Pro-Life Leader to Notre Dame: Cancel The Prez

NBC4 TV (Washington, DC) ^ | 3/21/09 | Asha Beh

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Notre Dame invited President Barack Obama to do their commencement speech on May 17 -- and if they don't take it back, one pro-life leader says he's going to raise the masses in protest.

Since his first week in office, Obama has made a string of executive orders, appointments and policy decisions that contradict Catholic teaching of the sanctity of life, said Joe Scheidler, national director of the Pro-Life Action League, in a press release on Christian Newswire.

He's "the most pro-abortion president in U.S. history," according to Scheidler, who notes Obama's decision to dedicate federal funds to harvest embryonic stem cells for research, overturning conscience protections for healthcare workers, and appointing Kansas Governor Kathleen Sebelius to head the Department of Health and Human Services among Obama's sins.

[Venturer]

It’s a disgrace. The Cardinal of that Diocese should be involved in this with both feet.

How many so -called Catholics voted for Obama,this baby-killing POS?

[vladimir998]

There’s one other way...

Make it clear that, if the president’s visit is not cancelled, thousands of pro-lifers will be coming to Notre Dame...and there will be trouble when they get there.

[Mrs. Don-o]

These aren’t Jesuits. ND is run by the Congregation of the Holy Cross, CSC.

[Salvation]

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/2210995/posts?page=28#28

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/2210995/posts?page=87#87

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/2210995/posts?page=101#101

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/2210995/posts?page=102#102

Contacts from another thread — Action Ping! Get to it FReepers!

[Salvation]

Thanks for your post. I had just looked up the correction too!

Holy Cross Order runs Notre Dame. C. S. C. after their names.

[Cicero]

Good idea. I think I’ll write Bishop Darcy, too. I already signed the petition the Thomas More Society website is sending to Notre Dame, but I don’t know how much good that’ll do. Still, every little bit helps.

[Houghton M.]

Traditional Catholics (which includes all my friends) make the mistake of focusing their anger on the presidents of Catholic universities. They are prisoners in the Ivory Tower, hostages to their faculties, and, because hostages to their faculties, they are prisoners of their boards of trustees.

The product a university markets is its “prestige,” which means the prestige of its faculty, its rankings in the various polls and surveys. A president of a university cannot fundamentally alienate his faculty because if a war breaks out between president and faculty, the president loses every single time. The board can always fire the president and hire a new one. The board can’t fire the whole faculty without losing the university’s “product” and thus the university’s raison d’etre.

Presidents of universities know this. Faculties of universities know this. It’s time for constituencies of Catholic unversities to get a clue about how they operate and focus their wrath where it matters: at the board and major donors. Lobby the big-name donors—find out who they are by consulting the alumni magazine announcements of big donations.

In marketing terms, the major Catholic universities long ago shifted to marketing themselves to non-catholic and CINO constituencies. There just aren’t enough people who care about this left in the the donor and alumni constituencies of these schools to matter. The boards know this.

However, Notre Dame is a bit unique. It has always had a small minority of faculty who fought the apostasy and it has cultivated a unique dorm-piety (hence alumni-piety) over the years. So there’s a bit of a chance with Notre Dame. But shouting at the president is less effective than shouting at the board and big donors.

Many of the presidents of the big Catholic schools realize that they’ve let the secularization go too far. They would like to rein it in, just a bit, not too much, you know. It’s also a marketing thing—even the most prestigious of the Catholic schools (Boston College, Georgetown, Notre Dame), without their Catholic cachet, are second-rate as research universities, at least in the bigoted eyes of the mainstream Academy. (Notre Dame in fact ought to rank within the lower echelons of the elite bracket of research schools, but it always gets points deducted due to anti-Catholic prejudice from the Ivy Leaguers and wannabes.)

So the presidents realize that they can’t let these school become totally secularized and most of them are trying their damnedest to pull back from the brink—e.g., the crucifix gambit at Boston College—purely cosmetic but indicative of the realization that they are on the brink.

But even though Jenkins quite honestly, like a lot of other presidents of Catholic universities, would like to pull Notre Dame securely into the “Catholic orbit,” at least in marketing terms, the opportunity to have the POTUS (or at least the TOTUS) speak at commencement is just irresistable to the board and big donors: since Rockne’s time, Notre Dame has been a national icon for American Catholics and the list of previous presidents who have given commencement addresses their, growing out of Hesburgh’s cultivation of presidents for decades, has created a “tradition” along these lines. To reject Obama because of his radical embrace of the Culture of Death (when most of the country, thanks to the MSM, is still ignorant of just how radical he is on these issues), makes no PR sense.

And it’s all about PR.

But don’t shout at Jenkins. From what I know of him (and I know a good number of people who knew him long before he became the heir apparent to Malloy), I imagine he would, if he had his druthers, have kept Obama away.

But I don’t think he has much maneuvering room here. It’s the board and faculty (not to mention the students, many of whom, after the fashion in recent decades, see the whole commencement competitively with other schools: my school had a bigger celebrity for my graduation than your school had for its, so my degree is more prestigious and I’m a More Important Person than you are, added to which is the gaga hopey-changey Obama-cult among the 18-24-year-olds)who really call the shots on things of this sort.

