Free Republic

<p>Thomas Williams, the onetime public face of the disgraced Legion of Christ religious order who left the priesthood after admitting he fathered a child, is getting married this weekend to the child's mother, The Associated Press has learned. The bride is the daughter of former U.S. Ambassador to the Holy See Mary Ann Glendon, one of Pope Francis' top advisers.</p>

NEW YORK (CNS) -- Mary Ann Glendon was "the heroine of the Notre Dame commencement tragedy" in May, an official of the National Right to Life Committee said as the Harvard law professor and former U.S. ambassador to the Vatican received the organization's Proudly Pro-Life Award Oct. 6. Anthony J. Lauinger, vice president of the pro-life organization and the father of eight University of Notre Dame alumni, said Glendon's "principled refusal" of the Indiana university's 2009 Laetare Medal led the National Right to Life Educational Trust Fund to honor her at its awards dinner. The Laetare Medal, established in 1883,...

Friday, May 29 Mary Ann Glendon - Former US Ambassador to the Vatican and member of the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences. Fr. Robert Sirico - President of the Acton Institute for the Study of Religion & Liberty.

Dr. Mary Ann Glendon South Bend, Ind., May 18, 2009 / 12:31 pm (CNA).- After previous Laetare Medal winner Judge John T. Noonan concluded his remarks at commencement, a provost of the University informed the crowd they were witnessing something historic: this was the first time a past Laetare Medal winner had been invited back to speak at commencement. What the Provost failed to mention, however, was the reason for Judge Noonan’s invitation: for the first time the Laetare Medal was declined by its intended recipient because of the University’s decision to honor President Obama.Dr. Mary Ann Glendon was...

<p>President Barack Obama arrives at Notre Dame today already triumphant, the champion of the pro-abortion rights lobby ready to be honored by America's pre-eminent Roman Catholic university.</p> <p>This controversy has been spun as Catholics opposing a president offering a commencement address at Notre Dame. That's not really the issue. What most are angry about is that a great Catholic university is conferring an honorary degree upon a politician whose position on abortion is in absolute conflict with Catholic teaching.</p>

President Barack Obama arrives at Notre Dame on Sunday already triumphant, the champion of the pro-abortion rights lobby ready to be honored by America's pre-eminent Roman Catholic university. This controversy has been spun as Catholics opposing a president offering a commencement address at Notre Dame. That's not really the issue. What most are angry about is that a great Catholic university is conferring an honorary degree upon a politician whose position on abortion is in absolute conflict with Catholic teaching. Given how this has been spun, by an adoring pro-Obama (and pro-abortion rights) media, the weekend's news coverage is tiresomely...

First Carrie Prejean, and now Mary Ann Glendon. Brave women are standing up for their religious principles in a very American way. According to the Boston Globe... Harvard Law professor Mary Ann Glendon, one of the most prominent Catholic conservative intellectuals in the United States, announced yesterday that she would refuse a prestigious award from the University of Notre Dame rather than appear on the same platform on which President Obama is being awarded an honorary degree. She cited the nominally-Catholic University's decision to bestow an honorary degree on the pro-abortion president. Amid the hubbub she has displayed admirable grace:...

The group "Catholic" Democrats has issued a statement, "Catholic Democrats Deplores Ambassador Glendon's Undiplomatic Withdrawal from Notre Dame Commencement." It's an amazing little piece of disingenuous character assassination, especially this:"It is unfortunate that Professor Glendon would repeat the Republican talking points to justify her decision," said Dr. Patrick Whelan, president of Catholic Democrats.  "Like many conservative critics, she conveniently sidesteps any acknowledgement of President Obama's pledge to reduce the number of abortions.  Ambassador Glendon's statement knowingly ignores the President's leadership in moving the nation past the deep wounds of racial prejudice and advancing a spectrum of social and economic justice...

I am all for an identifiable Catholic presence in the public square. That said, this group is becoming more and more divisive: Catholic Democrats. Here is their latest defense of Notre Shame, which involves the denigration of Amb. Mary Ann Glendon. My emphases and comments. Catholic Democrats Deplores Ambassador Glendon’s Undiplomatic Withdrawal from Notre Dame Commencement Decision Not in Step with Majority of Catholics  [This group is more interested in polling data than Catholic teaching.  For them the "majority" gets to decide what is right when it come to Catholic identity.] Who Support the President’s Social Justice Policies Boston, MA...

Ivy League law professors are often derided by folks on the center-to-right side of the political spectrum as out-of-touch, Volvo-driving, ivory-tower liberals. While we haven't done our own research on the exact degree to which that's true, we do suspect that the faculties at the top law schools tilt to the political left (though whether Volvos are indeed the car of choice, we have no idea). That said, we were reminded today that not everyone is of the same political stripe. Take Harvard Law School's Mary Ann Glendon, a conservative pro-lifer who turned down an award from the University...

