God bless these graduates! This was a brilliant idea and perfect choice for guest speaker.
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Posted on 05/11/2009 11:51:24 AM PDT by wagglebee
South Bend, IN (LifeNews.com) -- Notre Dame students who don't want to attend a graduation ceremony involving pro-abortion President Barack Obama put together alternate plans. Today, they announced that Father Frank Pavone, the director of Priests for Life, will lead prayer at a pro-life prayer vigil.
The Class of 2009 Vigil for Life will be celebrated at Sunday's commencement ceremony at the same time as the graduation event.
“In standing with these students, I am standing with the true spirit of Notre Dame: a pro-life spirit, in harmony with human reason and Catholic Faith," Father Pavone told LifeNews.com on Monday.
"The scandal that has been generated does not represent what Notre Dame is all about," Pavone added. "It represents a radical betrayal of what Notre Dame is all about."
Pavone said the scandal has resulted in pro-life Catholics standing up for the teachings of the Catholic Church and wanting to hold the university accountable to them.
“Hundreds of thousands of Catholics, hundreds of priests, and dozens of bishops have called upon Notre Dame to end this scandal by withdrawing its invitation to President Obama," he said. "The result of that demand is not in our control."
Pavone told LifeNews.com he thinks pro-life students should exercise their right not to attend the graduation ceremony, where President Obama will give the commencement address and receive an honorary degree.
"One final response to this scandal is fully in the control of each graduating senior: don't show up. Don't participate in an event which will only serve to obscure rather than highlight the Church’s pro-life teaching and the true spirit of Notre Dame," Pavone continued.
"The seniors who do this are manifesting the real meaning of commencement: they are carrying out the witness to truth and service that their hard-earned degrees have prepared them to give in the world," he added.
Some pro-life students plan to join Pavone for the alternative event, but others plan to conduct their own protest during the graduation ceremonies, ND Response, the pro-life collection of student groups, told LifeNews.com last week.
"It certainly appears obvious from these announced plans that a large or perhaps the sole focus of that response is a boycott," ND Response indicated. "There also may be other small groups or individuals amongst the 2009 graduates and their guests who have their own ideas about raising the pro-life issue to Mr. Obama inside the Joyce Center."
The students say they want a focus on peaceful and respectful opposition, especially in light of some of the more in-your-face opposition appearing at their campus in recent days along with the arrest of some pro-life advocates.
Related web sites:
Priests for Life - http://www.PriestsforLife.org
Notre Dame response - http://www.ndresponse.com
imagine this..
A file photo or tape of a previous full Notre Dame graduation will be run with a “voiceover” of “the one” giving his speech..his followers would then believe the place was packed regardless of facts..
Think that won’t be considered (in case there are many empty seats)????
I remember when my oldest daughter was looking into colleges, I bought a book which rated various colleges around the country on how liberal/conservative they were.
The comment under Notre Dame was that the student body was far more conservative than the faculty.
It will be a hoot to watch the venue flooded with the public so that Obama won’t be embarrassed by a missing audience.
Watch it made to look like there was an overflow crowd, even if every student takes a pass and participates in the alternate ceremony.
I once had a position at an institution where the faculty was 70% non-Catholic/ 30% Catholic. The student body was about 85%-90% Catholic.
Actually, I think they should go to the graduation and play recordings of babies crying during Obama’s speech. That would surely make even the MSM, if he was drowned out by hundreds of crying babies.
It wouldn’t matter. The media will take their feed directly from Zero’s microphone (which won’t pick up the background noise) and they would just dub-in applause.
Well said. I couldn’t agree more. Everyone loses except the thing we voted into the WH.
It would be a wonderful witness to the world.
Oh, Fr. Pavone has been in the cross-hairs of the pro-abortion movement for almost 20 years.
difficult to do that at a graduation where so many will be filming the event. surely possible at some other venue.
God bless these graduates! This was a brilliant idea and perfect choice for guest speaker.
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Yep, he's as clean as they come, if there was ANYTHING that could be used to discredit him it would have been used a long time ago.
I understand..but it wouldn’t stop the MSM from trying to figure out how they could make it work..
I’m trying to understand and get a step ahead of the liberal media and how they’d approach this..man, it’s difficult..think I’ll have a beer..:)
How big is this year’s graduating class?
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What a great idea!
I hope these students stand up.
Absolutely. I wish I had skipped mine, but only because it was boring. My dad was smart, he brought a magazine.
But the other idea of pulling their robes over their heads and turning around is good also.
I am sure the students who oppose Obama's views will figure out their own best solutions. What a shame for these graduates...but they have a pinnacle chance to bring this issue to light. They will set the trend, make history, and we can thank them. Go Graduates...we are proud of those of you who stand for life!
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