Even as the University of Notre Dame has angered Catholics and pro-life advocates nationwide with its plan to bestow an honorary doctorate of laws on President Barack Obama on May 17, Arizona State University has declined to do the same when the President speaks at its commencement ceremony the prior Wednesday.
ASU spokeswoman Sharon Keeler told The Associated Press: "It's our practice to recognize an individual for his body of work, somebody who's been in their position for a long time. His body of work is yet to come. That's why we're not recognizing him with a degree at the beginning of his presidency."
Patrick J. Reilly, President of The Cardinal Newman Society, which has launched a petition protest against Notre Dame's honoring of President Obama, responded to the news saying, "If a public university can deny the President an honorary degree, then one would think that a Catholic university could do the same for much more important reasons: to uphold its Catholic mission, to obey the U.S. bishops, and to put principle over prestige."
The announcement that Notre Dame had decided to bestow an honorary degree on Obama and have him as this year's commencement speaker sparked a nationwide protest last month, due to Obama's established record on abortion and other moral issues while an Illinois state legislator, United States senator and U.S. President.
In his first 11 weeks in office, President Obama has allowed taxpayer funding for abortions and embryonic stem cell research, nominated pro-abortion Catholic Kathleen Sebelius as Secretary of Health and Human Services, announced anti-Catholic activist Anthony Picarello as an advisor on faith-based partnerships, and threatened conscience protections for Catholic healthcare workers.
Notre Dame's planned honor for President Obama has been protested by students and alumni, 29 Catholic bishops, 10 Holy Cross priests and over 250,000 concerned individuals at NotreDameScandal.com.
ND Prez Comment on USCCB Document Prohibiting Honoring Pro-Abortion Politicians
LifeSiteNews.com has obtained a copy of University of Notre Dame President Fr. John Jenkins' commentary on the U.S. Bishops Conference (USCCB) document, "Catholics in the Political Life," which was sent to Notre Dame's Board of Trustees at the beginning of this month. In the commentary Jenkins explains how he believes that the university's invitation of President Obama to be this year's commencement speaker and receive an honorary law degree is in keeping with the "letter and the spirit" of the recommendations included in the USCCB document.
The USCCB issued "Catholics in Political Life" in 2004. The document directs Catholic schools not to honor pro-abortion politicians. Many of the 29 bishops who have so far spoken out against the scandal, including Notre Dame's Bishop John D'Arcy and USCCB President Cardinal Francis George, have indicated that the school's invitation to President Obama to speak at commencement and receive an honorary law degree was in violation of the bishops' directive. (To view the USCCB document, go to: http://www.usccb.org/bishops/catholicsinpoliticallife.shtml) Click here for the full story
Four More Makes 29 Bishops, 10 Holy Cross Priests Condemn ND Scandal
A group of priests with the Congregation of the Holy Cross (C.S.C.), the religious order that runs the University of Notre Dame, and four more U.S. bishops have issued their condemnation of Notre Dame's decision to honor President Obama with an honorary law degree and an invitation to speak at the school's May 17 commencement.
Ten Holy Cross priests and Notre Dame alumni wrote a letter concerning the scandal to the University's Observer newspaper yesterday, requesting that fellow C.S.C. member and University president Fr. John Jenkins "revisit this matter immediately" as "failure to do so will damage the integrity of the institution and detract from all the good work that occurs at Notre Dame and from the impressive labors of its many faithful students and professors." Both the local C.S.C. superior, and the superior general in Rome, have refused to condemn the invitation. Click here for the full story
Group Wants Notre Dame Removed From Catholic Directory Over Obama Invite
The American Life League is calling for the University of Notre Dame to be removed from the official list of Catholic institutions after the university invited President Obama, an abortion supporter, to give the commencement address. The group, a Catholic pro-life organization, said in a statement Wednesday that removing the school from the Official Catholic Directory would cut Notre Dame off from a lot of Catholic foundation funding. "We found a tragic attitude at the University of Notre Dame -- apathy, if not hostility, toward the faith," Judie Brown, ALL president, said in the statement. "The university is backing away from the Catholic Church." Click here for the full story
Source: LifeSiteNews.com
Publish Date: April 9, 2009
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