Posted on 04/15/2009 7:19:22 AM PDT by Alex Murphy
South Bend, Ind., Apr 14, 2009 / 06:36 pm (CNA).- Fr. John Jenkins, the President of the University of Notre Dame, has written a letter to the school's board of trustees, defending the university’s invitation of President Obama to the school’s May commencement ceremony. Fr. Jenkins argues in his letter that while many have criticized the school’s move, canon lawyers and the USCCB document, “Catholics in Political Life,” both support his action.
In the letter, posted in full on LifeSiteNews, Fr. Jenkins recalls the June 2004 USCCB statement on Catholics in political life and cites “two key sentences” that “have been frequently quoted” in criticism of Notre Dame's invitation to President Obama. The first sentence is: “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.”
However, Jenkins explains, he interpreted the line to refer only to dissident Catholics, not Protestants such as President Obama. “Because the title of the document is ‘Catholics in Political Life,’ we understood this to refer to honoring Catholics whose actions are not in accord with our moral principles.”
“This interpretation was supported by canon lawyers we consulted, who advised us that, by definition, only Catholics who implicitly recognize the authority of Church teaching can act in ‘defiance’ of it,” he continues. “Moreover, fellow university presidents have told me that their bishops have told them that in fact it is only Catholic politicians who are referred to in this document.”
Fr. Jenkins does not address the close to 30 bishops who have interpreted the statement to include Protestants by condemning the Obama invite.
In his letter, Fr. Jenkins moves on to the next sentence in the bishops’ document: “They should not be given awards, honors or platforms which would suggest support for their actions.”
Fr. Jenkins defends his interpretation of the line by saying that in “every statement I have made about the invitation of President Obama and in every statement I will make, I express our disagreement with him on issues surrounding the protection of life, such as abortion and embryonic stem cell research. If we repeatedly and clearly state that we do not support the President on these issues, we cannot be understood to ‘suggest support.’"
Finally, the document states that "we need to do more to persuade all people that human life is precious and human dignity must be defended. This requires more effective dialogue and engagement with all public officials... ." Fr. Jenkins notes that, “However misguided some might consider our actions, it is in the spirit of providing a basis for dialogue that we invited President Obama.”
“On May 17 we will welcome the ninth President who will receive an honorary degree from Notre Dame,” the priest-president concludes. “It will be an important opportunity to bring the leader of our nation to Notre Dame, and, I hope, a joyful day for our graduates and their families.”
....Fr. Jenkins does not address the close to 30 bishops who have interpreted the statement to include Protestants by condemning the Obama invite.
As a Protestant, I don't consider Obama a “Christian” by any stretch of the imagination.
These are weasel words, only used by someone who wants to avoid ethical considerations - not lead on them. It is like Bill Clinton saying, “Alone with Monica? How could I be alone with her if I was with her? If you are with someone, you are not alone!”
Reminds me of BJ clinton’s definition of what sex is, or “is” is.
Obama isn’t a protestant. He’s a secular humanist. His mother was agnostic. His fathers were non-observant muslims.
He says he still holds a healthy skepticism for organized religion.
He says he came to Christ through the former muslim Jeremiah Wright.
He only just now found a DC church on this past Easter Sunday (he never had a church for the years he served as a Senator).
Was he ever baptised?
Certainly not by his Unitarian grandmother, agnostic mother, or muslim fathers. Jeremiah Wright baptize him?
I am Catholic and agree with you! Inviting Obama to speak at Notre Dame and giving him an honorary degree is like inviting Hitler to a Jewish event and bestowing upon him an award. This man is as responsible for the death of unborn children as Hitler was in the death of millions of Jews. Just because he wasn’t in the clinics when these procedures were performed does not exonerate him from his part in these “killings”. His vote and support has made them possible. I don’t know how he sleeps at night. The Catholic Church should be ashamed of itself for not stepping up and stopping Notre Dame for going through with this farce. I love my Church but I am not at all proud of the way they have turned a blind eye to the Democrats who call themselves Catholic and yet support a woman’s “right” to kill her baby. This statement will probably get me on some government “wacko list” for sure!
This all makes me very sick, this parsing of words. I know the nuns at school would have had a valid argument against this type of hypocrisy.
"Dialogue" is the word most used and revered by the Left. When I see that word, it speaks volumes about who said it.
In his above ramblings, Fr. Jenkins, in true liberal offensive mode, strains mightily to produce an elephant but delivers only a gnat. Truly immature stuff.
How can an educated man in such a lofty position be so blind, so deaf, so illiterate in his own defense, so arrogant.
His tortured parsing of the condemnations against his ill-considered invitation to Obama is pathetic....and to me an indication of an inner tortured soul.
I would say I feel sad for him, but it's obvious the man will not back down and will not humble himself before the Great Physician and the moral precepts of his faith. So he deserves no pity.
Leni
In other words, if you’re wrong but say that you’re right, the statements cancel each other out and you’re hollow, empty, void, and vanity of vanities?
Even if that is true, it DOES apply to Catholics like the Notre Dame President.
"To Jenkins' assertion that giving Obama an honorary doctorate does not "suggest support" for his pro-abortion record, Peters countered, "An honorary doctorate of law does not 'suggest' support for a politicians' legal philosophy, no, instead it screams it.""
I think the best response to that issue comes from Arthur McGowan, who said this on the thread Proudly gay and proudly Catholic:
"Every Catholic Church has a confessional. That's formal dialogue."
Honor and reputation are not subject to technicalities.
In other words, it's Catholic doctrine that it's objectively just as wrong for a Protestant or an atheist to support abortion as it is for a Catholic to do so. (The non-Catholic may be able to argue that their subjective guilt is mitigated somewhat by ignorance, but objectively the crime is just as wrong.)
Jenkins' excuse actually means that he is acting and teaching in defiance of Catholic doctrine on this matter.
To get real philosophical, wouldn’t all Protestants be “dissident Catholics” on some level?
At least if they’re validly baptized, yes.
(Love Ed Peters.)
Be my guest. Be sure to post Jenkins’ letter as well.
Fr Jenkins evidently gets on well with murderers.
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