Sympathy for the Devil: Obama and the University of ND

"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.

I started reading "The Many Faces of Cardinal Bernardin." The problem with the paper is that it is HORRIBLY written. Terribly organized. Who taught this person composition? My goodness. I find it to be very difficult to follow. I'll give it another try, but this is painful.

I now understand also that Bernardin was the originator of the "seamless garment" argument that has been referenced a lot surrounding the Obama invitation at Notre Dame. Here is a speech the Cardinal gave on the "seamless garment" concept:

A Consistent Ethic of Life: Continuing the Dialogue

bdeaner, Along with “seamless garment”, look up Cardinal Bernadine - “consistent ethic”, “COMMON GROUND”, St. John the anti-Semitic Evangelist, Many Faces of AIDS, Call to Action, etc., projects in the Church. He appointed incapable proteges like Archbishops Thomas Kelly, and John Quinn, Weakland, Gumbleton, Untener and others. All Bishops in the US had to be approved by him.

Bernadine created his own kind of church, one based on – in the words of Malachi Martin (RIP) – “’dialog’ rather than obedience to the will of God.”

The Bernardin Legacy will continue to fester in the body of the Church until the surgeons – that is, his brother bishops – cut it away which is why many of us in the laity were so excited that a little over 80 Bishops spoke out sternly against ND. There’s a residue of Bernadin’s proteges left - can’t wait until they retire.

I am somewhat heartened that these vermin are fairly identifiable, finite, and excrete-able.

And for the most part are over 60. They are slowly being replaced. It just takes a while. Patience.

You’re welcome. Most of it is covered under the “seamless garment” Desdemona mentioned but it’s always good to have other headings when searching. He used “Pastoral” as a guise to introduce dialogue on issues he knew were sacrosanct and insodoing created confusion on our teachings which bled into the Universities, who in turn produced infected CINO’S, all of which are hailed by the press as the compassionate peacemakers. These CINO’S helped Clinton (Benadin and Clinton were big buddies), they helped Obama get elected and continue to assist him hence the ND invite. Those who oppose, such as moi, are rightwing haters with no compassion. I’ve been enjoying your threads. :)

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