First Notre Dame Petitions delivered to ND Board & Rome

First 300,000 Petition Signatures Delivered to Notre Dame Board Members, Fr. Jenkins
Copies Are Being Rushed to Rome, Papal Nuncio, USCCB and ND Bishop John D’Arcy

This morning, April 29, 2009, the first 300,000 names of individuals who signed the petition at NotreDameScandal.com — opposing the University of Notre Dame’s decision to honor President Barack Obama at commencement — began to be delivered to Notre Dame president Rev. John I. Jenkins, C.S.C., the Board of Trustees and the Board of Fellows as they prepare for scheduled meetings on Friday, May 1, at Notre Dame.

As of this morning, more than 344,000 people have signed the petition, but because of the overwhelming numbers it took The Cardinal Newman Society more than 24 hours to prepare the data and print more than 64,000 sheets of paper, double sided, which were then bound in notebooks and sent via FedEx to Father Jenkins and individual members of the Notre Dame Board of Trustees and Board of Fellows.

Copies of the petitions are also being rushed by The Cardinal Newman Society, which sponsored the petition, to Archbishop Zenon Cardinal Grocholewski, Prefect of the Vatican’s Congregation for Catholic Education; Archbishop Pietro Sambi, the Apostolic Nuncio (Vatican ambassador) to the United States; Francis Cardinal George, President of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB); Bishop John D’Arcy, of Fort Wayne-South Bend, who presides over Notre Dame; and Bishop Robert McManus, Chairman of the USCCB Education Committee. “Only the Notre Dame Trustees and Fellows have direct authority over Father Jenkins, so their meetings on Friday are our best hope for an end to this scandal,” said Patrick J. Reilly, President of The Cardinal Newman Society. “It is critical for all of us to pray that the Trustees and Fellows charged with safeguarding Notre Dame’s Catholic identity will heed the 50 bishops and hundreds of thousands of faithful Catholics urging Notre Dame to withdraw its invitation to President Obama.”

The University of Notre Dame is governed by a 12-member Board of Fellows, including six Holy Cross priests, who are charged with ensuring “that the University maintains its essential character as a Catholic institution of higher learning.” The Fellows delegate most of their governing authority to the 38-member Board of Trustees, comprised mostly of lay people.

The university’s charter states: "The essential character of the University as a Catholic institution of higher learning shall at all times be maintained, it being the stated intention and desire of the present Fellows of the University that the University shall retain in perpetuity its identity as such an institution."

Irish Examiner USA - Opinion

Bloomberg's Change Of Life

Who would have thought that the man that Mayor Rudy Giuliani endorsed to be his successor could have changed so much in so short a time? On the other hand, maybe he didn't change at all... Read more...

Hoping For A Society That Cares

"The police believe that the father of two was targeted because members of his family gave evidence against a leading member of the notorious McCarthy-Dundon crime gang in Limerick..." Read more...

What were they thinking?

Is there a subliminal message in the fact that Obama's First 100 Days should end with what appeared to be another air attack on NYC?

What were they thinking?

http://www.thefoxnation.com/white-house/2009/04/28/white-house-apologizes-what-were-they-thinking

100 days - 100 mistakes

foxnation.com

Obama

100 Days - 100 Mistakes

http://www.thefoxnation.com/politics/2009/04/27/100-days-100-mistakes

Rescue of Capt. Phillips - The real story

Thought you might be interested in this. I received it from a retired Air Force officer who maintains contact with lots of brass in both the Air Force and the Navy.

"Thought you'd like a better analysis of what really happened in the rescue of Capt Philips. This message was received from a retired admiral, a dear friend and of unimpeachable reputation. G."

The real story of Obama's Decision Making with the hostages. Having spoken to some SEAL pals here in Virginia Beach yesterday and asking why this thing dragged out for 4 days, I got the following:

1. BHO wouldn't authorize the DEVGRU/NSWC SEAL teams to the scene for 36 hours going against OSC (on scene commander) recommendation.

2. Once they arrived, BHO imposed restrictions on their ROE that they couldn't do anything unless the hostage's life was in "imminent" danger.

3. The first time the hostage jumped, the SEALS had the raggies all sighted in, but could not fire due to ROE restriction

4. When the navy RIB came under fire as it approached with supplies, no fire was returned due to ROE restrictions. As the raggies were shooting at the RIB, they were exposed and the SEALS had them all dialed in.

5. BHO specifically denied two rescue plans developed by the Bainbridge CPN and SEAL teams

6. Bainbridge CPN and SEAL team CDR finally decide they have the OpArea and OSC authority to solely determine risk to hostage. 4 hours later, 3 dead raggies

7. BHO immediately claims credit for his "daring and decisive" behaviour.

As usual with him, it's BS. So per our last email thread, I'm downgrading Oohbaby's performace to D-. Only reason it's not an F is that the hostage survived. Read the following accurate account:

Philips’ first leap into the warm, dark water of the Indian Ocean hadn’t worked out as well. With the Bainbridge in range and a rescue by his country’s Navy possible, Philips threw himself off of his lifeboat prison, enabling Navy shooters on board the destroyer a clear shot at his captors — and none was taken. The guidance from National Command Authority — the president of the United States, Barack Obama — had been clear: a peaceful solution was the only acceptable outcome to this standoff unless the hostage’s life was in clear, extreme danger.

The next day, a small Navy boat approaching the floating raft was fired on by the Somali pirates — and, again, no fire was returned and no pirates killed. This was again due to the cautious stance assumed by Navy personnel thanks to the combination of a lack of clear guidance from Washington and a mandate from the commander - in - chief’s staff not to act until Obama, a man with no background of dealing with such issues and no track record of decisiveness, decided that any outcome other than a “peaceful solution” would be acceptable.

After taking fire from the Somali kidnappers again Saturday night, the on-scene-commander decided he’d had enough. Keeping his authority to act in the case of a clear and present danger to the hostage’s life and having heard nothing from Washington since yet another request to mount a rescue operation had been denied the day before, the Navy officer — unnamed in all media reports to date — decided the AK47 one captor had leveled at Philips’ back was a threat to the hostage’s life and ordered the NSWC team to take their shots. Three rounds downrange later, all three brigands became enemy KIA and Philips was safe.

There is upside, downside, and spinside to the series of events over the last week that culminated in yesterday’s dramatic rescue of an American hostage. Almost immediately following word of the rescue, the Obama administration and its supporters claimed victory against pirates in the Indian Ocean and declared that the dramatic end to the standoff put "paid” to questions of the inexperienced president’s toughness and decisiveness. Despite the Obama administration’s (and its sycophants’) attempt to spin yesterday’s success as a result of bold, decisive leadership by the inexperienced president, the reality is nothing of the sort.

