What the graduates saw at Notre Dame

What the graduates saw at Notre Dame was the current cultural argument, the current Catholic compromise.  The President of Notre Dame stood up and told the graduates, in effect, that the American Bishops are wrong to try to separate Catholics from Culture.  The Bishops directed Catholic institutions to "not honor those who stand in defiance of our fundamental moral principles... to not  give awards, honors or platforms which would suggest support for their actions...  the sanctity of life from conception to natural death heads that list of Catholic fundamental principles."

And yet there was Father Jenkins, President of Notre Dame, in very public defiance of the Bishops, directing the graduates and all Catholics who watched on national television that President Obama's proposed solutions for immigration reform and his policies toward health care and the poor are in agreement with and worthy of honor from the Catholic Church. In fact, says Father Jenkins, siting Pope John Paul II for authority, no less, Notre Dame is the perfect place for secular society and Catholicism to meet and find areas of agreement.

The is all very nice, this Catholic/Secular compromise, except that the compromising is always on the Catholic side, isn't it.  When one side of the argument is Life and the other side is Death... just where does the compromise lie?

Roger Simon: Amadinejad Made me a Believer

I thought this was a wonderfully interesting piece of new media by Roger L. Simon.

Review of Angels and Demons: Ron Howard's 'Demon' Defense Doesn't Hold Water

Andrew Leigh reviews Ron Howard's Angels and Demons

Parish Merges Announced

Bishop D'Arcy moves to merge parishes

St. Mary, Fort Wayne

Recommendation: That it be joined to the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception. Continue to celebrate a Mass each Sunday at St. Mary.

Response: Recommendation has been accepted.

St. Henry Parish, Fort Wayne

Recommendation: Let the pastor of St. Peter's Parish in Fort Wayne have responsibility for St. Henry's Parish.

Response: This recommendation is accepted.

Sacred Heart Parish, Fort Wayne

Recommendation: That this parish be granted to the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter, of which Father Gabet is a member, and that they follow the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Liturgy.

Response: This recommendation is accepted.

Mary Ann Glendon turns down the Laetare

Declining Notre Dame:  A Letter from Mary Ann Glendon

I could not help but be dismayed by the news that Notre Dame also planned to award the president an honorary degree. This, as you must know, was in disregard of the U.S. bishops' express request of 2004 that Catholic institutions "should not honor those who act in defiance of our fundamental moral principles" and that such persons "should not be given awards, honors or platforms which would suggest support for their actions." That request, which in no way seeks to control or interfere with an institution's freedom to invite and engage in serious debate with whomever it wishes, seems to me so reasonable that I am at a loss to understand why a Catholic university should disrespect it.

Mary Ann Glendon is a law professor at Harvard and was the US ambassador to the Vatican under President Bush. Notre Dame's Laetare Medal is an award given each year to someone's outstanding service to the Roman Catholic Church and society.  Last year, it was awarded to Martin Sheen.

Mexican Archbishop Cancels Sunday Mass Nationwide

I thought there was more machismo in Mexico than in America, but I guess not. Can't say it's not upsetting to see the Church turn tail to a flu bug.

Indiana Archbishop "appalled" by Obama Notre Dame invite

The Catholic Church is not a democracy and that's one of the things I like about it. We parishioners cannot dictate what our bishops do, or do not do, what our Church doctrines are, or are not. If Bishop D'Arcy doesn't want to fire the president of Notre Dame, no amount of complaint from those in the pews will make a difference.

That said... I wish the Bishop would listen to the Archbishop and stand up for what we believe in.