Skip to content
The Catholic Leader
  • Home
  • News
    • QLD
    • Australia
    • Regional
    • Education
    • World
    • Vatican
  • Features
  • Opinion
  • Life
    • Family
    • Relationships
    • Faith
  • Culture
  • People
  • Subscribe
  • Jobs
  • Contribute
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • News
    • QLD
    • Australia
    • Regional
    • Education
    • World
    • Vatican
  • Features
  • Opinion
  • Life
    • Family
    • Relationships
    • Faith
  • Culture
  • People
  • Subscribe
  • Jobs
  • Contribute
No Result
View All Result
The Catholic Leader
No Result
View All Result
Home News

Notre Dame invites pro-abortion Obama to speak

byStaff writers
5 April 2009
Reading Time: 2 mins read
AA
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

WASHINGTON (CNS): University of Notre Dame officials were standing firm on their choice of US President Barack Obama as commencement speaker at the institution’s May 17 graduation, in spite of a large number of Catholics calling on them to rescind the invitation.

The Indiana university, run by the Congregation of Holy Cross, and the White House announced on March 20 that President Obama would be Notre Dame’s 2009 commencement speaker and confirmed he would receive an honorary doctor of laws degree at the graduation.

“The invitation to President Obama to be our commencement speaker should not be taken as condoning or endorsing his positions on specific issues regarding the protection of human life, including abortion and embryonic stem-cell research,” University of Notre Dame president Holy Cross Father John Jenkins said.

“Yet, we see his visit as a basis for further positive engagement,” he said in a March 23 statement.

The announcement on Mr Obama was promptly followed by a flurry of criticism from Catholics, who said the President’s support of legal abortion and embryonic stem-cell research made him an inappropriate choice to be the commencement speaker at a Catholic university.

The Cardinal Newman Society announced on March 23 it had collected more than 54,000 signatures in an online petition that called for Notre Dame to rescind its invitation to Mr Obama to be this year’s commencement speaker.

The petition drive initiated by the Cardinal Newman Society called it “an outrage and a scandal” for the university to honour Mr Obama and asked Fr Jenkins to “halt this travesty immediately”.

Bishop John M. D’Arcy of Fort Wayne-South Bend – the diocese where Notre Dame is located – issued a statement on March 24 saying he would not attend the 2009 Notre Dame commencement as a silent protest of Mr Obama’s policies regarding life issues.

He said it would be the first time he would be absent from the ceremony in the 25 years he has been bishop of the diocese.

“I wish no disrespect to our president, I pray for him and wish him well,” Bishop D’Arcy said.

Related Stories

Cardinal Joseph Zen appears in court in Hong Kong on day of prayer for China

15 killed in Texas school shooting

Archbishop calls for prayers in “troubled times”

“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 defence of the truth about human life.”

ShareTweet
Previous Post

The Combination – Not a film for the faint-hearted

Next Post

Georgina’s faith still guiding her each day

Staff writers

Related Posts

Hong Kong
World

Cardinal Joseph Zen appears in court in Hong Kong on day of prayer for China

25 May 2022
15 killed in Texas school shooting
News

15 killed in Texas school shooting

25 May 2022
Archbishop calls for prayers in “troubled times”
News

Archbishop calls for prayers in “troubled times”

24 May 2022
Next Post

Georgina's faith still guiding her each day

Centacare bucks trend

Holy oils blessed at cathedral celebration

Popular News

  • Archbishop calls for prayers in “troubled times”

    Archbishop calls for prayers in “troubled times”

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • US bishops applaud San Francisco prelates pastoral response to Pelosi’s decades of abortion advocacy

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • From a humble start Albanese is sworn in as new prime minister

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • 15 killed in Texas school shooting

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Here are the stories of 10 new saints being canonised this Sunday

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
Search our job finder
No Result
View All Result

Latest News

Hong Kong
World

Cardinal Joseph Zen appears in court in Hong Kong on day of prayer for China

by Staff writers
25 May 2022
0

CARDINAL Joseph Zen appeared in court in Hong Kong on Tuesday, a date which is the World...

15 killed in Texas school shooting

15 killed in Texas school shooting

25 May 2022
Archbishop calls for prayers in “troubled times”

Archbishop calls for prayers in “troubled times”

24 May 2022
Myanmar military burns houses, destroys a village

US bishops applaud San Francisco prelates pastoral response to Pelosi’s decades of abortion advocacy

24 May 2022
Myanmar military burns houses, destroys a village

Myanmar military burns houses, destroys a village

24 May 2022

Never miss a story. Sign up to the Weekly Round-Up
eNewsletter now to receive headlines directly in your email.

Sign up to eNews
  • About
  • Advertise
  • Contact
  • Contribute
  • Jobs
  • Subscribe

The Catholic Leader is an Australian award-winning Catholic newspaper that has been published by the Archdiocese of Brisbane since 1929. Our journalism seeks to provide a full, accurate and balanced Catholic perspective of local, national and international news while upholding the dignity of the human person.

Copyright © All Rights Reserved The Catholic Leader
Accessibility Information | Privacy Policy | Archdiocese of Brisbane

The Catholic Leader acknowledges Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people as the First Peoples of this country and especially acknowledge the traditional owners on whose lands we live and work throughout the Catholic Archdiocese of Brisbane.

No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • News
    • QLD
    • Australia
    • Regional
    • Education
    • World
    • Vatican
  • Features
  • Opinion
  • Life
    • Family
    • Relationships
    • Faith
  • Culture
  • People
  • Subscribe
  • Jobs
  • Contribute

Copyright © All Rights Reserved The Catholic Leader

0
    0
    Your Cart
    Your cart is emptyChoose another Subscription
    Continue Shopping