What should have been a standoff lasting only hours — as long as it took the USS Bainbridge and its team of NSWC operators to steam to the location — became an embarrassing four day and counting standoff between a ragtag handful of criminals with rifles and a U.S. Navy warship.

Courtesy of New York United Irish Counties Officer

Fmr U.S. Amb. declines Notre Dame award

BREAKING NEWS

Mary Ann Glendon, Former US Ambassador to the Vatican, Refuses to Receive Prestigious Award or Speak at Notre Dame

A woman of principle! An example to us all!

De Cork Boy's Perspective

St. Patrick’s Shenanigans - Are these guys really serious?

By Patrick Hurley

T-anam and diabhal! Just what the Irish American community needs, another left wing, U.S. - bashing website. Oe’r the St. Patrick’s season, left wing extremist Niall O’Dowd grandiosely unveiled his latest endeavor to arrest the death spiral of his Irish Voice publication. With its spoof, puffery and blatant propaganda long ago rejected by the vast majority of Irish Americans, the Voice is barely surviving on the critical, direct and indirect, life support of Dublin 4 Euros. Pass the newsstands in places like Woodside, Sunnyside, Woodlawn, and Yonkers on Mondays and Tuesdays and contemplate the enormity of that rejection. With copies of the publication strewn all over the stands in a loud implicit message, endorsed by the supplicant look from the news vendor to every pair of Irish eyes that passes, “ Please, please, please buy one. Please, please take them off my hands.” The Irish Voice, of course, is not an Irish American publication. It is a slavish Dublin 4 conduit that just happens to be published in New York. Notwithstanding the fact that Irish Americans have rejected the Voice , the big worry for O’Dowd should be that the empirical evidence is damning in highlighting that his mythical “50,000 Irish illegals” are not reading it either.

In fairness, it is not just its repugnant philosophy that has been responsible for the publication’s demise. Technology has long ago rendered it irrelevant. Monday nights, twenty years ago, we lined up outside the Potcheen Still in Queens, or the Tara Irish Gift shop on 207th St., Upper Manhattan, to obtain the weekend’s Sunday Independent, Sunday Press Sunday World and the provincial papers courtesy of Aer Lingus. Then, there was Wednesday for the Irish Echo and the Irish Voice and their interpretation of events in Ireland. However, because of the internet “all has changed, changed utterly”.

With a click of a mouse, one has instantaneous access through numerous portals to news as it happens on “the other side”. The international time difference means Irish Americans are actually accessing Irish papers on the web well before the morning rush hour crowds in Dublin and Cork reach their newsstands. Tonight at 9.p.m, click your mouse “over here” and you will read the Irish Times hours before Sean and Siobhan “over there” visit the kiosk on O’Connell or Patrick streets. And, for those who still like their hardcopy, there is always the Sunday Independent, which is simultaneously available on newsstands in the U.S. So with primary sources abundant, Irish Americans no longer need to rely on the Irish Voice’s regurgitation, or submit themselves to its contrived reality defying parallel universe.

For nearly two decades, the Irish Voice was O’Dowd’s unassailable bully pulpit as it, unchallenged, disparaged Irish American personalities and organizations in the most personal, mean spirited and vicious of ways. The list of targets was long. However, former St. Patrick’s Parade Chairman Frankie Beirne, RIP, current Chairman John Dunleavy, parade officers and other defenders of traditional Irish American values received special attention. Various units of the AOH, the New York GAA, NORAID, Friends of Irish Freedom and the county associations were also ridiculed. And, of course, O’Dowd the latter day champion of Irish illegals reserved special vindictiveness for the Irish Immigration Reform Movement (IIRM), which wanted no part of him. So for the visiting Irish politician that remarked on O’Dowd’s lack of presence on Fifth Avenue and from the general New York St. Patrick’s Day festivities: “I mean I thought he was ‘the man’ over here. He is always presenting himself as the voice of the Irish American community in the media back home.” Well, now you know! As they say, travel broadens the horizons!

However, the self appointed ethics policeman of the Irish American community also had his untouchables. For behind the feigned concern, “principle” and outrage, the almighty dollar ruled. Events and incidents within the community that by any objective standard were legitimate news inexplicably never made it onto the pages of the Irish Voice. It appeared that an advert here, or an advert there, ensured that a probing spotlight was never brought to bear. And, as for objective critical analysis of the Irish Government? Yeah, right! Reworked glowing Iveagh House press releases parroting the Dublin 4 line more like it.

The Irish Voice targeted those who did not have the access to the technical logistics or the financial resources to either directly or indirectly fire back. And so it continued until the advent of that great leveler, the internet. Now, websites and blogs abound and everybody with a laptop has the capability of getting their opinions out to a potential readership of millions. The playing field has been decidedly leveled in favor of John Doe or Sean Citizen. The word is that the Irish Voice and its associates, like spoiled, confused, irrational infants are lashing out. They are having difficulty coming to terms with this strange new egalitarian world of cyberspace.

Through the worst of it all, Iveagh House, pursuing its own agenda of bringing the volatile and upstart locals to heel, stood shoulder to shoulder with O’Dowd’s propaganda sheet. So what does that imply about the Foreign Affairs mandarins? Of course, many of us in Irish America have long ago confirmed our suspicions about An Roinn Gnothai Eachtracha. Just pick up a copy of Accidental Diplomat by former Irish diplomat, Eamonn Delaney. The manuscript is a must for every Irish American’s bookshelf. Guaranteed, you will never look at a Foreign Affairs official in the same light again. While with Iveagh House, Delaney had a sojourn in the New York consulate. Very interesting! The “accidental diplomat” is now the editor of the Irish political affairs magazine Magill. Although it probably was not his intention, he has performed the Irish American community a great service. The mandarins at Iveagh House are still livid at his expose of their mindset.


As per the Irish Independent, O’Dowd’s latest desperate attempt to maintain a semblance of relevancy involved the unveiling of the first “global Irish website”. This of course would have been earth shattering news to the folks at the Irish Times, Irish Examiner, Irish Independent, New York Irish Echo, New York Irish Examiner, Irish Echo Australia, London’s Irish Post and Irish World, Irish Abroad, and Notre Dame’s Irish Rover, etc., all of which maintain world wide websites, not to mention the plethora of other sites and blogs of Irish interest. We were under the impression that a missive once dispatched to the World Wide Web was going “global”, hence the “world” in World Wide Web. Perhaps we should all collaborate and demand our money back.


The editor of this revolutionary “global” dimension is apparently Ms. Kelly Fincham. Ms. Fincham was/is an Irish Voice “journalist” and simultaneously the “Executive Director” of the leftwing fringe group ILIR, a lobbying surrogate for Iveagh House. A woman of many hats, it seems! The principal of this newly discovered dimension is O’Dowd AKA chairman of ILIR, AKA publisher of the Irish Voice. Other members of the Irish Voice administrative & “journalistic staff” will also contribute; some of whom also hold prominent positions in the radical left wing polarizing group.

