According to LifeNews, Fr. Jenkins said today that there’s essentially no way that he’s going to rescind the invitation to Obama no matter what you nutty pro-lifers say.
He said you’ve got it all wrong. See, you thought Notre Dame was honoring President Obama with an honorary Law degree and allowing him to give a Commencement address. You thought Fr. Jenkins was showing by his invitation that he was uncommitted to the life issue but what you mouth breathers are too dull to understand is that Fr. Jenkins’ invitation to Obama actually shows how pro-life he really really is. You see he’s engaging with Obama.
No. Stop laughing. I’m serious. This is what he 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,” Jenkins told the Observer. “You cannot change the world if you shun the people you want to persuade, and if you cannot persuade them … show respect for them and listen to them.”
I’m just wondering when this engagement will actually occur? On his way from Air Force One to the commencement? Or on his way to the cameras where he’ll pose for CNN right after speaking at a Catholic university that ignored his record on abortion and emryonic stem cell research?
For a thorough fisking of Fr. Jenkin’s remarks on this topic you can visit The Curt Jester.
March 23, 2009 at 11:51 pm
All the statements published in the Notre Dame Observer today were rather off to say the least and I fisked them http://www.splendoroftruth.com/curtjester/archives/2009/03/didnt-we-hear-t.php
March 24, 2009 at 2:24 am
He can rationalize all he wants. You know it, I know it & he knows it. He sold the Lord for an unprincipled celebrity.
But this can be a catalyst for a resurgence of student activism. The young have the courage of their convictions and some of them still believe and love God and his unborn children.
March 24, 2009 at 2:37 am
If he does give the speech, how about praying over his speech with a rosary for the unborn.
March 24, 2009 at 2:43 am
I am so tired of being called a mouth breather. This is two posts in a row. I breathe through my nose at least half the time.
March 24, 2009 at 2:49 am
That’s a lot better ratio than my brother Patrick.
March 24, 2009 at 2:59 am
Another quote by Jenkins that troubled me even more:
“The invitation to President Obama to be our Commencement speaker should not be taken as condoning or endorsing his positions on specific issues regarding the protection of human life, including abortion and embryonic stem cell research.”
Notice he said, “Should not be taken as condoning,” but there is no statement like, “we are adamently opposed to the president’s views on X, Y, and Z, and we seek to enter into a dialogue with him on these issues in an attempt to change his mind.”
Makes me sick. There are a ton of Catholics who JUST DON’T CARE ABOUT ABORTION. That’s all there is to it. They don’t care. And they want us to go away.
source: http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/chi-ap-in-obama-notredame,0,3780525.story
March 24, 2009 at 12:12 pm
Of course, the low-life want pro-life to go away. And if the student body feels the same, then one would wonder what ND has been teaching all along. And as the recent pedophilia and embezzlement cases by the clergy show, a Roman collar does not a follower of Jesus make.
March 24, 2009 at 12:44 pm
Let me get this straight…
According to the USCCB, you CAN vote for an abortionist like Obama as long as your vote isn’t for his position on abortion…
So what’s the difference? This is why we don’t hear a PEEP out of any bishops! As long as ND is inviting him based not on his abortion stance, but because he’s a swell guy and cares so much for social good, the poor, day laborers, and the litany of liberal Catholic causes, it’s okay.
You all can tie your colons in a knot over this, but the bishops aren’t going to do anything about this and the show will go on…
It’s up to us.
I would urge the TRUE Catholic students not to violently demonstrate, but do pray the Rosary during his speech. The rest of us can do likewise during the hour of his speech.
I think God will take care of things in HIS time, not ours.
“It is better that scandals arise than the truth be suppressed.” – Pope St. Gregory the Great
March 24, 2009 at 1:33 pm
Those distinctions, being proabortion yet pro social work is imaginary, artificial and false. The end does not justify the means. In this case, abortion is not even a means to an end nor is collateral damage. It is an evil pursued for no other reason than to pay back the proabortion politicial and financial investors. And ND will be used as a stage by the purveyor of the culture of death. Prayer is always good. But if the Lord inspires His people to be prophetic in making dramatic statements then the Spirit will blow where it will. And no one can repress the Spirit of the Lord.
March 24, 2009 at 1:47 pm
I suppose you could call this engagement, if posterior osculation can be defined as engagement.
March 24, 2009 at 3:38 pm
I’m not sure what’s more embarrassing – the decision to invite Obama in the first place, or the absolutely incoherent and ridiculous justification that has followed. And Fr. Jenkins is a philosopher for God’s sake!
The invitation seems to prove that the administrators can’t be trusted to run a CATHOLIC university – the ‘logic’ of their self-defense makes me wonder if their smart enough to be running a UNIVERSITY at all.
March 24, 2009 at 3:39 pm
Ah, “Engagement!”
“It’s worked so well for the US Government to improve human rights in China. We thought we’d try it with the US Government to see if it was possible for Catholics to engage them on our government’s human rights record”
March 24, 2009 at 4:16 pm
“There are a ton of Catholics who JUST DON’T CARE ABOUT ABORTION. That’s all there is to it. They don’t care. And they want us to go away.”
You’ll notice Fr. Jenkins doesn’t even mention the “A” word. It’s the abstract “protection of life” which is an “issue” Catholics “care” about. Abortion seems to be the cafeteria Catholic equivalent of Voldemort. The evil whose name is best not speak out loud.
March 24, 2009 at 5:55 pm
Scott: The Lord cares. Our Lady cares. You obviously care. I care. And a recent poll shows more than 50% of Americans care. With or without the numbers, we are in good company and we will win this thing.
April 3, 2009 at 12:04 am
It is one thing to not shun The President and invite him to debate various issues of concern; it is quite another to honour him and ignore his contribution to the culture of death. One must live in fools paradise to invite a President with such horrific actions on his hands and call themselves Christians or Catholics. Birds of a feather flock together. This speaks more of Notre Dame than it does of Obama.