Posted on 05/30/2009 4:38:57 PM PDT by bdeaner
"The question, then, is how do we work through these conflicts? Is it possible for us to join hands in common effort? As citizens of a vibrant and varied democracy, how do we engage in vigorous debate? How does each of us remain firm in our principles, and fight for what we consider right, without demonizing those with just as strongly held convictions on the other side?" President Barack Obama, Commencement Address at the University (formerly) of Notre Dame.
As sad a sight as it is, having a pro-abort socialist honored at a school built to honor Our Lady, we must realize that the crime committed today is not the arrogant speech of Obama, nor even the heinous duplicity of Fr. Jenkins, the current president of ND. No. As great men recognize that they stand on the shoulders of their predecessors, we must look deeper to see that Obama and Jenkins are but the tip of the iceburg—or rather, of the Hesburgh, in this case. For the "honor" of the destruction of Our Lady's school rests squarely on the shoulders of one man, Rev. Theodore Hesburgh, the president of ND from 1952 to 1987.
In this short space, it isn't possible to do justice to the grave injustice wrought by Fr. Hesburgh. Hence, let me supply you with a brief summary along with references for your further reading.
The core of the betrayal of Fr. Hesburgh was his work with the Rockefeller Foundation to undermine the Church's opposition to birth control. The Rockefeller Foundation has been a driving force for eugenic population control. Fr. Hesburgh diligently promoted RF interests, even arranging a meeting between John D. Rockefeller and Pope Paul VI! An excellent article from Catholic Citizens of Illinois, FROM ORTHODOXY TO HERESY: The Secularizing of Catholic Universities provides details of the betrayal:
"Among Notre Dame's vocal dissenting theologians was Fr. John A. O'Brien, C.S.C. When Rockefeller's Population Council and Planned Parenthood invited him to a conference to discuss ways to promote contraception, the invitation was answered from the assistant to Fr. Theodore Hesburgh, Notre Dame's president, who offered Notre Dame's campus as the venue for the conference, provided it was funded by a foundation grant. Rockefeller agreed to the funding on condition that only Catholics who believed as Rockefeller did were to be invited, a condition to which Notre Dame brass readily agreed. Notre Dame went further, arranging that the conference be unpublicized to avoid opposition from the bishop and loyal Catholics. Planned Parenthood's list of Catholics with acceptable views on contraception included Fr. Hesburgh, who chaired the first conference. Two follow-up conferences were held expressly to formulate a document justifying a reform of Church teaching on contraception which would then be widely published. All the conferences were held on Notre Dame's campus and all were funded by foundation grants.
In the summer of 1965, after the conferences had ended but before the preordained report was finalized, Fr. Hesburgh arranged a private audience for Rockefeller with Pope Paul VI in an unsuccessful effort to sell the Pope on the value of contraception and his newly perfected IUD, after which Rockefeller arrogantly offered to draft a papal encyclical on the subject -- an offer which the Pope, of course, declined.
That fall, seven months after the Population Council conferences had concluded, the hand-picked conferees signed and publicized a proclamation attacking the Church's teaching on contraception. Popularly called "The Notre Dame Statement," the document declared that the Church's teaching was out of date and inconsistent with modern psychology and sociology, and that the morality of contraception was not based on divine law but solely on one's opinion. The Statement asserted that it was wrong to teach that contraception was objectively sinful, and that Catholics who so believed had no moral right to impose that view on others. Thus was inaugurated the "personally opposed, but…" philosophy.
Only two years later, the bitter fruit was produced. On July 23, 1967, at Notre Dame's retreat center in Land O'Lakes, Wisconsin, the executives of the major Catholic universities in the U.S. and their sponsoring religious orders met, signed, and adopted a revolutionary document entitled "The Land O'Lakes Statement: The Nature of the Contemporary Catholic University," ...The Land O'Lakes Statement declared the universities' independence from the Church in its first paragraph, which states that "the catholic university must have a true autonomy and academic freedom in the face of authority of whatever kind, lay or clerical, external to the academic community itself" ...
It is clear, then, that Fr. Hesburgh did as much as he could to destroy the moral teaching and the authority of the Church. He even had the audacity to serve as chairman of the Rockefeller Foundation's board of trustees from 1977 to 1982 (here), while yet president of ND. It is no wonder that Obama praises Hesburgh in his address, and likewise, Fr. Hesburgh approved of Obama's invitation (here).
In the final analysis, we see that President Obama is merely continuing the work of Fr. Hesburgh: We live in a pluralistic society; I have my view and you have yours. You may be personally opposed to abortion, but it shouldn't prevent you from letting me murder your children. Don't "demonize" me; have some sympathy. Sympathy for the devil, that is.
Our Lady Seat of Wisdom, Pray for Us!
Uh-huh. Cash. Cold-hard cash. Why is this not shocking. Rockefeller tried more ways than not for decades to get the Church to change the teaching. Pope Pius IX wrote a whole encyclical in response. Just remember, public relations was invented to make the Rockefellers look good. Disguising evil is never easy.
Strange, we've never been taught that the biblical character to follow was Judas Iscariot. But, that's what happened. Money - the root of all evil. Aside from lust for glory, power and sex, it's true.
Yep — I’m learning a lot I was ignorant about until quite recently. Not that long ago I learned the link between Rockefeller and eugenics — something I’d just never been taught. As a psychologist, I was surprised to learn how his funding was behind the legalization of the sterelization of the mentally ill, which was actually supported by a U.S. Supreme Court decision. Hitler used the SCOTUS decision to defend his own eugenic project, which culminated in the “Final Solution.” We have a dark history in this country that we need to face head-on, or it will rot us from within.
I read a quote here on FR in the last few months that was attributed to Fulton Sheen. I've not been able to find it anywhere, though. He supposedly said that every 400 years or so the laity saves the Church. We're probably on the cusp of that. My advice - read the authentic teachings, be informed, learn apologetics, don't be afraid to be unapologetic about the Faith, and if marriage is your vocation, don't send your kids to Jesuit schools. Be sure to be involved in their religious education. My mother was horrified to find out how bad ours was. And, of course, pray.
Try this link:
http://www.culturewars.com/CultureWars/Archives/Fidelity_archives/bernardin.html
I’m pretty sure this is what I’m remembering.
Our church is encouraging us to join a church ministry locally that will be trained to reach out to Catholics to evangalize...they are asking for about 30 people to become part of this new volunteer effort. I may just volunteer.
there isn’t enough “reaching out’ to the parishoners for their spirtual needs, and short of ‘family social events” the Baptists really leave us in the dust when it comes to “community’ and fellowship. With the advent of suburbs the old Catholic neighborhood church has gone.,,,and with it, a sense of community.
Thanks. I will check out those articles, and if I find them, I will link them here for others who are interested.
Be careful. The pieces I’m thinking of I read in 2002-03, somewhere in there. There’s been a lot written since with the same titles.
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