Indeed, the duplication between ILIR’s head honchos, the Irish Voice’s crème de la crème and the key actors in the new dimension is almost seamless. As the ubiquitous Kerryman from Glenflesk said to us recently, “Jaysus, they’re like identical triplets. Impossible to tell them apart. There must be a very large hat rack in the Irish Voice, to support all those different caps.” The Voice, of course, regularly reports and editorializes glowingly on ILIR. O’Dowd, Ms. Fincham and others, wearing their ILIR caps have been frequently extolled and quoted in the pages of their own paper. As my good Kerry friend concluded, “They must prop themselves in front of mirrors and interview their reflections!” Now we are no experts on the canons of journalistic ethics but we suspect something is amiss here! Of course, critics of ILIR’s radical agenda and modus operanda, as Congressman Pete King and ourselves could tell you, don’t “feel” that Irish Voice “love”.

Prima facia ILIR, as the recipient of thousands of Irish taxpayer Euros and hard earned immigrant dollars, appears to be yet another life support conduit for the Irish Voice. Over the years, as the self anointed corruption crusader of the Irish American community, the Irish Voice has high handedly demanded accountability and transparency from many community entities. The NYC St. Patrick’s Day Parade and the IIRM come readily to mind as having been so blistered. Some time ago, in the spirit of these laudable standards established by O’Dowd the ”journalist”, calls were made for ILIR, as a recipient of Irish tax payer money and public donations, to publish its audited accounts. To date, nothing! Can we now expect O’Dowd as “publisher of the Irish Voice” and “principal” of the new dimension to gaze into the looking glass and demand accountability and transparency from O’Dowd, “the chairman of ILIR”. Absent any accounting, empirical evidence suggests – all those full page adverts - that the Irish Voice has been the chief beneficiary of ILIR largesse. And, not a Green Card in sight!

However “life springs eternal” . . . yet another stay of execution for the propaganda sheet.
Apparently, the Voice will be supplying the editorial content for the “global” website. Hmmm ….. let me get out may scales here . . . Irish Times content vs. Irish Voice content . . . Hmmm . . . Irish Independent content vs. Irish Voice content . . . Hmmm . . . Irish Examiner content vs. Irish Voice content . . . Hmm . . . Nope . . . No brainer . . . Not even close! You can rework it, re - wrap it, re - package it, dress it up, but it will still only be juvenile, extremist left wing, anti -American claptrap.

What is really disconcerting is that in the midst of the economic crisis that grips the former Celtic Tiger, Taoiseach Brian Cowen and Foreign Minister Micheal O Martin should actually fly out to New York to attend the launch of this charade. Talk about being in denial! Even now, a blatant junket on the backs of the emasculated Irish taxpayer? A last mindless, desperate grasp by a flailing government. Underlining the absurdity and desperation, the following day na buachailli were in Washington to hand over the bowl of shamrock to the 3.6 % Irish Obama. Obama couldn’t find Ireland on a map, even if he cared to try. Jingle jangle . . . the “Old Triangle”? . . . or the keys to Moneygall being handed over? Brian actually had the Irish birth records in tow to substantiate the 3.6%. As a contributor to the Emerald Society of Federal Law Enforcement Agencies Forum (http://www.esflea.org/) implied, forget the Irish birth records, most Irish Americans would like to peruse Obama’s own birth certificate. In ”Skuse’s Place”, The Kinsale Tavern, while we lubricated internally following the march up Fifth Avenue, a Mayo man of long acquaintance opined that in the mind’s eye one had this pathetic image of Brian and Micheal frantically wandering the halls of the White House, desperately searching in the drawers for money. The “Big Fella” or the "Chief” they are not.

Hey, but they have offered to take our loveable and misunderstood Guantanamo terrorists. … er, sorry . . . enemy combatants . . . er, sorry . . . practitioners in the “Overseas Contingency” when Obama does the dangerous and naive thing and dun(s) an doras on the holding center. Na buachailli are hoping of course that Obama will take Ireland’s ever growing “huddled masses” as a quid pro quo. Hmm . . . I wonder has this resonated with the Irish people yet . . . From Guantanamo to Grenagh! All the way from Guantamo Bay to a crossroads near you! Irish Americans are duly noting how suddenly helpful Dublin is . . . I mean Brian and Micheal are practically falling over their feet . . . now that “O” is in the White House, of course . . . and Dubya has left town!

The intimations from inside the Obama White House is that an fear an teach has no interest in these St. Patrick’s Day shenanigans. Ireland is a part of the Anglo Western world, a world for which he has little regard. A Dail source related to us that after the nonchalant dismissal of the British prime minister by the Obamanites and considering other vibes that had been coming thar saile, there was considerable concern within Ireland’s Foggy Bottom on Stephen’s Green, as to whether the traditional St. Patrick’s interaction would occur at all, at all. Our source reported that the actual invite came very, very, very late. There was tangible relief when an fear an phoist eventually showed up with it in hand. Note to future GOP Administrations: Make the Iveagh House mandarins sweat for the coveted day out. They’ll respect you more in the end!


From what kind of an insecurity complex do we as a people suffer? We are forever rolling out the David Kelly genealogist character to vicariously associate with the success of others. None of the other ethnicities in the U.S melting pot suffer so much from said affliction. Of course, it is one thing when it is the genuine deal like a Crowley, Donnelly, King, Kennedy, Mack, Reagan, Sullivan, Walsh, etc. But, when we have to go scratching for Obama’s 3.6%, we come off as fairly desperate and pathetic.

"The Convention brought together a self-selected group of the European political elite, many of whom have their eyes on a career at a European level, which is dependent on more and more integration and who see national governments and parliaments as an obstacle. Not once in the sixteen months I spent on the Convention did representatives question whether deeper integration is what the people of Europe want, whether it serves their best interests or whether it provides the best basis for a sustainable structure for an expanding Union. The debates focused solely on where we could do more at European Union level. None of the existing policies were questioned."

~Gisela Stuart MP, The Making of Europe's Constitution, Fabian Society, London, 2003. ~

So is that it? The last frantic strategies of Brian and Micheal revealed? Grovel unashamedly at the feet of 3.6% Obama or dissolve what’s left of the sovereign Irish nation state into the European Superstate. Is that all they have left? The “Chief” and the “Big Fella” are spinning! So volatile is the political situation in Ireland that the punditocracy are predicting a General Election for as early as June 5. Electoral disaster looms for Fianna Fail. But a word to whomever forms the next government; enough with the buffoonery there is serious work to be done. The Irish people deserve better!

So excuse me a second while I press this here key and go “global”!


