This is a compromise effort. The President as Commencement speaker, but no Honorary Law Degree. hit the link for the complete article.
ND Scandal: A Way Forward: National Catholic Register
... Cardinal George also stressed it’s not an option for Notre Dame’s president, Holy Cross Father John Jenkins, to disinvite Obama because of the disrespect this would communicate towards the office of the President.
So what’s a reasonable way forward for Notre Dame, to address the scandal caused by its actions and restore its reputation as an authentically Catholic institution of higher education?
Dr. Donald Condit, a Catholic doctor and Notre Dame alumnus who lives in Michigan, offers this suggestion about how this could be done: Allow Obama to serve as commencement speaker, but refrain from bestowing upon him an honorary degree in order to communicate Notre Dame’s complete opposition to the president’s extreme anti-life political agenda.
Dr. Condit outlined his proposal in an email sent today to the Register:
“Obviously, Father Jenkins is in a very difficult position. A compromise would be for him to point out the commencement speaker invitations went out last fall to both candidates, consistent with historical precedent. Recently elected President Obama just accepted.
“However, since he has become president his policies have been contrary to the dignity deserved by vulnerable human beings.
“Since Father Jenkins in a humble servant of the Church, and in gratitude to bishops and cardinals as well as the Catholic community at large who have reminded him of his duty of fidelity to the Holy Father and Magisterium, Notre Dame cannot confer an honoris causa degree upon Barack Obama.
“Let the President of the United States come to campus.
“Honor the graduating students with a dignified commencement celebration — they deserve it!
“Mary Ann Glendon, faithful faculty, students, and the alumni will remind him and the world we are all created in the image and likeness of God and deserve respect from the moment of conception until natural death.”
Dr. Condit’s idea is definitely worth considering. And he has much more of a stake in the commencement controversy than most Catholics: He is a second-generation Notre Dame alumnus and his daughter is a member of the 2009 graduating class whose accomplishments will be celebrated at Notre Dame’s May 17 commencement.
As Dr. Condit said in a March 26 letter to Father Jenkins, “As a parent, as a Catholic, and as alumni, I am dismayed by your invitation to honor Barack Obama with a Notre Dame degree.
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