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Saturday, April 4, 2009

Notre Dame Scandal: List of Outspoken Bishops Updated - 18 and counting....

It may be of interest to those following this list that another Catholic school invited a well-known pro-abortionist: Pro-Abortion Journalist Chris Matthews to Offer Commencement Address at Catholic St. Joseph's University (LSN)

Here is are list of Bishops speaking out on the Notre Dame scandal as of April 4th, 2009 at 6:51 AM.

UPDATE at 6:17pm - Bishop Lori added, bringing my number to 18.

Some have the tally at 19, without a list. Who is missing?



Please drop names and links into my combox as others come in. Please note it may take up to 12 hours or longer before I can publish some comments, but most are published within 6 hours.



SELECTED QUOTES

Bishop Thomas Doran, - Rockford, IL (strongest words yet)

I would ask that you rescind this unfortunate decision and so avoid dishonoring the practicing Catholics of the United States, including those of this Diocese. Failing that, please have the decency to change the name of the University to something like, “The Fighting Irish College” or “Northwestern Indiana Humanist University.” Though promotion of the obscene is not foreign to you, I would point out that it is truly obscene for you to take such decisions as you have done in a university named for our Blessed Lady, whom the Second Vatican Council called the Mother of the Church.

Bps Martino & Dougherty - Scranton, PA:

Through its President, His Eminence Cardinal George, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops acted swiftly and consistently to engage President Obama on human life issues. Your reported comment that “I think if he is going to reconsider his views, I think Notre Dame is the best possible place to begin that process” demeans, we believe, the intelligent urgency exercised by the nation’s bishops in this matter.
Bishop Thomas Olmsted - Phoenix, AZ


It is a public act of disobedience to the Bishops of the United States. Our USCCB June 2004 Statement "Catholics in Political Life" states: "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." No one could not know of the public stands and actions of the president on key issues opposed to the most vulnerable human beings.

Archbishop John J. Myers - Newark,NJ

When we extend honors to people who do not share our respect and reverence for life in all stages, and give them a prominent stage in our parishes, schools and other institutions, we unfortunately create the perception that we endorse their public positions on these issues. We cannot justify such actions, and the Bishops have stated so clearly and strongly.
Cardinal Daniel DiNardo:

I find the invitation very disappointing. Though I can understand the desire by a university to have the prestige of a commencement address by the President of the United States, the fundamental moral issue of the inestimable worth of the human person from conception to natural death is a principle that soaks all our lives as Catholics, and all our efforts at formation, especially education at Catholic places of higher learning. The President has made clear by word and deed that he will promote abortion and will remove even those limited sanctions that control this act of violence against the human person......Particularly troubling is the Honorary Law Degree since it recognizes that the person is a “Teacher,” in this case of the Law. I think that this decision requires charitable but vigorous critique.
Cardinal Francis George, President USCCB

Whatever else is clear, it is clear that Notre Dame didn’t understand what it means to be Catholic when they issued this invitation,"

"As president of the U.S. bishops’ conference I have to precisely speak for the bishops and not in my own name, as I could as Archbishop of Chicago,"

[After stating that he had corresponded with the university several times, he says:] "That conversation will continue …. whether or not it will have some kind of consequence that will bring, I think, the University of Notre Dame to its [the USCCB’s] understanding of what it means to be Catholic...That is, when you’re Catholic, everything you do changes the life of everybody else who calls himself a personal Catholic – it’s a network of relationships.
Archbishop Eusebius Beltran, Oklahoma City, OK


I am appalled, disappointed and scandalized! Notre Dame University has certainly turned against the Catholic Church. I believe you have a moral responsibility to withdraw the invitation to President Barack Obama to be your commencement speaker in May. I also ask that you refrain from giving him any award whatsoever.


Bishop William Lori - Bridgeport, CT
“Notre Dame extended this invitation unilaterally, seemingly without regard for the consequences for the mission of the Catholic Church in the United States. It is contrary to the efforts of bishops, parish priests, and laity to resist the anti-life decisions, policies, and legislation promoted by the Obama administration.”



Am I missing somebody? Drop a name into the combox. I'll moderate when I get home.

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The obedient are not held captive by Holy Mother Church; it is the disobedient who are held captive by the world!
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