We have been hearing for over one month that a groundswell is growing in opposition to the University of Notre Dame inviting President Obama to give the commencement address and in awarding him an honorary degree. The mainstream press has made it appear that a few radical Catholics are opposed to the Notre Dame decision and has positioned the story to reflect poorly on those who have called for Notre Dame to change its mind. The statistics tell a very different story and is the basis for this week’s issue.  

THE NEWS  

I normally get my monthly newsletter/article out on the evening of the 14th so that it will reach everyone on the 15th. I am a day late and I am glad I am. Last night while watching the news at my in law’s house, I saw a Catholic Priest arrested while praying the rosary on the Notre Dame Campus. I also saw former Ambassador Alan Keyes arrested for walking peacefully with 15 others saying the rosary and holding a sign with a picture of Mary on it.

The background for the story is that the Notre Dame graduation is Sunday and the commencement speaker is the President. Additionally, the President will be awarded an honorary degree from the University. This has many Catholics outraged. The reason for the outrage, as I see it, falls into two categories. The first is the Pro-Life category and the second is the obedience category. Many in opposition are so simply because they find it offensive that the most pro-abortion and thus anti-life president in history will be given a platform to speak which to them is in essence affirming his positions. Many Catholics and non-Catholics find this to be very inconsistent with the very essence of what Notre Dame stands for. Many non Catholics misunderstand the Catholic Church’s position as it relates to Mary. They feel that we Catholics in some way place Mary on the same level as Jesus. This is not true. We see Mary as an intercessor. We can go to Mary and ask her to intercede on our behalf with her son. There is Scriptural basis for this belief.   I am not trying to get into this issue for its own sake, but to point out that the name of Notre Dame is Our Mother. It is Mary’s university. Mary stands for a symbol of purity and obedience, unlike the current actions of the University.

The second category of opposition is the issue of obedience. The Bishops have specifically instructed the Universities not to give awards to politicians that act in opposition to Catholic teaching. Bishop Olmsted of Phoenix said, "It is a public act of disobedience to the Bishops of the United States," said the bishop, who cited the U.S. bishops' 2004 directive that pro-abortion politicians "should not be given awards, honors or platforms which would suggest support for their actions."

So, here we have one of the most prominent Catholic Universities ignoring the Bishops, including their own. To date, over 70 bishops have made statements condemning Notre Dame’s actions. There is absolutely no doubt that this is a defiant action on the part of the University.

  ATTITUDE  

This past week I had the opportunity to be in a meeting of several of us and a Jesuit priest and the topic was the exercises of St. Ignatius. Out of the blue he commented about the opposition of many Catholics and other non-Catholic Christians to the president and suggested that this opposition was causing a split in the Church. This led to a very poignant discussion where his position in this regard was countered. The argument went something like this: If I am in line with the teaching of the church and because of that I oppose the President on the issue of life, and you support the President despite his opposition to the pro-life agenda, it is YOU, the one supporting those contrary to the Church, not us who are supporting the Church who are causing the split in the Church. The priest was taken aback because he never expected to be challenged just like Notre Dame never expected to be challenged. This is the attitude of many who abandoned their beliefs to support Obama. It is however deeper than that. After we challenged our priest friend, he tried to change the topic to focus on poverty, then the death penalty and then he went off on other social issues. Each time, we said, “Don’t change the topic, let’s talk about abortion.” I said that if we can’t get this right then nothing else matters. I told him that if we are willing to kill babies in their mother’s womb then we have no morality. I went further to suggest that those that empower others to kill babies in the mother’s womb are in effect co-conspirators. He admitted that he is very anti abortion but that he never saw anyone who was so thoughtful about it. He admitted that he thought all of us were simply anti-Obama. He left the conversation a changed person.   This happened because we refused to give in. We did not bring up the topic, he did, but we did not let him get away with some inaccurate statement or assertion..

THE SPIRITUAL  

       It is my opinion from many years of study of politics and Scripture, that we are called to act in a way that is consistent with the message of Jesus. This includes our politics If we act contrary to the message of Jesus we are being untrue to our faith and in a way have put success or power or money ahead of God. This jeopardized the very salvation of those choosing success over God. This message has been expressed by Ambassador Keyes who said that we should pray for officials at Notre Dame because they as leaders are called to a higher standard of obedience and if they are leading people away from the truth, then their own salvation is at risk. Vision America President Pastor Rich Scarborough said he was sickened by what he saw when those protesting Obama’s speech at Notre Dame were arrested on Campus.   “I wept when I saw my friend arrested and taken to jail,” he said. “They almost broke the arm of a priest who appeared to be in his 80’s, by dragging him on the ground.” Scarborough, who’s a Southern Baptist preacher, said he was in South Bend n solidarity with Catholics who are protesting the upcoming commencement speech at Notre Dame by the most ant-life president in history. Scarborough went on the say, “Millions of Catholics who were persecuted in their countries of origin came to these shores for religious freedom. These hard working folk built institutions like Notre Dame to educate their children and strengthen their Church. Now Notre Dame is honoring Barack Obama a man Catholics and other Christians should shun, as many Catholic bishops have.”   The Catholic outrage toward the University of Notre Dame for its plan to honor President Obama at its commencement ceremony Sunday is unprecedented -- but only in its scope, not in its occurrence. Obama's pro-abortion-rights stance has prompted 74 American bishops to criticize the honor; some are even ready to cut ties with the university. More than 360,000 Catholics have signed the Cardinal Newman Society's petition at NotreDame- Scandal.com.

Let me suggest that what is going on here must make the devil very happy. He has driven a wedge between Catholics even at a time when non-Catholics are willing to stand in solidarity with us. This is a spiritual problem. I get e-mails from people who get my newsletter and can tell you that many of them will not even be interested in this issue. Others will think I am off base. They don’t think abortion is a big deal. They believe in a woman’s “choice”. They are wrong. You don’t have the choice to kill someone that you don’t agree with. Everyone has the constitutional right to life, even the unborn. Life is a gift from God and we have no right to take that life away. Some give it up by the way they live their lives, but that cannot be said for the unborn who are truly innocent. I heard a talk by Father Corapi and he said, “You cannot be pro-choice and Catholic-period. Further if you do anything to further abortion or have encouraged a woman to procure an abortion, you have excommunicated yourself.”

FINAL THOUGHTS  

I know that some of you do not believe that politics and spirituality go together. I feel compelled to repeat that they must . It is essential that we live our lives in a way consistent with our values and beliefs. This is manifested in our political views. To try to separate them is hypocritical.

I also cannot close without mentioning the trip that Pope Benedict is wrapping up to the Holy Land. He is a man of peace and unity and I am proud of the way in which he has reached out to others in an effort to show the true spirit of Jesus, to in effect imitate Jesus and to be a sign of the Holy Spirit in the world.