Notre Dame President Fr. Jenkins Responds to Criticism




From the Notre Dame Observer:

Jenkins made it clear in an interview with The Observer Sunday the University does not "foresee circumstances" that would cause Notre Dame to rescind the president's invitation. "We have invited the president and he's honored us by accepting," he said.

Jenkins made clear the University is not honoring the president for his stances on these issues, but for his leadership.

"The invitation of President Obama to be our Commencement speaker should in no way be taken as condoning or endorsing his positions on specific issues regarding the protection of life, such as abortion and embryonic stem cell research," Jenkins said.

These "crucial differences" in positions on the protection of life are not being ignored in extending the invitation to the president, Jenkins said, but rather can be used as a catalyst for dialogue. (Read the entire article here.)

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Comments

  1. Anonymous3/23/09, 3:32 PM

    What leadership? He has never been in the position of leadership before, and his leadership now is non-existance!

    Abortion is the only only thing he stands for.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thomas Patrick Faries3/25/09, 4:17 PM

    Giving Obama an honorary degree means that Notre Dame considers Obama an exemplary student of her law school, a son of her creed. Dr. Jenkins is either lying, or incapable of seeing such a simple truth.

    ReplyDelete
  3. PMA - Akron, Ohio3/25/09, 5:05 PM

    Honoring Obama's leadership ?? !! We don't know enough about his background (never vetted) to know about his leadership abilities. What we do know, is - he is the most PRO death president EVER!! and your honoring him !! I am so upset with this decision that words from this point on would put me in the confessional for a week.

    ReplyDelete
  4. na3/29/09, 12:11 PM

    Former President Bush was also invited and came to Notre dame. He was a governor over many death penalty implementations, condoned the torture of individuals without allowing them due process, and promoted a war without sufficient evidence of any risk that that country posed to us.

    I believe that Former Pres. Bush did not and does not truly understand the ways in which his actions failed to live up to the teachings of Jesus, even though his intentions may have been good.

    President Obama also has good intentions, and neither he nor the last president deserve the the judgement of being Pro Death. If anything, I believe we should commend the president for his advocation of social justice. From that stance, we are perceived as the intellectuals we are, instead of zealots. We can at the same time explain to the public what we disagree with the president on, just as Fr Jenkins and Fr Hesburgh do. This is not being twofaced or 'talking out the side of one's mouth', it is how one spreads the full message of the bible's teachings.

    ReplyDelete
  5. PMA - Akron, Ohio3/30/09, 11:42 AM

    "We cannot fight credibly against the social and moral evil including poverty and violence while we tolerate mass killings by abortion" Mother Teresa

    Mother Teresa lived, breathed, ate, embraced social issues. But, even she put LIFE before social issues.

    In 2004, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) approved a policy statement called "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."

    Fr. Jenkins must have forgotten this. Too bad a statement had to be written in the first place.

    As for Obama being called the most Pro Death president ever. Among all the abortion issues out there, he is for the most diabolical of them all - INFANTICIDE. Where a baby is born alive during a botched abortion. Instead of giving this baby medical treatment it is thrown in the Biohazard bag BREATHING !!!! He signed against the Born Alive Infant Protection Act which would require this baby to be given medical treatment. Not enough space to discuss his views on partial birth abortion, or embryonic stem cell research etc., etc., etc..

    If Fr. Jenkins chose to invite Obama to a private party etc. that's one thing. The graduation at a prestigious CATHOLIC school with an extreme pro abortion U.S. president presenting the commencement speech makes it a little more public.

    I choose to focus on Mother Teresa to help me cut through all the 'stuff ' that is clouding our minds, allowing the devil to be in the details.

    The invite was a monumental mistake.

    ReplyDelete

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