Bill Smith, ARRA Editor: As a pro-life evangelical Christian with children who are faithful pro-life Catholics, I have been disturbed by the scandal of Barack Obama being invited to be the commencement speaker at a prestigious Catholic University - Notre Dame - and being honored with an honorary degree. The Vatican has already rejected Obama's pro-abortion nominations for Ambassador. Why would Notre Dame force its graduating students and their families to be subjected to listening to the words of an outspoken abortion advocate who is anathema in every sense of the word to a major belief - the sanctity of life - of the Catholic Church?Archbishop Raymond Burke, Prefect of the Vatican’s highest court, the Apostolic Signatur, received a standing ovation from the crowd of more than 1,200 when he called it “rightly the source of the greatest scandal.” Archbishop Burke added that if "we as individuals are not willing to accept the burdens” of the Catholic witness to life, “we are not worthy of the name Catholic.”
Hundreds of thousands of Catholics, hundreds of priests, and dozens of bishops have called upon Notre Dame to end this scandal by withdrawing its invitation to President Obama. Since this has not happened and graduating seniors do not have the authority to stop this scandal, many are opting for doing what they do have in their power to do -- they are recommending to fellow graduates that they "Don't Show Up!" They believe that participating the commencement will serve to obscure rather than highlight the Church's pro-life teaching and the true spirit of Notre Dame. They plan to have their own ceremony, the Class of 2009 Vigil for Life, on another part of the campus at the very hour that pro-abortion President Obama will speak and be honored by the University.
They have invited Fr. Frank Pavone, National Director, Priests for Life who has devoted his entire life and ministry to ending abortion to lead . Pavone explains:
In standing with these students, I am standing with the true spirit of Notre Dame: a pro-life spirit, in harmony with human reason and Catholic Faith. The scandal that has been generated does not represent what Notre Dame is all about; it represents a radical betrayal of what Notre Dame is all about. I am encouraged by the pro-life activities of so many student groups on this campus activities that are carried out all year round.
The seniors who do this are manifesting the real meaning of "commencement": they are carrying out the witness to truth and service that their hard-earned degrees have prepared them to give in the world. We shouldn't at all be surprised that many others will fail to understand not only the courageous actions of these students, but also the concern voiced by so many across our nation. After all, the fact that many don't have a problem with Barack Obama sitting in a place of honor at a Catholic Commencement is simply a corollary of the underlying problem that so many don't have a problem with Barack Obama sitting in the White House. Our concern is not just that he is at odds with Catholic teaching. Our concern is that he is at odds with "American" teaching, and the very meaning of public service which requires being able to tell the difference between serving the public and killing the public. He should neither be at Notre Dame nor in the White House.Nearly a thousand priests and deacons have joined their voices to a statement that Priests for Life has written, and we invite more to sign up . Meanwhile, we invite all the faithful to join the Notre Dame students in a Rosary Campaign for reparation for this scandal, and for the conversion of the President and all who support legal child-killing.
| Fr. Frank Pavone has also released the following video. - - -> See also: Notre Dame Scandal |
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