Yesterday, something very good happened and the University of Notre Dame was part of it. As you are no doubt aware, Notre Dame, the Archdioceses of New York and Washington and 40 other Catholic institutions joined in a lawsuit against the Obama Administration’s unconstitutional abridgement of religious liberty via the HHS mandate.
Led by Cardinal Dolan, the US Bishops have been rock solid on this issue and they continue to impress. It is immensely gratifying to say that while this steadfast resistance to such infringement might not have been expected from the Bishops just a few short years ago, we have almost come to expect it now and that is amazing in and of itself. The Holy Spirit can truly work wonders.
Much more of a surprise is the participation of Notre Dame in the lawsuit. While much of the student body and faculty maintain a strong Catholic identity, the school administration’s commitment to Catholic teaching and Catholic identity has become suspect over the last several years as a result of several controversial moves by Fr. Jenkins and the Notre Dame Board. Chief among these controversies is the choice of the Notre Dame administration to have the virulently pro-abortion President Obama as commencement speaker in 2009 and to honor him with an honorary degree.
After the announcement about the HHS mandate and the subsequent non-accommodating accommodation, Father Jenkins at Notre Dame made a series of ambivalent and tepid statements about the mandate. As a result, it was unclear whether Notre Dame would sit on the sidelines during the most crucial battle between the Church and an overreaching State or perhaps even capitulate.
So it is that many Catholics understandably reacted with relief and gratitude at the announcement that Notre Dame will participate in the crucial lawsuits necessary to defeat this unconstitutional infringement of religious liberty. I too am relieved and grateful.
That is the good news.
The not so good news is contained within Fr. Jenkins letter announcing the legal challenge.
In his announcement, Fr. Jenkins strongly makes the point that this issue is not about contraception, but rather about fundamental religious liberty. About that he is very right. However, within his statement are a few lines that seems to legitimate the idea that Catholics can ‘conscientiously’ use birth control and that Notre Dame ‘respects’ this decision.
May 22, 2012 at 5:18 am
"Fr. Jenkins strongly makes the point that this issue is not about contraception …"
Notre Dame cannot affirm the Catholic Faith without embarassment, because they cannot affirm the teaching of Humanae Vitae. They cannot utter a simple declarative sentence, saying, "Contraception is evil."
Ever since the Land o' Lakes statement, Notre Dame has made too many bargains with Planned Parenthood, and with the federal government, and with the Rockefellers, and with the Fords. They have made too much money, and they have compromised too many articles of the faith.
May 22, 2012 at 11:17 am
Forget Notre Dame. Hasn't been Catholic since Land o' Lakes, and never will be again.
May 22, 2012 at 1:21 pm
We can only hope that ND has entered into a sincere examination of conscience. Land o' Lakes must be reconsidered and Ex Corde Ecclesiae MUST BE READ. ND is at the first of several forks on the road. They made the first choice correctly yesterday. It's time for them to take firm stands on many issues.
May 22, 2012 at 2:21 pm
I do hope this sheds some light on the issue for those commenters in the earlier "Notre Dame" post who were utterly indignant at suggestions that Notre Dame was less than a paragon of Catholicism…
May 22, 2012 at 2:22 pm
President Obama is fortunate to have the legal credentials to defend himself!
May 22, 2012 at 3:08 pm
Notre Dame came to the fork in the road in 1967. Ever since they've been pretending they stayed on the road marked "Catholic," even though they actually opted for "Primrose Path."
May 22, 2012 at 5:37 pm
I wrote yesterday, and I wouldn't characterize myself as "utterly indignant" nor did I say that ND was a paragon of Catholicism. I fully acknowledged that ND has some problems and the administration has made poor choices. Patrick summed up the point I was trying to make in my comments when he mentions in the above article today that much of ND's student body retains a Catholic identity. (Thank you, Patrick)
For what it's worth: I don't think ANY Catholic college is a paragon of Catholicism. We go down a very scary road if we start to believe that.
May 22, 2012 at 9:34 pm
I'll second "Anonymous" and continue to defend the Dome as well.
If you actually read her response to Patrick yesterday, as well as the lawsuit filed, you'll see that there is so much mis-information about Notre Dame, its ridiculous.
Everyone points to Land-o-Lakes… you do realize that of the 12 trustees, it is mandated that 6 must be members of Holy Cross?
I do not claim that ND is perfect, but to claim that She has ceased to be Catholic is to say the sky has ceased to be blue. And forgive Fr. Jenkins for getting at the fundamental right at stake in the lawsuit, defending not just Catholics, but ALL faithful individuals.
And if you read his words as well as those of the actual law suit, you'd understand that what Jenkins is getting at is that while free will allows us to choose to disobey Catholic teaching, the Church and Her agents should not be forced to pay for their sin. Jenkins is citing facts of actual behavior here, not Catholic teaching.
I'll further note that Patrick never responded to her question about having ever been to Notre Dame or whether he was aware of all that ACTUALLY goes on at the University.
All of this "I'm more Catholic than you" nonsense is terribly disturbing.
May 22, 2012 at 10:38 pm
It doesn't matter how many ND trustees are members of the Holy Cross. What matters is whether or not ND recognizes the authority of its local bishop. Since 1967, ND, along with all the other Land o' Lakes signatory schools, has not. As the second sentence of the Statement puts it: "the Catholic university must have a true autonomy and academic freedom in the face of authority of whatever kind, lay or clerical, external to the academic community itself."
May 22, 2012 at 10:44 pm
I took the comment as Catholics have free will to choose contraceptives or not, just as we are free to choose any good or evil. It never said that Catholics can use contraception in good conscience, but they are free to use their conscience to decide whether or not to be obedient. Notre Dame cannot beat Catholics into submitting their will, no, it can only invite them to choose good. ND standing against the mandate is GOOD and this is coming from someone who has very little respect for the school.
May 23, 2012 at 1:27 pm
Also this: “…if the Government wishes to provide such services, means are available…” “Means” are taxpayers, many of whom, including me, are Catholic and don’t want to pay for these things either. Very, very weasely statement. Not impressed.