On Friday, March 21, Father John Jenkins, CSC, phoned to inform me that President Obama had accepted his invitation to speak to the graduating class at Notre Dame and receive an honorary degree. We spoke shortly before the announcement was made public at the White House press briefing. It was the first time that I had been informed that Notre Dame had issued this invitation.

President Obama has recently reaffirmed, and has now placed in public policy, his long-stated unwillingness to hold human life as sacred. While claiming to separate politics from science, he has in fact separated science from ethics and has brought the American government, for the first time in history, into supporting direct destruction of innocent human life.

This will be the 25th Notre Dame graduation during my time as bishop. After much prayer, I have decided not to attend the graduation. I wish no disrespect to our president, I pray for him and wish him well. I have always revered the Office of the Presidency. But a bishop must teach the Catholic faith “in season and out of season,” and he teaches not only by his words — but by his actions.

My decision is not an attack on anyone, but is in defense of the truth about human life.

I have in mind also the statement of the U.S. Catholic Bishops in 2004. “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.” Indeed, the measure of any Catholic institution is not only what it stands for, but also what it will not stand for.

I have spoken with Professor Mary Ann Glendon, who is to receive the Laetare Medal. I have known her for many years and hold her in high esteem. We are both teachers, but in different ways. I have encouraged her to accept this award and take the opportunity such an award gives her to teach.

Even as I continue to ponder in prayer these events, which many have found shocking, so must Notre Dame. Indeed, as a Catholic University, Notre Dame must ask itself, if by this decision it has chosen prestige over truth.

Tomorrow, we celebrate as Catholics the moment when our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, became a child in the womb of his most holy mother. 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.[reference]

“In season and out of season” is exactly right. Though for so many Catholic campuses it is “In treason and out of treason.”

Well I am not surprised at all that Fr. Jenkins didn’t mention the little fact that he invited the President to the Bishop of the diocese. Though I guess really in most cases you wouldn’t need to and perhaps Fr. Jenkins really thought this was no big deal. If so it just shows his poor judgement.

Maybe the best thing that could happen now is if the commencement was heavily boycotted. If that started to come into play I bet it wouldn’t take long for the President to suddenly discover a scheduling conflict.

A reader sent me this article.

A major research project is to be announced this week that will culminate in three years with the first transfusions into human volunteers of “synthetic” blood made from the stem cells of spare IVF embryos. It could help to save the lives of anyone from victims of traffic accidents to soldiers on a battlefield by revolutionising the vital blood transfusion services, which have to rely on a network of human donors to provide a constant supply of fresh blood.

So now we go with an unwilling human donor and kill them in the process.

But developing blood made from the cells of spare IVF embryos will raise difficult ethical issues for people not happy with the idea of destroying embryos to create stem cells. It also raises the intriguing philosophical question of whether the synthetic blood will have come from someone who never existed. In theory, just one embryo could meet the nation’s needs.

As far as intriguing philosophical arguments go – that one is rather lame. This just does not matter and if we ware able to do this ethically with adult stem cells it would just be no question at all. Plus the idea that just one human embryo, in theory, will do is silly. As if the very first human embryo they killed would be all they needed. Though even if only one person was to be killed it is still intrinsically evil.

Scientists in other countries, notably Sweden, France and Australia, are also known to be working on the development of synthetic blood from embryonic stem cells. And last year, a team from a US biotechnology company, Advanced Cell Technology, announced that it has been able to produce billions of functioning red blood cells from embryonic stem cells. But the US work had been held up because of funding problems dating back to the ban on embryonic stem cell work under the Bush administration. President Barack Obama has since reversed that policy.

Will the lies never end? Nothing prevented them legally from this research since the only ban was for federal funding. Advance Cell Technology as Wesley Smith has amply documented is a publicity seeking enterprise that uses press releases to raise venture capital and make claims that are often just made up.

Fr. Jenkins replies about the Notre Dame controversy.

“Presidents from both parties have come to Notre Dame for decades to speak to graduates about our nation and our world. They’ve given important addresses on international affairs, human rights, service, and we’re delighted that President Obama is continuing that tradition,” Jenkins said

One upon a time there were presidents you might have disagreed with prudentially, but they were not advocating intrinsic evils. Just saying this has happened in the past does not mean it should continue. In fact I think Catholic schools should get totally out of the business of inviting politicians to speak on campus regardless of party affiliation. There are plenty of inspiring and faithful Catholics that should be the ones invited for these roles.