Patrick Hurley is a past president of the County Cork Association of New York. In 1987, Hurley was a co-founder of the Irish Immigration Reform Movement, which went on to secure thousands of Green Cards for Irish and other European immigrants to the United States. Active in GOP and Conservative Party politics, he is a former candidate for political office in NYC. Patrick Hurley is a 1985 graduate of University College Cork.

Archbishop Dolan on Notre Dame Protest

The Most Reverend Timothy A. Dolan, Archbishop of New York, explained during a recent interview that his opposition to Notre Dame’s slated honor for President Obama on May 17 is due to the President’s support for the “intrinsic evil” of abortion. He also contrasted abortion to other serious concerns, like the Iraq war and the death penalty, which “are open to some discussion and are not intrinsically evil.”

Continue Reading, click below:

http://www.cardinalnewmansociety.org/CardinalNewmanSociety/tabid/36/ctl/Details/mid/435/ItemID/527/Default.aspx

Speaker Newt Ginrich on the Controversy

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5T1WjL1H7r0&eurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww%2Enotredamescandal%2Ecom%2FNewsResources%2Ftabid%2F461%2FDefault%2Easpx&feature=player_embedded

News Videos On The Notre Dame Controversy

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sg0-RmbVqKw

330,000 plus sign Notre Dame petition - More bishops protest

Have you signed?

Nine more bishops say no to Obama at Notre Dame
Has your bishop spoken out?

Click below for updates and list of bishops, forty two in all, who have protested

"Fr. Jenkins will probably lose his job"

http://www.thefoxnation.com/culture/2009/04/21/nine-more-bishops-say-no-bama


Replace Father Jenkins
http://www.replacejenkins.com/

Stop The Notre Dame Scandal!

http://www.notredamescandal.com/

Replace Father Jenkins

www.replacejenkins.com

President Barack Obama invited to be Commencement Speaker & Degree Recipient at the University of Notre Dame on May 17, 2009

Help Stop the Scandal at Our Lady's University!

Sign the Petition!

Take Action Now

Join The Cardinal Newman Society & Catholic Vote.com in the petition to Notre Dame's President Father John Jenkins, C.S.C. along with more than quarter of a million other signatories

“The invitation should be withdrawn. It implies no personal animosity to suggest that Fr. Jenkins and the other Fellows and Trustees responsible for this fiasco should resign or be removed.” Charles Rice – University of Notre Dame The Observer

A 'Fighting Irishman', Charles Rice is the Professor of Law at Notre Dame University

“I cannot think of a single act—one so simple, so innocent, so effective—that serves to do exactly what he [Obama] needs to have done, namely, plunge an arrow into the heart of Catholicism’s opposition to him, what there is of it… From now on, all he has to say is: ‘But, my dear fellow, I was invited to Notre Dame.’” Father James Schall, S.J. – Georgetown University

"As National President of the Ancient Order of Hibernians, I must strongly urge you to rescind your invitation to President Obama to give the commencement address at Notre Dame this summer. Coming from the most prominent Catholic University in the country, and possibly the world, what message will this invitation send . . .
The AOH is the largest Irish American Catholic organization in the United States. We contribute to the education of young people who attend Notre Dame . . . I am shocked that this invitation was even considered." - Seamus Boyle, National President AOH

. . . our nation's President has embraced abortion as a tool of social engineering like no other President has dared. His votes and his policies as a Senator and as a President show him to be not just a 'rights' activist but a persecutor of the most defenseless amongst us. He has promised again and again to sign the most extreme bill supporting unlimited abortion, removal of conscience clauses for medical professionals, punishment of Catholic hospitals, mandates for abortion training and insurance companies abortion coverage etc.
He has accepted an invitation to speak at Notre Dame's commencement. The invitation is a consumate disgrace and the President's eager acceptance of it is proof positive he wants to use this as a cover.

I wholeheartedly endorse (the) proposal that we discontinue and sever all ties to the University unless and until it comes to its senses. If they never got another dime from us they have been well served by the AOH and this is the thanks we get?? All colleges are big businesses and ND is no exception. However it uses this "Catholic heritage" phrase when fund raising. What a wonderful example the AOH could set for the Irish people, for the nation and for the defense of Church to announce they will no longer give a dime to ND. Who knows what may follow? We might start a trickle and then an avalanche. - AOH leader, New York

We have done our saber rattling, which I totally agree with, regarding the President giving the commencement speech and receiving an honorary degree from Notre Dame. Notre Dame has rendered their decision not to retract their invitation. Now the time has come "to fish or cut bait". I believe that since we have, to our everlasting credit, taken this very strong position in defense of our Catholic faith and the culture of life, we are left with no other choice but to sever relations with Notre Dame. - AOH leader, Massachussetts

What the Bishops' are saying!

Has your Bishop spoken out?

Are your parish priests educating the laity from the pulpit on this scandal and urging protest?

Are your Catholic grammar and high school teachers educating your children and urging protest?

This is a defining moment for the Catholic Church in the United States!

2004 USCCB Statement
"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." Catholics in Political Life United States Conference of Catholic Bishops

Individual Bishops' Response

“Indeed, as a Catholic University, Notre Dame must ask itself, if by this decision it has chosen prestige over truth… 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.” Most Rev. John D’Arcy – Bishop of Fort Wayne-South Bend

“So whatever else is clear, it is clear that Notre Dame didn't understand what it means to be Catholic when they issued this invitation, and didn't anticipate the kind of uproar that would be consequent to the decision, at least not to the extent that it has happened.” Most Rev. Francis Cardinal George – Archbishop of Chicago and USCCB President

“I find the invitation very disappointing. . . Particularly troubling is the Honorary Law Degree since it recognizes that the person is a ‘Teacher,’ in this case of the Law. I think that this decision requires charitable but vigorous critique.” Most Rev. Daniel Cardinal DiNardo – Archbishop of Galveston - Houston

“They made a big mistake.” Most Rev. Timothy Dolan – Archbishop of Milwaukee & incoming Archbishop of New York

"It is a travesty that the University of Notre Dame, considered by many to be a Catholic University, should give its public support to such an anti-Catholic politician. I hope that you [Fr. Jenkins] are able to reconsider this decision. If not, please do not expect me to support your University in the future.” Most Rev. John Nienstedt – Archbishop of Saint Paul and Minneapolis

“President Obama, by word and action, has approved of abortion and other atrocities against human life. Therefore he deserves no recognition at a Catholic institution.” Most Rev. Eusebius Beltran – Archbishop of Oklahoma City

“It pained me to hear that one of the symbols of Catholic education in our nation, Notre Dame University, had extended an invitation to President Obama to speak at its commencement.” Most Rev. John Myers – Archbishop of Newark

“The University of Notre Dame used to be the flagship Catholic university of the United States. I regret that we are not experiencing that leadership and integrity.” Most Rev. Alfred Hughes – Archbishop of New Orleans

