John Jenkins, CSC: image by ND.edu
John Jenkins, CSC, president of the University of Notre Dame, has written a letter to the 2009 graduates as commencement weekend approaches. Here's a portion of his correspondence:
The decision to invite President Obama to Notre Dame to receive an honorary degree and deliver the Commencement address has triggered debate. In many cases, the debate has grown heated, even between people who agree completely on Church teaching regarding the sanctity of human life, who agree completely that we should work for change – and differ only on how we should work for change.Click here for previous posts on this matter.
Yet, there has been an extra dimension to your debate. You have discussed this issue with each other while being observed, interviewed, and evaluated by people who are interested in this story. You engaged each other with passion, intelligence and respect. And I saw no sign that your differences led to division. You inspire me. We need the wider society to be more like you; it is good that we are sending you into that world on Sunday.
ObamaND2009
I am saddened that many friends of Notre Dame have suggested that our invitation to President Obama indicates ambiguity in our position on matters of Catholic teaching. The University and I are unequivocally committed to the sanctity of human life and to its protection from conception to natural death.
Notre Dame has a long custom of conferring honorary degrees on the President of the United States. It has never been a political statement or an endorsement of policy. It is the University’s expression of respect for the leader of the nation and the Office of the President. In the Catholic tradition, our first allegiance is to God in Christ, yet we are called to respect, participate in, and contribute to the wider society. As St. Peter wrote (I Pt. 2:17), we should honor the leader who upholds the secular order.
(For the complete letter)
-ConcordPastor
Thanks for posting letter by Fr. Jenkins to the ND graduates..it is worth reading in its entirety. I think ND's decision to confer degree on Pres. Obama is entirely in keeping with past policies of the school and I am glad that ND is taking this stance.
ReplyDeleteDitto, Jamma!
ReplyDeleteI agree with Jamma. I think Pres. Jenkins letter is well written and commendable and I believe his explanation of Pres. Obama's invitation is sincere. This is certainly not a new stance that ND is taking and in no way means that ND is changing any of their beliefs or teachings on the sanctity of human life.
ReplyDelete"This is certainly not a new stance that ND is taking and in no way means that ND is changing any of their beliefs or teachings on the sanctity of human life."
ReplyDeleteI agree with apc's words totally...
ND *hasn't* changed. The same school that permitted the Vagina Monologues, the same institution that employs Richard McBrien, continues on steady course by honoring with a doctor of laws degree a man who is the most pro-abortion politican America has ever known.
This letter is worth reading, as a sign of what happens when a Catholic university president defies the local ordinary -- who is the authority on faith and morals in the diocese under his jurisdiction -- and seeks the approval of the world rather than that of the church.
Anonymous One
It was good to see such a cogent discussion on the value of inviting President Obama to receive an honorary degree. I agree totally with the previous comments.
ReplyDeleteBoy did that take a long time to write!
ReplyDeleteI wonder why he waited soooo long before he decided to write that??
I agree with Jamma. And so does the vast majority of 2009 Notre Dame graduates and the majority of Catholics in general who have been polled.
ReplyDeleteI'm thinking St. Peter would not honor a facilitator of murdering defenseless innocents, or is this the new secular order?
ReplyDeleteThis is the part of Bishop Lynch's comments that speak the most to me in this instance:
ReplyDelete"...I am more alarmed that the rhetoric being employed is so uncivil and venomous that it weakens the case we place before our fellow citizens, alienates young college-age students who believe the older generation is behaving like an angry child and they do not wish to be any part of that, and ill-serves the cause of life.
Josh cites the vast majority of Notre Dame graduates (and Catholics in general) polled to bolster the case for giving President Obama a platform and an honorary degree. There are two points to consider in opposition: Morality is not determined by polls. What is right and wrong in matters of faith and morals is handed down and taught, not up for grabs depending on the popular opinions of the moment. Remember that Pilate took a poll of the crowd, asking them to choose Barabbas or Jesus.
ReplyDeleteSecond, should the decisions at Notre Dame be made by a majority view of its students, or should they be formed in conjunction with the teachings of the Catholic faith? At least some of the students go there to learn the faith... the poll results, in that they contradict the US bishops conference teaching and the statement of the local ordinary, show a lack of knowledge.
"...I am more alarmed that the rhetoric being employed is so uncivil and venomous that it weakens the case we place before our fellow citizens, alienates young college-age students who believe the older generation is behaving like an angry child and they do not wish to be any part of that, and ill-serves the cause of life."
ReplyDeleteAnd what rhetoric is that? Seems the good President of ND is employing a bit of rhetoric himself. When Jesus cleared out the temple he didn't exactly do it with kind, civil words. In fact you could say he was sort of acting like an angry child turning over tables of the money changers.