Jenkins made clear the University is not honoring the president for his stances on these issues, but for his leadership.

Giving an honorary degree is not honoring someone – what?

“The invitation of President Obama to be our Commencement speaker should in no way be taken as condoning or endorsing his positions on specific issues regarding the protection of life, such as abortion and embryonic stem cell research,” Jenkins said.

Yes giving an honorary law degree to someone who says Roe v. Wade was rightly decided in now way is a mixed message. Funny that pretty much everybody that heard the news thought that this does indeed condone or at least minimize his extreme anti-life views. Amy Welborn is not exactly some wild-eyed pundit and when she titles a post on this “speechless” that pretty much says it. Ralph McInerny who is not prone to hyperbole says that this invite tells America that the teaching on abortion can be ignored. Just why is it that Fr. Jenkins can give an honorary degree despite the USCCB saying that you can’t in these circumstances. If he is aware of this restriction why does he feel he can ignore them?

These “crucial differences” in positions on the protection of life are not being ignored in extending the invitation to the president, Jenkins said, but rather can be used as a catalyst for dialogue.

You knew that was coming. You can justifiy anything if it is about “dialogue” don’t you know. This was basically the same excuse used to justify productions of the obscene and evil Vagina Monologues. So this latest decision is no great surprise. We have covered this ground before.

“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 said.

So how does that happen? When you invite someone to a Catholic university to give the commencement you are giving them and others the message that they are an acceptable speaker and role model. This is not engagement, but surrender.

“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,” he said.

This is a silly argument. Not choosing someone for the commencement is not shunning. Otherwise everybody in the world not invited for the commencement are being shunned. You do not show respect by capitulating your values.

President Obama is “an inspiring leader who has taken leadership of the country facing many challenges: two wars, a really troubled economy, he has issues with health care, immigration, education reform, and he has addressed those with intelligence, courage and honesty,” Jenkins said.

Well we can prudentially disagree with that. He has been a disaster for the economy and the added trillions in debt and his idea of education reform will not be open to Catholic thought when the state is given the role as primary educator. As for honesty – I have to laugh. He lied when he justified ESCR when it was already legal, just not federally funded. He lied about cloning saying he was against it when he has no problems with clone and kill. He lied when he promised that all bills would be on the White House web site for five days to be commented on by the public before he would sign. He has broken plenty of promises, so to say he is honest is silly. Remember he called the National Right to Life liars when they told the truth about his record.

He then goes on about his being the first African American President, but we don’t get past race by mentioning it at every corner. If this is his claim to fame then it goes far from Martin Luther King’s wanting people to judge based on content of character.

The Office of the President issues honorary degrees, and he “consulted with many people” about the decision.

Well he needs some new consultants. Reports are that the phone lines to Notre Dame have been swamped and that they have all been against this decision. Fr. Jenkins needs to realize why people are upset about this. They would never have invited a speaker who had racist ideas. So why is choosing someone who supports murdering the innocent acceptable. Those who understand the evil of abortion instantly see why this selection was wrong. This has been a President who has not given a damn about the Catholic community and has repeatedly slapped our faces. His executive orders are bad enough. But he has also gone after the conscience laws and recently nominated a Catholic for HHS who can not even receive Communion along with plenty of other pro-abortion Catholics including his Vice President. He has provided zero olive branches other than rhetorical flourish about respecting opinions and just plows ahead with the culture of death. His very first judicial pick is of course pro-abortion.

Plus the whole idea of doing this to start a conversation does nothing. Fr. Jenkins should be much more concerned that the faith is taught at Notre Dame so that in the future uninformed Catholics will not put men like this into office. No doubt thought there are plenty at students and professors at Notre Dame who right now seem to have a better grasp about this then he does.

Instead how about a prayer rally to pray for the conversion of the President? We will engage the culture of death when we live our faiths and preach the Gospel. Our lives and actions need to be of one accord with the will of Christ. Choosing President Obama, no matter how personable he is, divides the truth of the message that abortion and harvesting embryos is always intrinsically evil – even if you are the first African-American President.

I am with Thomas at American Papist who is pessimistic that the President will be uninvited. Though would love to be surprised and will in the meantime be praying for Fr. Jenkins to do what is right.

Comos-Liturgy-Sex has similar thoughts about this.