“Given her Catholic identity, the University of Notre Dame’s receiving the President as the 2009 commencement speaker and her bestowing on him an honorary doctorate are truly shameful, a scandal to the Church and a major blow to hundreds of thousands who have sacrificed to bring forth a culture of life in our midst.” Most Rev. Joseph Martino and Most Rev. John Dougherty – Bishop and Aux. Bishop of Scranton

“I would ask that you rescind this unfortunate decision and so avoid dishonoring the practicing Catholics of the United States, including those of this Diocese. Failing that, please have the decency to change the name of the University to something like, ‘The Fighting Irish College’ or ‘Northwestern Indiana Humanist University.’” Most Rev. Thomas Doran – Bishop of Rockford

“It is a public act of disobedience to the Bishops of the United States.” Most Rev. Thomas Olmsted – Bishop of Phoenix

“In my opinion, it is very clear that in this case the University of Notre Dame does not live up to its Catholic identity in giving this award and their leadership needs our prayerful support.” Most Rev. Gregory Aymond – Bishop of Austin

“It is a very prestigious platform to offer a President who is leading the battle for an expansion of abortion rights which may ultimately end up being unparalleled in recent history.” Most Rev. Robert Lynch – Bishop of St. Petersburg

“For President Obama to be honored by Notre Dame is more than a disappointment, it is a scandal – especially to young adults. His being honored by Notre Dame will make it easier for a woman who contemplates abortion to actually submit herself to this cruel and deadly procedure.” Most Rev. Edward Slattery – Bishop of Tulsa

“Catholic institutions of higher learning must always be places where the Catholic values we hold so dearly will always be supported and promoted – not where the culture of death is allowed to be honored or valued.” Most Rev. R. Walker Nickless – Bishop of Sioux City

“It is disheartening and distressing when an institution that is regarded as Catholic, such as Notre Dame, fails to follow the guidelines set forth by the Bishops of the Catholic Church, especially in these vital moral matters.” Dr. Paul Schenck on behalf of Most Rev. Kevin Rhoades – Bishop of Harrisburg

“Notre Dame extended this invitation unilaterally, seemingly without regard for the consequences for the mission of the Catholic Church in the United States. It is contrary to the efforts of bishops, parish priests, and laity to resist the anti-life decisions, policies, and legislation promoted by the Obama administration.” Most Rev. William Lori – Bishop of Bridgeport

King Named Chairman of Congressional Fire Services Caucus

Continues longstanding support for firefighters, safety, and emergency response

Contact: Carol Danko, 202-225-7896

WASHINGTON – Representative Peter King (R-NY) has been selected to chair the Congressional Fire Services Caucus throughout the 111th Congress. King has a long history of supporting our nation’s firefighters and first responders. He has repeatedly fought for increased funding for first responders, supported fire safety legislation, and advocated for strengthening the role of FEMA and the U.S. Fire Administration within the Department of Homeland Security. “On the frontlines of emergency response, our nation’s firefighters and first responders are essential to maintaining public safety,” said King. “I have a long-standing commitment to ensuring that they have the funding and tools they need to respond quickly and effectively to emergencies. It is a privilege to continue to support these dedicated responders as Chairman of the Congressional Fire Services Caucus.”

The selection of King as Chairman has also received praise and recognition from the fire service community. "Congressman King has a solid record in support of our nation's firefighters," said Bill Webb, Executive Director of the Congressional Fire Services Institute (CFSI). "We are honored to have him as the Chairman of the Fire Caucus for the 111th Congress."

The bipartisan Congressional Fire Services Caucus was founded in 1987 and is the largest caucus in Congress, with over 320 members. The purpose of the caucus is to bring members of Congress together to support legislation that benefits all first responders as well as local fire departments. The chairmanship rotates every two years between Republican and Democratic members, and chairs are selected by Fire Caucus leadership. Previous chairmen include U.S. Vice President Joseph Biden, Senator John McCain (AZ), House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (MD-5), Rep. Rob Andrews (NJ-1), Rep. Sherwood Boehlert (ret.), and caucus founder Rep. Curt Weldon (ret.).Rep. Peter King is the Ranking Member on the House Committee on Homeland Security. He is currently serving his ninth term in Congress.

American Passage: The History of Ellis Island

American Passage: The History of Ellis Island will be published by Harper Collins in June 2009. This will be the first full-scale narrative history of Ellis Island. Everyone knows the name, but few people really understand what happened there.

The book covers a wide swath of history from the pirate hangings that took place there in the early 19th century to the island’s heyday as an immigrant inspection station from 1892-1924 to its revival as an immigration museum and national icon in recent years. It’s not just a history of Ellis Island, but also a larger story about how America has grappled with immigration over the last century and a half. Since it appears that Congress might take up comprehensive immigration reform this year, now is a perfect time to get a historical perspective on American immigration policy.

"Reading Vincent Cannato's American Passage was an amazing journey into our nation's immigrant past. Never before has Ellis Island been written about with such scholarly care and historical wisdom. Highly recommended!" --Douglas Brinkley, author of The Great Deluge

"The story of America is one of immigration. By bringing us the inspiring and sometimes unsettling tales of Ellis Island, Vincent Cannato's American Passage helps us understand who we are as a nation." --Walter Isaacson, author of Einstein: His Life and Universe and Benjamin Franklin: An American Life

"Although Ellis Island is about immigrants from far-away places, it is in fact as American as Thanksgiving and apple pie. It reminds us of who we were and who we are, and especially of how Americans came to be different from most other peoples. This amazing story is recounted beautifully in Vincent Cannato's well-written and evocative book, which will bring pleasure and profit to readers." --Kenneth T. Jackson, editor in chief, Encyclopedia of New York City

"To his great credit Cannato does not pretend to answer our tough questions about immigration, nor to find a 'usable past' in the history of Ellis Island. He just tells one heck of a story that oozes with relevance." --Walter A. McDougall, winner of the Pulitzer Prize and author of Throes of Democracy

"Immigration has long been a critical slice of the American narrative, and here, in American Passage, Vincent Cannato tells its story with great brio. From landing point to National Monument, from immigrants to interpreters, we see the veritable Babel of Ellis Island play out across the years." --Jay Winik, author of The Great Upheaval and April 1865

Here is the description from the publisher: “For most of New York’s early history, Ellis Island had been an obscure little island that barely held itself above high tide. Today, the small island stands alongside Plymouth Rock in our nation’s founding mythology as the place where many of our ancestors first touched American soil. Ellis Island’s heyday—from 1892 to 1924—coincided with the greatest mass migration of individuals the world has ever seen, with some twelve million immigrants inspected at its gates. In American Passage, Vincent J. Cannato masterfully illuminates the story of Ellis Island from the days when it hosted pirate hangings witnessed by thousands of New Yorkers in the nineteenth century, to the turn of the twentieth century when massive migrations sparked fierce debate and hopeful new immigrants often encountered corruption, harsh conditions, and political scheming.

