Posted on 03/24/2009 11:28:08 AM PDT by NYer
.- Bishop John M. D'Arcy has issued a statement saying that he won't be attending Notre Dame's commencement exercises, which will feature President Obama as the keynote speaker and honor him with a doctor of laws degree.
The full statement of Bishop D'Arcy follows.
Concerning President Barack Obama speaking at Notre Dame
graduation, receiving honorary law degree
March 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.
My understanding is that a board of lay people hire the chancellor who happens to be a priest. This is not a church run college.
This is what the 2 homosexuals in CT were trying to do there. Put the (liberal) lay people in charge of the schools so they can ignore the church.
Yes...the guys that say “not another penny if he speaks at my alma matre”.....These are the guys that make the rules. We will see if the alumni roll over for this outrage.
Good point except MY Latin stinks! Any Freepers??
Fine, if that is the way it has to happen, but it would be a very shameful indicator of the state of the Catholic heirarchy, if they are relying on the laity to enforce Catholic doctrine.
You said it very well, but I find these libs only listen when their paycheck is on the line.
Ha, not yet. We are in Week 6 of Wheelock. Vale, amicus.
Well sh*t Bishop, neither will I but is that really enough?
This is not just about Obama. It's about America's most high profile Catholic university and what it can and can't get away with. It's about giving scandal to the faithful. Your non attendance clearly indicates that you disapprove of Obama's invitation and honorary degree but a "count me out" attitude doesn't cut it when you have responsibility for the diocese. Saying "you guys go ahead without me" is weak. OK fair enough, if Jenkins had any decency he'd take your non attendance to heart and disinvite Obama but some guys just don't get it unless you get in their faces.
I guess when it comes to fighting abortion, some bishops aren't quite there yet.
Every U.S. and Canadian Bishop ought to denounce this specifically and in unambiguous terms.
For every Catholic Priest this is a teachable moment in their next homily/sermon.
Every Bishop that has authority over a university in their diocese should forbid such an invite.
I love “Priests for Life”, but it is a shame that such an organization is necessary.
point of background: It’s a board of lay trustees (most of whom are Catholic) who MUST hire a CSC priest as President (ND does not have a Chancellor).
Dignitas super Veritas?
Thanks for the clarification.
My Latin scholar suggests “Fama Super Veritatem.”
“Fama” can translate as “[idle] talk” or “rumor” or “repute” or “fame.” My Latin scholar thinks it connotes a bit more shallowness. He gave me a fairly technical explanation as to why “veritatem” is preferred to “veritas.” Apparently, using “super” for “over,” given the meaning of "over" in this case, requires something called the accusative case. Or something like that.
sitetest
I yield. I possess 0 Latin scholarship.
Me neither. LOL.
That seems about right....however we don’t want a Hillary RESET/OVERCHARGE button problem, now do we? Is it correct?
see post #33. I yield to Latin scholars.
RIGHT ON!
I remember well what Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen used to say: “Every 400 hundred years the lay people save the Church.” That’s our history.
It’s been 400 plus a few years since the Reformation. It’s time now for the laity to save the Church again.
Bring it on.
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