Inviting Obama to Speak at Notre Dame Exposes New Catholic Church Rift
The Catholic university's students appear to strongly back the invitation
Conservative Catholics disagree, saying that the church hierarchy must enforce the church's position on political issues to set an example for ordinary Catholics. That, they say, includes denying Obama a prominent speaking platform. "Most priests have been intimidated from speaking out on key issues for fear of alienating the congregation," says the Catholic League's Donohue. "They need to have the courage to explain the church's position." Of course, emphasizing orthodox political positions would probably mean a much smaller church, with more liberals jumping ship. Conservatives like Donohue are fine with that. But the American bishops seem to be less sure. It probably explains why the vast majority have stayed silent on Obama's forthcoming appearance at Notre Dame.
- Read more by Dan Gilgoff.
- Read more about the Notre Dame's invitation to Obama.
Reader Comments
catholic church
Shame on you. Sending mixed messages about what is moral and what is not.
I've been a strong Catholic all my life....now 76.....and I can see why so many Catholic churches are closing.....when our Catholic church allows someone to speak and give him an honary degree....who believes completely the opposite of the churches teaching, saying "it's a sin to have an abortion" and than saying no it's not......oh, well.......guess I'll use my gut "feelings" about what is right or wrong....not the church's teachings.....
Obama at Notre Dame
When stating percentages of Catholics, it is important to find out if such Catholics are practicing Catholics or simply Catholic by birth but not practicing their faith (or C & E Catholics - those that attend their church on Christmas and Easter and other special occasions).
Also, it matters little how many have this opinion or that opininion, rather what mattes is the truth. The magisterium of the church promotes truth even if it is not popular since Jesus IS truth.
If one asks "What would Jesus say about abortion?", it is extremely hard to believe that Jesus would say "Do whatever you like, your happiness is what is most important". He would simply say, "Don't do this" or if someone had an abortion he would say, "Your sin is forgiven, go and do this no more". Those facing an unwanted pregancy, be courageous and believe thee is help for you and "beauty can be brought out of the ashes of your fear", let God show you the way.
Jesus IS truth, and I think we'd have to admit he would say abortion is an abomination (or do you say Obama-nation!)
Dialogue with Obama OK, don't give him an honorary degree, or let him lie to our students
Having a dialogue with Obama would be good, and that may be, but a speech is not a dialogue. Also, any “REAL” Catholic knows that abortion is killing a pre-born person. Anyone who doesn’t see that is either misinformed or what I call a “FAKE” Catholic, like the priest at Notre Dame that invited Obama in the first place, and many of the commentators on this blog. Honoring any pro abortion speaker, president or not, at a Catholic event is dishonoring to the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Jesus did not come to unite; he came to divide the sheep from the goats. At this point, Obama is in the goat category. Let’s all pray for the Holy Spirit to convict Obama of his sins and wrong thinking so that he can become a true Christian and right his wrongs. Catholic Christians and non-Catholic Christians, Jews and Muslims all need to pray or meditate for discernment on every matter, but especially on who we decide to teach our children. Most people graduating from a college are in their early 20’s and are still gullible to a point, especially when they are trusting the generation before them to “have it right”, and to “know better” as to what should be done in a situation. Some say the abortion issue is a non-issue, but guess what? They’re wrong! No other law means anything if you are dead. Obama voted three times for allowing a baby to die if during an abortion it was indeed born alive out of the mother’s body even though the baby was far enough along to warrant standard medical care which would have allowed the baby to survive? Don’t forget, in America, it is legal to kill an unborn baby through ALL NINE MONTHS. It’s quite bizarre, don’t you think? It’s difficult to wrap your mind around that concept, isn’t it? Obama also said something to the affect that he wanted his daughters to have the “choice” (the choice is either life or death) to be able to have an abortion if either of them found themselves in an unwanted pregnancy. So, that means that Obama wouldn’t mind if one or both of his daughters had his grandchildren killed by an abortionist. A strange idea for any man who calls himself a Christian, let alone one with Jewish or African ancestry. Too many times in history Jewish or African children were killed in the name of some so called great purpose. ENOUGH! America has legalized too many sins. We have to wake up and stand for the truth. This is not only a religious issue; the “Natural Law” also shows abortion to be wrong. Look it up. If a pregnant woman is killed by manslaughter, the law shows that the unborn baby is a person, the person responsible is charged with two counts of manslaughter. So, why do people “tolerate” the murder of our United States citizens just because a woman finds her pregnancy inconvenient and wants to get on with “HER LIFE”? What about the life of her baby? Ask a woman who has had an abortion whether murdering her baby made her life easier. Her answer, if she can even answer without bursting into tears, would be “NO, it made it much worse!” Seek God’s face. Is He smiling at you or do you make Him sick? Be careful, He might spit you from His mouth!
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