American Passage captures a time and place unparalleled in American immigration and history, and articulates the dramatic and bittersweet accounts of the immigrants, officials, interpreters, and social reformers who all play an important role in Ellis Island’s chronicle. Cannato traces the politics, prejudices, and ideologies that surrounded the great immigration debate, to the shift from immigration to detention of aliens during World War II and the Cold War, all the way to the rebirth of the Island as a national monument.

In this sweeping, often heart-wrenching epic, Cannato reveals that the history of Ellis Island is ultimately the story of what it means to be an American.”

The book can be pre-ordered from Amazon:

http://www.amazon.com/American-Passage-History-Ellis-Island/dp/0060742739/ref=sr_1_7?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1229123251&sr=8-7

As the publication date approaches, you will be able to find more information at my website: http://www.vincentcannato.com/

Vincent J. Cannato

Associate Professor History Department

UMASS-Boston

100 Morrissey Blvd.

Boston, MA 02125617-287-6863

Kevin Myers on our Euro 'allies'

http://www.independent.ie/

An awful lot of those nice liberal Europeans probably cheered Obama because his father was African

President Barack Obama's trip to Europe was a truly resounding success. Now an infinitely wiser man than when he set out on his journey, he may return to Washington, close the door of the Oval Office, put his head in his hands and declare with real passion: What a bunch of assholes. Of course, he's not the first US president to have such feelings; but he is the first US president since Kennedy to have won the popular acclaim of both the mobs and the media across Europe. He now knows how valueless that acclaim really is.

Admittedly, some of his crowd-pleasing stunts were simply silly. His promise to rid the world of nuclear weapons is as meaningful as Tanzania's undertaking to open a safari park on Mercury. Nonetheless, this vacuous rhetoric went down well with the idiots who think that the world would be such a nicer place if we all loved one another, and took an oath to live in peace. Of course, they don't listen to the little details, such as his proposals that any country's nuclear-free status would involve inspections, and a refusal to allow them would mean sanctions and punishment. Ah yes. That one. Sometimes known as I-R-A-Q, but otherwise known as: Isn't this where we came in?

Actually, an awful lot of those nice, liberal Europeans probably cheered Obama simply because his father was an African, and proving (a) they're not racist, and (b) that he must think just the same as they do about peace, love, and disarmament, and aid to the third world, and the Dalai Lama and so on. One day they'll wake up to the reality that he is the president of the United States of America, and the commander in chief of the greatest force for freedom in the world, the US military.

The interests he serves are those of his country, and his armed forces, and they are not about showering love upon our enemies. And I mean 'our' enemies. The enemies of the US in Iraq and Afghanistan are ours also. They are the foes of all the countries in Europe which President Obama was not-so-discreetly petitioning to stump up more men in the war against Taliban.
But how the empty-headed cheering just turned into a sickly rictus when all those countries which lived under US protection for half-a-century were told that it was time to return the favour. So he now knows that there will be no serious contribution from the European peoples that the US made free between 1944 to 1989, and the UN-authorised war in Afghanistan will continue pretty much with the same Anglophone countries predominating as before: the US, Canada, the UK, Australia and New Zealand.

The United States have never produced a finer generation of Marines, soldiers, airmen and sailors than those deployed in Iraq and Afghanistan today. For the most part, they are volunteers who have freely joined the armed forces of their country at a time of war, knowing full well they could be killed or maimed in the line of duty. Their patriotism, their selflessness, their sense of honour -- these are all beyond any description I am capable of. Their willingness to risk life and limb in their country's service makes Europe's artful and devious refusal to take a substantive place in the line of battle all the more shameful.

To resort to the cliche, which for once has meaning: this is not a zero-sum game. The outcome of an allied defeat in Afghanistan would be global in its magnitude, and would rapidly make President Obama's call for a nuclear-free world more risible than it already is. Because next to go (if it has not already fallen by then) will be Pakistan, which is, of course, a nuclear power. And one thing that India will never do is to abandon its nuclear weapons while the barking caliphate next door has its missiles pointing at New Delhi and Bombay.

And nor will Israel abandon its nuclear weapon, the device of last resort in its endless quest for survival. That, of course, is what differentiates rational states such as the US, the USSR and India from irrational states like Iran: for such countries, the nuclear option is the final one. For Iran, it is the first one, probably against Israel, in a glorious and demented jihad to trigger an Islamic insurrection around the world.

I have no idea what calamity is needed to wake up Europe from the smug slumber which allows it to keep the best part of a million men under arms at home, while the populations of Waziristan and Pakistan's Tribal Areas are mobilised for war. Nor, I'm sure, does President Obama, but I suspect his vision is a little clearer now. So, his allies remain not merely few in number, but of long duration. I just wish we could say Ireland is one of them. But while we have this demeaning and meaningless devotion to an utterly unprincipled 'neutrality' (fatuously elevated to a constitutional status last weekend by Enda Kenny) we cannot say we have any real friends, merely convenient acquaintances.

kmyers@independent.ie

Waterford intellectual on U.S. tax system

Secret flight of renowned Waterford intellectual to Washington to explain U.S. tax system to Obama and Geithner. "O" and "Turbo Tax Tim" still stumped.



Every day ten men go out for beer and the bill for all ten comes to $100. If they paid their bill the way we pay our taxes, it would go something like this:

The first four men (the poorest) would pay nothing.
The fifth would pay $1.
The sixth would pay $3.
The seventh would pay $7.
The eighth would pay $12.
The ninth would pay $18.
The tenth man (the richest) would pay $59.


So, that's what they decided to do. The ten men drank in the bar every day and seemed quite happy with the arrangement, until one day, the owner threw them a curve ball. "Since you are all such good customers," he said, "I'm going to reduce the cost of your daily beer by $20."

Drinks for the ten now cost just $80. The group still wanted to pay their bill the way we pay our taxes so the first four men were unaffected. They would still drink for free. But what about the other six men - the paying customers? How could they divide the $20 windfall so that everyone would get his "fair share"?Drinks for the ten now cost just $80. The group still wanted to pay their bill the way we pay our taxes so the first four men were unaffected. They would still drink for free. But what about the other six men - the paying customers? How could they divide the $20 windfall so that everyone would get his "fair share"?

They realised that $20 divided by six is $3.33. But if they subtracted that from everybody's share, then the fifth man and the sixth man would each end up being paid to drink his beer. So, the bar owner suggested that it would be fair to reduce each man's bill by roughly the same amount, and he proceeded to work out the amounts each should pay. And so:


The fifth man, like the first four, now paid nothing (100% savings).
The sixth now paid $2 instead of $3 (33%savings).
The seventh now paid $5 instead of $7 (28%savings).
The eighth now paid $9 instead of $12 ( 25% savings).
The ninth now paid $14 instead of $18 ( 22% savings).
The tenth now paid $49 instead of $59 (16% savings).