Flash: Fr. Jenkins announces he will transfer Laetare Medal This has all the signs of a knee-jerk half-baked response to Glendon's morning bombshell: Statement by Father John Jenkins on the Laetare Medal The following statement from Rev. John I. Jenkins, C.S.C., president of the University of Notre Dame, is in response to the decision by Mary Ann Glendon to decline acceptance of the University’s Laetare Medal: “We are, of course, disappointed that Professor Glendon has made this decision. It is our intention to award the Laetare Medal to another deserving recipient, and we will make that announcement as soon as...

Mary Ann Glendon (CNS) Father John Jenkins likely thought himself very clever. Professor Mary Ann Glendon just took him to school. In declining to receive the Laetare Medal alongside President Barack ObamaÂ’s honorary doctorate of laws at next monthÂ’s commencement, Glendon has refused to participate in the shabby manipulation Father Jenkins attempted to engineer. It is a rare personage who could ennoble an award by refusing to receive it, but Professor Glendon has done just that. The Laetare Medal will now be known best for the year in which it was declined. Glendon chose, to use the apt words of...

First, as a longtime consultant to the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, I could not help but be dismayed by the news that Notre Dame also planned to award the president an honorary degree. This, as you must know, was in disregard of the U.S. bishops’ express request of 2004 that Catholic institutions “should not honor those who act in defiance of our fundamental moral principles” and that such persons “should not be given awards, honors or platforms which would suggest support for their actions.” That request, which in no way seeks to control or interfere with an institution’s freedom...

The following statement from Rev. John I. Jenkins, C.S.C., president of the University of Notre Dame, is in response to the decision by Mary Ann Glendon to decline acceptance of the University’s Laetare Medal: “We are, of course, disappointed that Professor Glendon has made this decision. It is our intention to award the Laetare Medal to another deserving recipient, and we will make that announcement as soon as possible.”

Former U.S. ambassador to the Vatican Mary Ann Glendon won't accept the school's Laetare Medal at commencement next month because of its decision to have President Barack Obama speak to graduates. SOUTH BEND, Ind. -- Former U.S. ambassador to the Vatican Mary Ann Glendon won't accept the school's Laetare Medal at commencement next month because of its decision to have President Barack Obama speak to graduates. ... The Laetare Medal is considered the most prestigious honor for American Catholics. ...

April 27, 2009 The Rev. John I. Jenkins, C.S.C.PresidentUniversity of Notre Dame Dear Father Jenkins, When you informed me in December 2008 that I had been selected to receive Notre Dame’s Laetare Medal, I was profoundly moved. I treasure the memory of receiving an honorary degree from Notre Dame in 1996, and I have always felt honored that the commencement speech I gave that year was included in the anthology of Notre Dame’s most memorable commencement speeches. So I immediately began working on an acceptance speech that I hoped would be worthy of the occasion, of the honor of the...

Monday April 27, 2009 BREAKING: Mary Ann Glendon Refuses Notre Dame Honor over Obama Invitation By Kathleen GilbertNOTRE DAME, Indiana, April 27, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Mary Ann Glendon, the former United States ambassador to the Vatican who was set to receive the University of Notre Dame's Laetare Medal at the school's commencement on May 17, has written to University president Fr. John Jenkins saying that she will not attend the ceremony or accept the award after all.  Glendon says her refusal stems from the University's persistence in choosing to honor Obama with an honorary degree, despite U.S. Bishops Conference...

VATICAN CITY, FEB. 29, 2008 (Zenit.org).- Here is the address Benedict XVI gave today in English upon receiving in audience Mary Ann Glendon, the new ambassador of the United States to the Holy See. * * * Your Excellency, It is a pleasure for me to accept the Letters by which you are accredited Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the United States of America and to offer my cordial good wishes as you take up your new responsibilities in the service of your country. I am confident that the knowledge and experience born of your distinguished association with the work...

Now this is going to be interesting. Bush announced he'll pick Mary Ann Glendon as his rep to the Holy See. The Globe/AP story reporting the nomination wastes no time making sure she's properly tagged: President Bush plans to nominate Harvard University law professor Mary Ann Glendon to be his new US ambassador to the Vatican. Glendon, 69, is an antiabortion scholar and an opponent of gay marriage who has written about the effects of divorce and increased litigation on society. Her 1987 book, "Abortion and Divorce in Western Law," was critical of the Supreme Court's 1973 Roe v. Wade...

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Bush plans to nominate Harvard University law professor Mary Ann Glendon to be his new U.S. ambassador to the Vatican.Glendon, 69, is an anti-abortion scholar and an opponent of gay marriage who also has written on the effects of divorce and increased litigation on society. Her 1987 book "Abortion and Divorce in Western Law" was critical of the Supreme Court's 1973 Roe v. Wade decision that established a legal right to abortion.The White House announced Monday that Bush will nominate Glendon to the post, which requires Senate confirmation.Glendon was appointed by Pope John Paul II in...