Matt C. Abbott
More clergy: Shame on University of Notre Dame!
By Matt C. Abbott
In addition to Cardinal Daniel DiNardo, bishops Thomas J. Olmsted and John D'Arcy, and the priests featured in my March 25 column, the following clergy are also speaking out about the University of Notre Dame scandal (e-mails have been slightly edited).
Deacon Michael Bishop:
In addition to Cardinal Daniel DiNardo, bishops Thomas J. Olmsted and John D'Arcy, and the priests featured in my March 25 column, the following clergy are also speaking out about the University of Notre Dame scandal (e-mails have been slightly edited).
Deacon Michael Bishop:
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'Dear Mr. Abbott,
'Glory to Jesus Christ! My good friend, Father Evangelos Pepps, a Greek Orthodox priest, sent me a copy of your column and it was wonderful to read. Many years ago I took a course in ethics and the professor presented us with a 'case study.' One parent had TB and another parent had a social disease. They already had several children and most were defective and one was dead. The class voted 30-2 in favor of abortion. I was one of the two who voted against it because the Church says that it is wrong and that is good enough for me. When the vote was counted, the professor said, 'Congratulations. You have just murdered Beethoven!''Last year I was talking to Cy, a man in my parish who is over 80-years-old. During our conversation he told me that his mother wanted to have an abortion but the doctor refused because she was too far along. I had to sit at that moment. I have heard other horror stories about abortion. This is not about a woman's right to her own body. It is about the right of the person whom she has conceived, who did not ask to be conceived. At a job fair on Wednesday, a truck driver told me concerning abortion: 'If you can't do the time, don't do the crime.'
'A classmate of mine had an encounter with a pro-abortion individual and asked him, 'Supposed your mother had an abortion?' That was the end of the argument. I can understand Notre Dame inviting President Obama to speak, but to award him with a degree is beyond comprehension. It is an insult to our most holy Lady Theotokos and ever-Virgin Mary, in whose honor the university is named. Like the Catholic Church, the Orthodox Church also opposes abortion. We also see it as murder.
'Please continue your good work.'
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'Dear Mr. Abbott,
'First let me say how much I appreciate receiving and reading your column. When I first heard about this scandal erupting at Notre Dame, I couldn't believe what I was hearing. I thought, this cannot go unchallenged and that something had to be done to confront this evil. I spoke about it to people in my parish at all Masses this past Sunday. I then gave parishioners the addresses, phone numbers and emails of those who should be contacted in order to express outrage at this decision. The last thing I did was to compose a letter to the members of Notre Dame's alumni board and send it to them, as well as to those I keep in contact with and ask them to forward it others, including the e-mails of the board members. A copy of the letter is included here:
'Dear Sir or Madam,
'Regarding the President of the United States, Mr. Obama, speaking at Notre Dame and being given an honorary degree is first, totally scandalous, as well as an insult to one of the premier Catholic universities in the United States of America. It is likewise a direct violation of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops 2004 document Catholics in Political Life, which says, with reference to pro-abortion politicians, 'They should not be given awards, honors or platforms which would suggest support for their actions.' Just what part of this sentence isn't clear?
'This is neither a question of 'academic freedom' or 'free speech.' This is a Catholic university giving a platform to someone who is dedicated to promoting intrinsically evil procedures on many levels. This is a complete affront to Catholic teaching. Is there no shame, or outrage from the alumni? Finally, what does this say to those students who journey from Notre Dame participating in the March for Life in Washington, D.C., every January? I do hope that enough Notre Dame Alumni will express their outrage and opposition and will withhold their monies until this invitation is withdrawn.
'God be merciful.'
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'The media reports that Catholics are upset because President Obama opposes Catholic teaching on abortion, but the controversy has more to do with an egregious violation of the human rights of a whole class of human beings — the unborn. Notre Dame wouldn't honor an anti-Semite or a racist. Why are they honoring someone who by his public record has shown he has no respect for the lives of the unborn?
'By honoring President Obama with an honorary degree, Notre Dame is teaching its students and the broader society that taking a position in favor of killing the unborn is a respectable position for Catholics. Catholics and others who support human rights should be as outraged as if Notre Dame had issued an invitation to a segregationist.'
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'It appears President Obama will soon receive a great honor from an institution that used to represent the best in Catholic scholarship and culture. Our nation's president, who has done more damage in 60 days to the cause of life than President Clinton did in eight years; the president who threatens to remove even the freedom of conscience from medical practitioners who have moral objections to collaborating in the destruction of human life; the list of his crimes against the laws of God and nature is, only two months into his term, already too long to include here.
'This is yet one more insult to Notre Dame alumni like myself, to all Catholic faithful, and to anyone who respects human life; all from the leaders of the university, which used to be dedicated to upholding the truths of both faith and reason. I'd like to join the chorus asking for President Obama to be uninvited, but we know from experience and from familiar-sounding recent statements by Father Jenkins that Notre Dame's leadership is deaf to any voices of dissent — unless those voices are dissenting from the Church.
'Still, it is heartening to see the groundswell of opposition to Notre Dame's latest mockery of its charter. Alumni everywhere are reminding us of the courage and clear thinking that our alma mater once stood for. Our Lady would hardly be impressed by the 'prestige' this event will bring to the school named in her honor. Nor should we.'
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