Each of the six was better off than before. And the first four continued to drink for free. But once outside the restaurant, the men began to compare their savings.

"I only got a dollar out of the $20," declared the sixth man. He pointed to the tenth man, "but he got $10!

''Yeah, that's right," exclaimed the fifth man. "I only saved a dollar, too. It's unfair that he got ten times more than I!

''That's true!!" shouted the seventh man. "Why should he get $10 back when I got only two? The wealthy get all the breaks!

''Wait a minute," yelled the first four men in unison. "We didn't get anything at all. The system exploits the poor!"

The nine men surrounded the tenth and beat him up. The next night the tenth man didn't show up for drinks, so the nine sat down and had beers without him. But when it came time to pay the bill, they discovered something important. They didn't have enough money between all of them for even half of the bill!

And that, boys and girls, journalists and college professors, is how the U.S. tax system works. The people who pay the highest taxes get the most benefit from a tax reduction. Tax them too much, attack them for being wealthy, and they just may not show up anymore. In fact, they might start drinking overseas where the atmosphere is somewhat friendlier.



For those who understand, no explanation is needed. For those who do not understand, no explanation is possible.

Courtesy of a 'Waterford Intellectual'

Biden: No amnesty anytime soon

By Jon Feere, April 1, 2009

Vice President Joe Biden provided some rational commentary on immigration yesterday. And it sure isn’t going to make the amnesty advocates in the Congressional Hispanic Caucus very happy. While speaking to journalists in Costa Rica, the V.P. said the following:

“It’s difficult to tell a constituency while unemployment is rising, they’re losing their jobs and their homes, that what we should do is in fact legalize (illegal immigrants) and stop all deportation.”

Although the White House has apparently put amnesty on the back burner, support for a massive amnesty bill has not completely disappeared. Biden also said the following:
“We need some forbearance as we try to put together a comprehensive approach to deal with this.” Could another attempt at amnesty happen? Perhaps. But for the most part, Biden is telling amnesty advocates to calm down, stop raising a ruckus, and to not get their hopes up. President Obama recently sent the same message a few weeks back: “We’ve got a lot on our plate right now.”

But the Hispanic Caucus and their enablers either haven’t gotten the message or are hearing only what they want to hear. After a meeting with the president, they claimed that an amnesty will happen this year and that Obama will convene a public forum within the next two months. The White House’s own coverage of the meeting doesn’t promise any timelines.

This is a political battle within the Democratic Party that’s not going away. The White House may try to appease open-border advocates only to the extent necessary to get them to go away. Obama’s goal, it seems, is to buy as much time as possible. The White House likely understands that an amnesty debate will chew up too much political capital, take too much time, and will delay progress in other policy areas.

Jon Feere's blog

Pete King for Congress

Support

Congressman Peter King

Ranking Member, House Homeland Security Committee

Member, House Financial Services Committee

Veteran Advocate, Irish American Political Agenda

With Special Guest
Mayor Rudy Giuliani

April 27

6 p.m. - 7:30P.m.

Grand Havana Room

666 Fifth Ave., Flr. 39

New York, N.Y.


Please make checks payable to: Pete King for Congress Committee
(Corporate checks not allowed or acceptable)

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Hunchback - Obama grovels

Washington Times

washingtontimes.com

Barack takes a bow
The president shows fealty to a Muslim king
Tuesday, April 7, 2009


In a shocking display of fealty to a foreign potentate, President Obama bowed to Saudi King Abdullah at the Group of 20 summit in London last week. Mr. Obama later said in Strasbourg, France, "We have to change our behavior in showing the Muslim world greater respect." Symbolism is important in world affairs. By bending over to show greater respect to Islam, the U.S. president belittled the power and independence of the United States.

The bow was an extraordinary protocol violation. Such an act is a traditional obeisance befitting a king's subjects, not his peer. There is no precedent for U.S. presidents bowing to Saudi or any other royals. Former President Franklin D. Roosevelt shook hands with Saudi King Abdulaziz in February 1945. Granted, Mr. Roosevelt was wheelchair-bound, but former President Dwight D. Eisenhower shook hands when he first met King Saud in January 1957. Mr. Obama's bow to the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques does not help his image with those who believe he is secretly a Muslim, and why he chose to bow only to the Saudi King and not to any other royals remains unexplained.

No Americans of any station are required to bow to royalty. It is one of the pillars of American exceptionalism that our country rejected traditional caste divisions. Article I Section 9 of the Constitution forbids titles of nobility and stipulates that no officeholder or government employee may "accept of any present, emolument, office, or title, of any kind whatever, from any king, prince, or foreign state" without the consent of Congress. Judith Martin wrote in her Miss Manners column in 2001 that bowing "is not an ordinary bit of foreign etiquette one might adopt out of courtesy when traveling . . . Americans do not properly bow to any royalty. We show respect for other countries' leaders the same way we do to our own."

Press outlets have been conspicuously silent on Mr. Obama's bow. Compare this to the New York Times' reaction when former President Bill Clinton inclined a bit too far when meeting Japanese Emperor Akihito in 1994. According to the Gray Lady, "The image on the South Lawn was indelible: an obsequent president, and the Emperor of Japan." Former President George W. Bush received thorough press attention after being photographed holding hands with then-Crown Prince Abdullah in 2005. "It clearly strikes a nerve," CBS News reported, while David Letterman satirized Mr. Bush as "officially the gayest president since Lincoln." These two cases were tame compared to Mr. Obama's full-out genuflection, which makes us wonder why it is not worthy of comment.

Mr. Obama is proving that one can be elected president without knowing how to behave presidentially. His servile gesture was fully fitting with the tone of his humility tour of Europe. In his eagerness to be loved personally, the president has lost sight of the fact that the leader of the free world also must be respected.

Concern over Southern security forces

Gardai & Army may not stand behind government in 'Doomsday' scenario

THE PHOENIX

www.thephoenix.ie

FEBRUARY 27, 2009
TOP BRASS PREPARE FOR THE BARRICADES!

WHILE THE media watches the apparently unending financial scandals unfolding, up in the Garda HQ they are watching things with a different eye. The traditional monthly liaison meetings between Permanent Defence Forces senior officers and their Garda counterparts in the Phoenix Park Depot have been supplemented by a series of ad hoc discussions about contingency plans – and what to do if things turn nasty. Those involved are Commissioner Fachtna Murphy, Deputy Commissioner Martin Callinan (Garda Operations Chief), and Mick McCarthy, the recently appointed assistant commissioner in charge of State Security and Intelligence.

