For those who have been following the uproar the University of Notre Dame's decision to honor Pres. Obama by giving him the commencement podium and an honorary degree despite his extreme anti-life record, here's new information. At Off the Record, Phil Lawler (my dad) is passing along a report that he has from a reliable source: ND President Fr. John Jenkins is in Washington, D.C. today for an unannounced meeting at the White House. This is still merely a rumor, but indeed FlightAware shows the ND jet flying to Dulles this morning.
What could they be talking about? We can only speculate. Last weekend Bishop Robert W. Finn of Kansas City joined 42 American bishops who have spoken out against Obama's invitation by claiming "I suspect that, since Notre Dame will need a scapegoat for this debacle, and Fr. Jenkins will probably lose his job, at this point perhaps he ought to determine to lose it for doing something right instead of something wrong. He ought to disinvite the President, who I believe would graciously accept the decision..."
That Fr. Jenkins would rescind the invitation seems unlikely given that on Saturday Fr. Jenkins reaffirmed his invitation to a crowd celebrating black student-athletes at Notre Dame that "shook down the thunder" with applause. But then what could they be talking about? If there is any change in the status of Obama's invitation, it's big news.
Oh. Well. That's different. If a bunch of black jockstraps think it's cool, then who is the Archbishop to object?
Glad to see ND has its priorities straight.
The bishops who have so far expressed disapproval of Notre Dame's invitation to Obama (in alphabetical order) are:
1. Bishop John D'Arcy - Fort Wayne-South Bend, IN
2. Bishop Samuel Aquila - Fargo, ND
3. Bishop Gregory Aymond - Austin, TX
4. Bishop Gerald Barbarito - Palm Beach, FL
5. Bishop Leonard Blair - Toledo, OH
6. Archbishop Daniel Buechlein - Indianapolis, IN
7. Bishop Robert Baker - Birmingham, AL
8. Bishop Fabian Bruskewitz - Lincoln, NE
9. Archbishop Eusebius Beltran - Oklahoma City, OK
10. Auxiliary Bishop Oscar Cantú - San Antonio, TX
11. Bishop Paul Coakley - Salina, KS
12. Cardinal Daniel DiNardo - Houston, TX
13. Archbishop Timothy Dolan - New York, NY
14. Bishop Thomas Doran - Rockford, IL
15. Auxiliary Bishop John Dougherty - Scranton, PA
16. Bishop Robert Finn - Kansas City-St. Joseph, MO
17. Cardinal Francis George - Chicago, IL; President, USCCB
18. Bishop Gerald Gettelfinger - Evansville, IN
19. Archbishop José Gomez - San Antonio, TX
20. Bishop William Higi - Lafayette, IN
21. Archbishop Alfred Hughs - New Orleans, LA
22. Bishop Joseph Latino - Jackson, MS
23. Bishop Jerome Listecki - La Crosse, WI
24. Bishop William E. Lori - Bridgeport, CT
25. Bishop George Lucas - Springfield, IL
26. Bishop Robert Lynch - St. Petersburg, FL
27. Bishop Joseph Martino - Scranton, PA
28. Bishop Charles Morlino - Madison, WI
29. Bishop George Murry - Youngstown, OH
30. Archbishop John J. Myers - Newark, NJ
31. Bishop R. Walker Nickless - Sioux City, IA
32. Archbishop John C. Nienstedt - St. Paul-Minneapolis, MN
33. Archbishop Edwin O'Brien - Baltimore, MD
34. Bishop Thomas Olmsted - Phoenix, AZ
35. Archbishop Daniel E. Pilarczyk - Cincinnati, OH
36. Bishop Kevin Rhoades - Harrisburg, PA
37. Bishop Alexander Sample - Marquette, MI
38. Bishop Edward J. Slattery - Tulsa, OK
39. Bishop Richard Stika - Knoxville, TN
40. Bishop Anthony Taylor - Little Rock, AR
41. Bishop Robert Vasa - Baker, OR
42. Bishop Thomas Wenski - Orlando, FL
This is from LifeSiteNews.com web site...
BTW, I truly believe that Pope Benedict is watching this fiasco at Notre Dame and taking notes!
“What could they be talking about?”
Can Jeremiah Wright wear one of those funny hats?
Could you cover up touchdown Jesus?
Is the Moses statue Moses Molone or the other one?
Perhaps Obama has offered Fr. Jenkins a position in DC should he lose his job.
I wonder if pres. O wants this fight. I wonder if he wants out but has to have Fr. J. disinvite him so it seems that ND caved and not the White House. If I was a rabid lib pro-abort prez./pol I would not want to rile the Catholics up, you would want the soft abortion war kept in the background, while working with Catholics on “peace and justice”. Bringing abortion up in this way is a huge rallying cry for folks opposed to it.
Freegards
Shouldn't Jenkins be traveling in a hybrid car?
Jenkins and big O together? No doubt they are up to no good.
Interesting, thanks for posting! I am hoping that this might mean that Jenkins has been told he cannot present Obama with the degree, and that Obama will therefore cancel (which I think he would do if he couldn’t get the honorary degree).
However, realistically speaking, I doubt it...Jenkins probably just went to reassure Bambi that all was cool and those nasty obstreperous folks weren’t going to disrupt his moment.