The degeneracy continues and deepens.

"The finest collegiate institution in the country" as Mr. Chips calls it, is also, of course, recognizing "gay" and lesbian groups as extracurricular activities (keep watch over your farm animals since they may be next!). The Vagina Monologues??? Of course! A faculty nest full of apologists for Obozo? But, of course! Notre Shame and its "theology" department is the home base of the execrable Fr. Richard McBrien who qwrote Mario Cuomo's apologia for abortion while claiming to be "Catholic" and the speech was delivered at (Where else?) Notre Shame! The University of California at Berserkely is about as "Catholic" as Notre Shame but UC Berserkely is honest enough not to claim to be Catholic.

What you accuse with respect to liberalism and secularization is also true of almost every other university in the country. Try Princeton, Harvard, Stanford . . . . But we don't condemn the whole cloth at such schools. They are fine institutions nevertheless. With respect to your particular focus on gay people, well, the school does follow the teaching of the Church to the letter in its pronouncements, so take it up with the Pope. With respect to abortion the univerity has issued an institutional statement affirming its commitment to the defense of human life at all its stages and adopted new principles governing the university's charitable activity. "Consistent with the teaching of the Catholic Church on such issues as abortion, research involving human embryos, euthanasia, the death penalty and other related life issues, the University of Notre Dame recognizes and upholds the sanctity of human life from conception to natural death," said the statement, which was released April 8. When last on campus at ND, for the Michigan game, after seeing the students embrace Te'o with Hawaiian leis and cheers (amid tears) and prayers, upon visiting the grotto, lighting candles, and stumbling into the basilica when the team happened to be at a private mass, on visiting dorms where resident priests hold mass daily in elaborately beautiful chapels, in every dorm, I was reminded very quickly that I was returning to a very special and holy place, one with a glorious mission and known for the passion and quality of her people. Two days ago, my father, ND C'48, lost his class ring; he thought it had been stolen. And when I found it and brought it to him, tears ran down his 89 year-old cheeks. And let's not forget those SAT scores, graduation rates, Notre Dame's lack of Bama's (and LSU's) oversigning sins and JUCO/scholarship sins. Notre Dame is a school, first and foremost. And yes, Notre Dame is still "the finest collegiate institution in the country" in many respects, a great many. The very name of the school opens doors, the faith it instills moves mountains, the charitble work it sponsors and pays for all over the world, in the millions of dollars each year, from hospitals to scholarships, including charitiable works by mere students, from those raising funds and building schools in Kenya to the very shirts so famously (now) worn at home games, the shirt sales helping Notre Dame students who suffer from extraordinary medical conditions that requires payment beyond their means. Your narrow-minded view of this one small corner of Catholicism, which is a huge institution with many rooms, and many people with many disagreements (including scores of ND alums upset with Jenkins), and your jokes about farm animals, pale in comparison to the sight of the team gathering at mass, or joining with students at the end of a game, win or lose, to sing the most beautiful Alma Mater in the world. Notre Dame, our Mother Tender, strong and true, Proudly in the heavens Gleams thy gold and blue, Glory’s mantle cloaks thee Golden is thy fame, And our hearts forever Praise thee Notre Dame, And our hearts forever Love thee Notre Dame! . . . Yes, they do. Go Irish!