Army officers involved include Chief of Staff Dermot Earley and the OC of Eastern Command, Brigadier General Denis Murphy. They are aware that unrest in Latvia, Bulgaria and Iceland, where professional persons took to the streets and overthrew the government in January, resulted in predictions by European economists of possible civil unrest in Ireland in the March-May period.

The fears in the Phoenix Park are that not all Garda members will be enthusiastic about halting demonstrations, which might get out of hand. The sight of many Garda middle management figures protesting on the streets, with the Association of Garda Sergeants and Inspectors (ASGI) prominent in the 120,000 Dublin ICTU-organised march on the Dáil, is merely one indication of the rumblings within the force. The Garda Representative Association (GRA) has said in response to reports from within about “withdrawal of labour” that there will be no mass sickness absence, as in the 1998 Blue Flu protest. But GRA chief Michael O’Boyce has spoken of “other forms of agitation” – taken by many members to refer to a work-to-rule move similar to that which has caused long delays at Dublin airport passport inspections.

Ostensibly rank-and-file gardaí are concerned about pension levies, but many are angered at swinging overtime cuts which have seen court witness attendances reduced, resulting in significant take home pay reductions, especially for younger members. In the Detective Branch, more senior members are seething at what they see as interference from on high with their duties to investigate white collar crime. None of those involved in the financial-related scandals so far have been questioned by gardaí, while only one raid has been carried
out. This was done by civilians attached to the Financial Regulator’s Office. None of the wide statutory powers or technical expertise available to the Criminal Assets Bureau (CAB) or their powers to recover email archives from Internet service providers, which could prove vital in discovering if multi-million euro crimes have been committed, have been used.

And while the forces in charge of State security consider the possibility that gardaí may not be as reliable in this situationas in others, the Permanent Defence Forces may be less than solid as well. Aid to the Civil Power training is going on apace for many ranks – including
technical grades in the Air Corps, who have taken their place with batons and shields while comrades hurl stones and bottles at them in mock street fights. They are being prepared for a
Doomsday situation where they will stand shoulder-to-shoulder with the Garda Public Order Units – provided members are not working to rule.

In response to PDFORRA (the soldiers’ union) saying that they were angered at what is going on, General Dermot Earley growled that the Army “would do its duty” in coming to the aid of the civil power. It’s hard to predict what might happen if a demonstration like the ICTU Dáil march got out of hand. The 120,000 on Dublin’s streets were well behaved, but the Dublin Brigade of Gougers, who brought havoc to O’Connell Street when Willie Frazer last came to town, were conspicuous by their absence, something those State security honchos up in the Park are not certain will continue. It’s worth remembering that a small group of Icelandic protestors overthrew the Reykjavik government using tubs of yoghurt, eggs and paint bombs
against the Althing building. If the traditional Dublin Brigade of the Combined Corps of Gougers and Anti-Establishment Street Fighters turns out at some of the future protests, it may be that they will throw more than yoghurt and eggs.

Three More Bishops Oppose Notre Dame Invite

USCCB President, Three More Bishops Oppose ND Honor for Obama

At a conference last Saturday, March 28, Cardinal Francis George, Archbishop of Chicago and President of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), labeled the University of Notre Dame’s decision to honor and host President Obama at the May 17 commencement an “extreme embarrassment” to Catholics, according to a report by LifeSiteNews.com. George is a leading voice in a rapidly growing list of bishops, now also including Bishop Edward Slattery of Tulsa, Bishop R. Walker Nickless of Sioux City, and Bishop Kevin Rhoades of Harrisburg, criticizing Notre Dame’s recent scandalous invitation. “It is a true blessing that so many Church leaders are addressing the Notre Dame scandal in such a direct and unambiguous way,” said Patrick J. Reilly, President of The Cardinal Newman Society.

In his talk over last weekend, Cardinal George alluded to President Obama’s pro-abortion positions, noting that, “the problem is in that you have a Catholic university - the flagship Catholic university - do something that brought extreme embarrassment to many, many people who are Catholic. . . So whatever else is clear,” the Cardinal continued, “it is clear that Notre Dame didn't understand what it means to be Catholic when they issued this invitation, and didn't anticipate the kind of uproar that would be consequent to the decision, at least not to the extent that it has happened.”

Cardinal George urged concerned Catholics to continue calling, e-mailing and writing letters to Notre Dame expressing “the embarrassment, the difficulties.” The Cardinal Newman Society’s (CNS) petition at NotreDameScandal.com calling on Notre Dame to rescind the honors for President Obama has grown to more than 225,000 names in a week and a half. In addition to Cardinal George’s statements, three more bishops have addressed the scandal:

In a letter dated March 31 to Notre Dame President Father John Jenkins, Bishop Edward Slattery of Tulsa wrote: “For President Obama to be honored by Notre Dame is more than a disappointment, it is a scandal – especially to young adults. His being honored by Notre Dame will make it easier for a woman who contemplates abortion to actually submit herself to this cruel and deadly procedure.”

Bishop Walker Nickless of Sioux City wrote in the diocesan news outlet The Catholic Globe that: “This is truly a sad day for the famous university dedicated to our Blessed Mother. I encourage those who care to write to Father Jenkins and express their displeasure with this invitation. May Father Jenkins have the courage to rescind this invitation and not be afraid of the possible embarrassment by admitting that he has made a bad decision. Catholic institutions of higher learning must always be places where the Catholic values we hold so dearly will always be supported and promoted – not where the culture of death is allowed to be honored or valued.”

Excerpts from a letter by Bishop Kevin Rhoades of Harrisburg to Fr. Jenkins are due to be publicly released today; however, some of the content was made public via a letter from the Harrisburg Director of the Respect Life Activities office. In the letter, the director Paul Schenck writes on behalf of the bishop: “Bishop Rhoades also supports those who exercise their freedom of conscience and speech to express their opposition to the university’s decision to have President Obama as commencement speaker and honoree.” He continues: “It is disheartening and distressing when an institution that is regarded as Catholic, such as Notre Dame, fails to follow the guidelines set forth by the Bishops of the Catholic Church, especially in these vital moral matters. It is not political nor partisan to stand for the sanctity of human life and the dignity of the human person. President Obama clearly does not stand for or advance the cause of the defenseless unborn and their mothers and families. This is the tragic reality we must come to terms with as Catholics living in an increasingly secular environment.”

The complete list of responses from bishops to the Notre Dame scandal is posted in the Resources section at NotreDameScandal.com.

The Cardinal Newman Society is encouraging Catholics to join their prayers to those of the students at NDResponse.com on Sunday, April 5, at 2:40 p.m. as they pray the Holy Rosary for an end to the scandal at the University of Notre Dame.

Written By: CNSwebDate Posted: 4/1/2009Number of Views: 689