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Belly Up, kids. It's show time in South Bend.

Washington D.C., May 16, 2009 / 01:12 am (CNA).- Encouraging Catholic universities and other institutions to act within the structure of the Church, Archbishop of Washington, D.C. Donald W. Wuerl has warned that those institutions which ignore legitimate instructions from the bishops weaken the Church’s "practical communion." Writing in a Tuesday column in the Catholic Standard, Archbishop Wuerl noted periodic media reports about Catholic institutions apparently behaving at odds with their Catholic identity. He said the incidents often prompt discussion about the unity of the Catholic Church and how Catholic institutions relate to the broader Church."Institutions that are recognized...

Bishop: Obama at Notre Dame 'day of shame' BY DANA MASSING Published: May 15. 2009 1:15AM Erie's Catholic bishop has added his voice to those opposing the University of Notre Dame's invitation to President Barack Obama to speak at Sunday's commencement and receive an honorary degree. In a statement released this week, Erie Bishop Donald W. Trautman called Obama "a relentless advocate of unrestricted abortion" and said it was a "bad decision" by Notre Dame officials to give him a platform. The U.S. Catholic bishops, in their 2004 statement "Catholics in Political Life," had said that "the Catholic community and...

From a reader…. what I am assuming is the text prepared by the University of Notre Dame for bestowing an the honor of a doctorate of law on President Obama. "At the 164th Commencement The May Exercises The University of Notre Dame Confers the degree of Doctor of Laws, honoris causa, on the 44th president of the United States, whose historic election opened a new era of hope in a country long divided by its history of slavery and racism. A community organizer who honed his advocacy for the poor, the marginalized and the worker in the streets of...

Thursday May 7, 2009 Archbishop Chaput: Habit of "Vanity and Compromise" Led to ND Scandal By Kathleen GilbertNEW YORK, May 7, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) - The University of Notre Dame's decision to honor pro-abortion President Obama resulted from "vanity and complacency" with modern culture, said Archbishop Charles Chaput of Denver yesterday.  Chaput also remarked on the controversy stirred by President Obama's statement that America is "not a Christian nation," asserting that America is under attack from groups working "very vigorously" to de-Christianize popular culture. The Catholic News Agency published portions of the archbishop's remarks to the American Bible Society in...

Washington D.C., May 7, 2009 / 09:36 am (CNA).- A single-page website, www.prayfor44.com, is inviting Catholics across the U.S. to lead “respectful” prayer meetings, preferably on the same day and at the same time in which President Barack Obama will be honored at the University of Notre Dame. The idea, according to the promoters of the initiative, is to organize a nationwide, prayerful “Catholic Tea Party” that, they hope, will become viral. “Dear 44th President, we pray that you may see clearly and defend the value of all human life, from the moment of conception. God bless you,” says the...

In the seven weeks since Notre Dame announced President Barack Obama as its 2009 Commencement speaker, the campus has seen prayer gatherings, academic debates, banner-flying planes and bloodied baby dolls in strollers. Now, with a week and a half to go until Obama lands in South Bend to address the graduating class, another group has arrived in town to demand Notre Dame be stripped of its Catholic identity.It's really been quite the month and a half. I spent the entire day stuck in the library studying for exams, but luckily the South Bend Tribune was on the scene Tuesday to...

During the 2008 presidential campaign, there was a steady drumbeat of opposition to Barack Obama from some U.S. Catholic bishops, which only increased after his election. But despite the attention these attacks received in the media and on Internet blogs, polls show that the Catholic people are not listening. He has been criticized: • for being the most pro-abortion president ever, even though he wants to develop programs that will reduce the number of abortions while keeping it legal under most circumstances (he supports restrictions in the third trimester with an exception for the health of the mother); (snip) These...

April 30, 2009 Obama to wear robe with cross and Virgin Mary prayer at Notre Dame commencement Per CNSNews.com, April 28: President Barack Obama is expected to wear the traditional doctoral robe featuring the cross and prayer of the Virgin Mary when he speaks at... Notre Dame next month, White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs told CNSNews.com White House Correspondent Fred Lucas on Monday.... nd doctoral.jpg "I honestly don't know what the dress code is for that day. I can assume that the president would wear what one traditionally wears at that commencement," Gibbs told Lucas during Monday's White House...

Today’s Mass is offered in reparation for the sins and transgressions committed against the dignity and sacredness of human life in our world today.  We do this at the initiative of Notre-Dame alumni here in Central Florida who, like many other Catholics across the country, are confused and upset that their alma mater would grant an honorary doctorate to President Obama despite his rather extremist views on abortion.  In granting this honorary degree, Notre-Dame chose to defy the Bishops of the United States who have said that “the Catholic community and Catholic institutions should not honor those who act in...

The woman whose pregnancy provoked the Roe v Wade court case that legalised abortion in the United States in 1973 has condemned the decision by Notre Dame University to invite the fiercely pro-abortion Barack Obama to deliver its commencement address on May 17. Norma McCorvey - the "Jane Roe" of Roe v Wade - is now a Catholic pro-life campaigner. And she has joined 60 Catholic bishops in condemning the university 's decision to honour the most "pro-choice" politician ever to sit in Congress. "Obama is not the ideal person to speak to a young bunch of kids that are...

The escalating outcry over the invitation to President Obama to be the commencement speaker at Notre Dame - and the decision to bestow upon him the “Doctor of Law”- degree has an astonishing momentum. Two more Bishops and a Cardinal have spoken out. Bishop Thomas Olmsted of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Phoenix released his E-Mail letter to Father John Jenkins, the President of the University. The subject line summarized the strong concern “Saddened by your tragic decision”: "Dear Fr. Jenkins, "I am saddened and heavy of heart about your decision to invite President Obama to speak at Notre Dame...