THE CONTROVERSY OVER THE COMMENCEMENT SPEAKER.........

6th SUNDAY OF EASTER

Universities are by their very definition places where discussion, discernment, debate and dialogue, take place in the process of learning and the attainment of a higher education. The University of Notre Dame is the premier Catholic university in the United States and is world famous as an institution of higher learning. One of my very close friends, a practicing and participating Catholic layman, is a Notre Dame graduate and has one of the best undergraduate educations of anyone I know. That did not occur by happenstance. It is is the result of my friend's hard work and the opportunity to study from a well honed curriculum inside and outside his major. The stellar reputation of the University of Notre Dame is the undeniable accomplishment of the Holy Cross religious order and the exemplary leadership for many decades of Father Theodore Hesburgh, the University President Emeritus. Father Hesburgh was not only an outstanding educator but an internationally acclaimed civil rights advocate. In recent weeks Notre Dame has been in the news amidst controversy over its invitation to President Barack Obama to be the 2009 Commencement speaker. Presidents are always sought after commencement speakers by colleges and universities, especially in the first years of their Administrations. Notre Dame's choice of President Obama as commencement speaker has stirred the opposition of conservative Catholics and traditionalist Bishops, due to his pro choice stance on abortion and support for stem cell research. 20% of the 265 American Bishops have stated their criticism of Notre Dame's invitation to President Obama, and yet 54% of voting Catholics cast their presidential ballots last November for Obama. I vehmently disagree with President Obama on the issue of abortion, yet I also concur with the decision of Father Jenkins and Notre Dame to invite the President of the United States to be their commencement speaker. Father Jenkins publicly enunciated reason for extending the invitation is to open a dialogue, as a, "basis for further positive engagement", with President Obama on Life issues. Abortion is the first of a whole fabric of Life issues in the sanctity of life we believe in, as Catholic-Christians, "from the moment of conception to natural death". Father Jenkins goes on to say, " it is of special significance that we hear from our first African-American president, a person who has spoken eloquently and movingly about race in this nation. Racial prejudice has been a deep wound in America and Mr. Obama has been a healer".
Catholic opposition to abortion and embryonic stem cell research is also joined with equal opposition to the death penalty and unjust war, as well as support for a plethora of social issues. The Pope in a 1995 encyclical, the 'Gospel Of Life', embraced the "seamless garment" theology of life advocated widely by the late Chicago Cardinal Bernardin. In that pastoral teaching the Pope was consistently pro-life without exception. Former President George W. Bush, delivered a commencement address at the University of Notre Dame, in 2001, the first year of his Administration. There was no controversy or protest then, and yet as Governor of Texas he allowed and oversaw the execution of more persons given the death penalty than any other governor in history. And his six years as Governor started the year the 'Gospel Of Life' was promulgated. A very wise professor of mine taught me, in a constitutional democracy we will never agree one hundred percent with any political candidate or public officeholder. When we disagree with them, it is our responsibility to debate and dialogue while representing and defending our beliefs. Instead of merely criticizing Notre Dame's decision or boycotting President Obama's appearance, why not have the Bishop of Fort Wyne/South Bend +John D'Arcy, or former Ambassador to the Vatican, Mary Ann Glendon, also speak at the commencement, reiterating the wholistic pro life Catholic teaching ? That would more ably represent the role and purpose of the University. I feel the commencement address the President gives at Notre Dame this week may follow the lead of President John F. Kennedy, in 1963, at American University, when he proposed the politically contentious Test Ban Treaty, as a part of the commencement address he delivered. Given the continuing roll out of policies and proposals by this Administration, the President could well use the forum of his Notre Dame commencement speech to propose an equally significant initiative.
One of the voices of balance and sanity in this controversy over the commencement speaker is the retired Bishop of Monterey, California, +Sylvester Ryan, the former President of the California Catholic Conference of Bishops, who wrote in the May 11, 2009 issue of America magazine, "I for one strongly support the President of Notre Dame, and although retired, I know many active bishops who hold to the same position, precisely because we understand that holding a strong conviction about abortion (which I do) even as a fundamental moral imperative does not abrogate the need for cooperation with and recognition of our current U.S. president, especially considering the multiplicity of issues in our complex world. To honor President Obama for what he represents, simply as the president, and especially as the first African-American president, is a genuine and deserved action from and by the University of Notre Dame."
We shall know soon enough how effective the commencement address or the controversy has been to advance the issues of Life from conception to natural death. it is my hope the spirit of debate, dialogue, discernment and discussion, may continue to be furthered at the University of Notre Dame and all colleges and universities. ........Fr. Troy