Bishop John M. D'Arcy will not be attending the Commencement ceremonies at Notre Dame. He has released this statement, via the Diocesan Communications website:
March 24, 2009
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.
Prayer From the Mozarabic Liturgy
We believe thee to be full of grace,
O glorious Mary,
Virgin Mother of Christ,
and reparatrix of mankind!
Great indeed are the blessings
thou hast conferred on us by giving him birth:
for the Fruit of thy womb,
Christ the Son of God,
hath delivered us
from the tyranny of our cruel enemy,
and hath made us companions
in the eternal kingdom.
Be thou, therefore,
we beseech thee, our advocate;
that through thy merits,
thy Son may set us free from our sins,
and after this life,
give us to reign forever in his kingdom.
Grant that he, who out of love for thee,
called thee to be his Mother,
may grant unto us
the rich sweetness of his love. Amen.
(From The Liturgical Year: Book 5)
No comments:
Post a Comment