Catholic Discourse In The Public Square

American Catholics engaged in abortion debate.

The contretemps around the Notre Dame invitation to President Obama continues:

ND President has no plans to withdraw Obama invitation
South Bend, Ind., Mar 23, 2009 / 06:33 pm (CNA).-

Notre Dame’s commencement invitation to President Barack Obama has become more controversial with the university's president, Fr. John Jenkins CSC, saying that he doesn't plan to withdraw the invite.

On Sunday, Jenkins told The Observer he did not “foresee circumstances” in which the University would withdraw President Obama’s invitation.
Referring to Notre Dame’s decades-old tradition of inviting presidents, Fr. Jenkins said, “Presidents from both parties have come to Notre Dame.” They’ve spoken on important issues like “international affairs, human rights, service, and we’re delighted that President Obama is continuing that tradition.”
On the issue of President Obama’s extreme pro-abortion stance, Jenkins said, “We are not ignoring the critical issue of the protection of life. On the contrary, we invited him because we care so much about those issues, and we hope…for this to be the basis of an engagement with him.” He argued that you “cannot change the world” if you ostracize people you want to influence.
As of press time, Notre Dame had not returned a request for comment, and it remained unclear as to how they plan to engage Obama on abortion.
In 2004, the US Catholic Bishops spoke clearly on this issue in “Catholics in Political Life,” “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.”
Controversy around giving pro-abortion Catholic politicians a platform is nothing new to Notre Dame. In 1984, Notre Dame was also the site for the now famous speech, “Religious Belief and Public Morality: A Catholic Governor’s Perspective,” given by then New York Governor Mario Cuomo. In his speech, Cuomo laid out an argument now used by Catholic politicians to rationalize their support for abortion based upon living in a pluralist society. (In 1984 abortion wasn't near the explosive political issue it is now. Reagan did start the process though in 1984)

It is unclear how Notre Dame engaged Governor Cuomo on the issue of abortion after his speech.
Some Catholics, however, have expressed support for Notre Dame’s decision to honor Obama. America Magazine’s Michael Sean Winters, discussed his support in his blog post, “Three Cheers for Notre Dame.”
He expressed frustrations with the “right wing” of the Church and wonders why Catholics are so upset about this invitation, “What is it about President Obama that makes the right wing so crazy, so uncharitable, so frothing-at-the-mouth unreasonable?”
Winters also celebrated that the “crowd of conservatives” and “Pharisees,” who want to uphold the Bishop’s teaching, “[do] not own the Catholic Church. They certainly do not own Notre Dame.”
When approached for a phone interview, Winters declined and asked to converse over email. He reluctantly agreed to answer questions, noting CNA’s Under the Glass column, Lessons from Michael Sean Winters on how NOT to blog, which he called “a nasty thing” that “included a falsehood among many idiocies.”
On the topic of Notre Dame, Winters cited a report that Denver’s Archbishop Charles Chaput had “urged a letter writing campaign to the university’s president.” Winters dismissed the suggestion, saying that the archbishop “has no ecclesiastical jurisdiction in the matter.”
CNA was able to acquire an audio recording of the event in question and found that rather than calling for a letter writing campaign, the archbishop suggested it as a response to the situation.
Responding to a question about how “faithful Catholics should respond to [general] situations like [Notre Dame’s invitation to Obama], Chaput suggested, “Protest, write letters, express your concern, do it charitably.” He further reminded the audience that “Jesus said we need to be like sheep among wolves” and to “act like Christians when we disagree: to be bold, courageous, and clear, but charitable.”
When presented with this information and asked if he believes that a bishop is stepping outside his “ecclesiastical jurisdiction” by asking people to be engaged in the public sphere by writing letters, Winters responded by saying he would reply when CNA drops its accusatory tone.
After the email interview Winters updated his blog, stating, “Archbishop Chaput has my email and if he objects to the characterization on the blog referenced above, I will be happy to change it.”

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However, Notre Dame isn't the only Catholic institution or group under fire for their choice of a speaker. This time it's Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele and the Vandenberg County Right To Life Committee who are under attack from Evansville Bishop Gerald Gettlefinger. The Bishop thinks Michael Steele's qualifications as a true pro lifer are colored by Steele's political opportunism, so he won't be attending his own diocese's Right To Life banquet.

Is it just me, or is all of this getting pretty crazy? I mean can you imagine the Notre Dame commencement dais with both Barack Obama and Dr. Mary Ann Glendon sitting on the same stage? Ambassador Glendon is to receive Notre Dame's prestigious Laetare Medal. What if President Obama shakes Ambassador Glendon's hand, will she then lose all her cred with the pro life movement? Will she lose all her cred just because she's sitting in the man's presence? Will the Cardinal Newman Society demand she not attend or receive the award because it's pretty evident Notre Dame is not backing down?

America blogger Micheal Sean Winters, obviously no favorite of the Catholic News Agency, thinks the right will toss Ambassador Glendon over board. Sort of like a 'we eat our dead' phenomenon, I guess.

In the meantime, Catholic Michael Steele has already been tossed over board by Bishop Gettlefinger. I guess that means pro life Republicans aren't really pro life enough either. Does that mean we now have two 'parties of death'? I'm sure Archbishop Chaput will put all of this in perspective for us, and probably even write the master copy of the letters he will suggest we send somewhere in all charity. (After approval by the Cardinal Newman Society)

This will happen at about the same time Bishop Lori is telling us what gay legislators we could consider busing in to picket as they secretly work their secret gay agenda to take over the world. I suspect it will be Catholic Representative Barney Frank of Massachusetts who has some choice words for Catholic Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia. This would be the same Barney Frank who is desperately working to save the real homes of real married people with real children.

All of this fighting makes me think I was at a Mass and hockey game broke out. Speaking of hockey, Notre Dame's hockey team marches on. Maybe the team could donate their sticks to those who will be on their commencement dais. That could be interesting and by that time the team won't need them. Fr. Jenkins could wear a referee shirt. After all they are black and white and it sure looks to me like the Catholic Public Discourse could use a lot more referees and a lot fewer 'enforcers'.

(Thanks to the commenter who pointed out to me that Barney Frank is Jewish. I appreciate the correction.)