And people ought to stop taking pot shots at Bishop D’Arcy. Over the years he’s done just about everything he can do to try to rein in Notre Dame. Yes, he could use the “nuclear option” of denying ND the name “Catholic.” But if he did, he would be turned into a Torquemada and Notre Dame would be a champion of religious freedom and liberty in the eyes of the MSM and the original issue—Obama’s vicious endorsement of Death, would be totally lost in the shuffle.

The only ones who can rein in Notre Dame are its alumni and donors. And I’m afraid there just aren’t enough of them convinced that Obama receiving an honorary degree is a bad thing to make a difference.

I hope I’m proven wrong. I pray I’m proven wrong.

[Mrs. Don-o]

Here's a letter I just e-mailed to the President of Notre Dame and the other Big Bugs:

To: president@nd.edu, pmccartan@jonesday.com, mfox@archchicago.org, catholiceducation@usccb.org, ndalumni@nd.edu

Brothers in Christ:

You are not among those who are unlettered, oblivious and unaware.

You know that Barack Obama voted three times --- once on the floor of the Illinois legislature, and twice in committee ----to deny medical assistance and even compassionate palliative care to living, struggling infants unfortunate enough to be born subsequent to an attempted abortion.

You know that Obama's HHS has just rescinded federal regulatory protection of conscience rights for individual and institutional healthcare providers.

You know that Barack Obama is by far the most radical advocate of abortion AND infanticide ever elected to political office in the USA --- both actions condemned by the Second Vatican Council as "abominable crimes."

And this infamous man has now been invited to receive an Honorary Degree in Law from Notre Dame University?

Holy Mother of God!

In a statement adopted in 2004, the USCCB declared, "The Catholic community and Catholic institutions should not honor those who act in defiance of our fundamental moral principles."

"They should not be given rewards, honors, or platforms."

You would be utter fools to honor Barack Obama merely because he is is President of the United States, he is "historic," he is stylish and powerful, he is one of the great ones of the earth.

You are offending One far greater than he.

Sincerely,

[signed]

P.S. If you well and truly lack the testicular fortitude to do the right thing --- which would be to make a public statement rescinding Barack Obama's invitation due to the fact that he is morally unfit to be given a platform or to receive honors from any Catholic institution --- then you can at least work behind the scenes to "remind" Obama that he "unfortunately has a scheduling conflict" which will "unfortunately" make it impossible for him to attend.

And don't accept Vice President Biden as a substitute, a --- compared to Obama ---trifling, merely "moderately" murder-authorizing Catholic who has already justly been denied platforms, honors, and reception of Holy Communion by the Bishop of Scranton.

[Cicero]

Yes, all the Jesuit Universities are in trouble, but Georgetown is the worst and the most shameless of the lot.

It’s also the most expensive tuition in America, unless some other trendy place has moved into that spot since I last looked.

[phatus maximus]

Cheers to you!!

[tiki]

But we have no idea how many may have been aborted.

[Cicero]

As Ann Archy suggests, if anyone wants to write to the bishop about this, the address is:

Bishop John N. D’Arcy
Fort Wayne Chancery
1103 S. Calhoun Street
P.O. Box 390
Fort Wayne, Indiana 46801

He doesn’t provide an email address at the diocesan website.

[Ev Reeman]

A baby killer being invited to give a speech at a Christian school. Can you spell H-Y-P-O-C-R-I-T-E?

[albie]

“Get a bunch of big name donors to cut off the funds. That’s the only way you will succeed”.

...that’s it in a nutshell. It’s all about the money. Institutions of “higher learning” operate the same as individual libs. On emotion only. They’ll invite the most anti-american, treasonist sob to ever walk the face of the earth to come speak, teach etc in the name of “free speech”. Then Ann Coulter, Sean Hannity types get booed off campus...all in the name of “free speech”. The moment you cut off funding, they’re all ears and common sense takes over.

[utahagen]

Notre Dame is not a Jesuit school. (There occasionally have been Jesuits who guest-taught there, but it's definitely not a Jesuit school. I believe the order that runs Notre Dame is the Holy Cross Fathers.)

[FroggyTheGremlim]

Maybe someone with photoshop skills can make a picture of “touchdown Jesus” with a tear streaming down his cheek...

I believe that God will leave ND - no more “Luck of the Irish” from now on...

[FroggyTheGremlim]

1. Yes
2. Yes
3. Yes, yes, yes.

[Cicero]

Excellent letter. You might also consider mailing Bishop D’Arcy (see #32).

[SkyDancer]

Maybe he just kept the one’s he wanted ....

[Cicero]

I think on the whole you are probably right, although I wouldn’t underestimate the damage done by Fr. Hesburgh. He was the guy who led the Catholic colleges out of the Church at Land o’ Lakes. He was the guy who let McBrien by made head of the theology department. He was the guy who decided he wanted Notre Dame to be more like the Ivy League universities, and presided over the policy of hiring non-Catholic faculty. Now, of course, it is indeed difficult to fight the liberal faculty who are now in charge of many departments.

I taught a summer course at Notre Dame some years ago (sponsored by the Pew Foundation), and was very favorably impressed by the dorm piety you mention, and by the piety of many of the students. Also by the masses in their college chapel or church. The place is still very Catholic in spite of all those bad decisions. But I’m afraid that the current president seems to share Fr. Hesburgh’s attitudes.

I suspect that the alumni are somewhat divided. I’m sure they are proud of the new stadium and the campus and ND’s academic reputation, and perhaps bothered by the recurrent controversies and scandals such as the Vagina Monologues.