Notre Dame Chooses Prestige Over Truth

Critics Blast Obama's Scheduled Notre Dame Commencement Address

I urge you all to sign the petition protesting Obama's scheduled commencement address at the University of Notre Dame. You can sign the petition here. There is one man who has been in attendance for 25 years, but will not attend this year's ceremony and that man is the bishop of South Bend, John D'Arcy. I applaud Bishop D'Arcy for his voicing his opposition with Notre Dame's decision. Not only is Obama going to speak, but he is going to be receiving an honorary degree. Everyone deserves respect, but not everyone deserves to be honored. Several "name-only catholics" defend Notre Dame by saying that this doesn't mean Notre Dame endorses all of Obama's positions and that we can't transform people without bringing them to the table. My response to this first of all is that Notre Dame is endorsing Obama when they give him an honorary degree. Secondly, what kind of table are we sitting at when Obama is the one giving the speech. Who is inviting who to the table and what kind of transformation can take place in this setting. We can not convert or transform Obama, only God through the Holy Spirt can Obama have a change of heart. There are other platforms and opportunities to engage in meaningful dialogue, but this is not the place or the time. I think Bishop D'Arcy explained the situation the best. Below are comments from Bishop D'Arcy. I continue to pray for our civil and religious leaders, that God my bless and guide them to teach the truth and work to preserve the dignity of every human person from conception to natural death. I pray that more will follow the leadership of Bishop D'Arcy and take an active role in promoting life and their Christain faith. Once again I encourage you to sign the petition in protest of Obama's scheduled commencement speach at Notre Dame. Thank you and God bless!
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On Friday, March 21, Father John Jenkins, CSC, phoned to inform me that President Obama had accepted his invitation to speak to the graduating class at Notre Dame and receive an honorary degree. We spoke shortly before the announcement was made public at the White House press briefing. It was the first time that I had been informed that Notre Dame had issued this invitation.

President Obama has recently reaffirmed, and has now placed in public policy, his long-stated unwillingness to hold human life as sacred. While claiming to separate politics from science, he has in fact separated science from ethics and has brought the American government, for the first time in history, into supporting direct destruction of innocent human life.

This will be the 25th Notre Dame graduation during my time as bishop. After much prayer, I have decided not to attend the graduation. I wish no disrespect to our president, I pray for him and wish him well. I have always revered the Office of the Presidency. But a bishop must teach the Catholic faith “in season and out of season,” and he teaches not only by his words — but by his actions.

My decision is not an attack on anyone, but is in defense of the truth about human life.

I have in mind also the statement of the U.S. Catholic Bishops in 2004. “The Catholic community and Catholic institutions should not honor those who act in defiance of our fundamental moral principles. They should not be given awards, honors or platforms which would suggest support for their actions.” Indeed, the measure of any Catholic institution is not only what it stands for, but also what it will not stand for.

I have spoken with Professor Mary Ann Glendon, who is to receive the Laetare Medal. I have known her for many years and hold her in high esteem. We are both teachers, but in different ways. I have encouraged her to accept this award and take the opportunity such an award gives her to teach.

Even as I continue to ponder in prayer these events, which many have found shocking, so must Notre Dame. Indeed, as a Catholic University, Notre Dame must ask itself, if by this decision it has chosen prestige over truth.

Tomorrow, we celebrate as Catholics the moment when our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, became a child in the womb of his most holy mother. Let us ask Our Lady to intercede for the university named in her honor, that it may recommit itself to the primacy of truth over prestige.

- Bishop D'Arcy