Bishop Gregory Aymond of the Diocese of Austin has reproached the decision rendered by the University of Notre Dame to allow President Obama to do the 2009 commencement address and receive an honorary law degree. In an E-Pistle issued earlier today, Bishop Aymond had this to say:
“I, along with many other Catholics, express great disappointment and sadness that a Catholic university would honor someone who is pro-choice and who holds many values contrary to our Catholic belief.”
“In the midst of such a sad situation, as Catholics we must continue to be pro-life and to proclaim with even greater strength the values of Christ and the teachings of the Catholic Church.”
“In my opinion, it is very clear that in this case the University of Notre Dame does not live up to its Catholic identity in giving this award and their leadership needs our prayerful support,”
The decision by Fr. John Jenkins, president of the University of Notre Dame, to allow President Obama, a notorious pro-abortion president, to address the graduating seniors has raised a firestorm among students, alumni, and Catholics alike.
Bishop Aymond has become the third U.S. bishop to voice his disapproval of Notre Dame’s invitation, following Bishop Thomas Olmsted’s statement from the Diocese of Phoenix and Bishop John M. D’Arcy’s statement from the Diocese of Fort Wayne-South Bend.
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I was actually surprised when I saw Bishop Aymond’s e-pistle. Our ordinary is not generally very political — to my knowledge he was pretty quiet and simply referred everyone to Faithful Citizenship during the election. So that he spoke out on this really struck me.
On the other hand, it strikes me that for many of the bishops, while they are reluctant to tell people specifically not to vote for one party, the call on not handing out honors to a pro-choice politician may be a lot more clear cut. Unless one abstains entirely, one will generally vote for one of the two major parties. But there’s certainly no requirement that one go handing out honors without good cause.
I was fortunate enough to speak with Bishop Aymond briefly last week Wednesday in College Station and I was impressed by his orthodoxy, charity, and demeanor. He was easy to speak with and very polite.
I to was thrown off guard and was happy to be surprised.
Now his recent statement concerning the scandal at Notre Dame has made me even more impressed with his episcopacy.
You have a good bishop in Austin Darwin.
My pastor (Notre Dame alumnus) is not particularly happy about this either 😉
Hey man, Obama is actually pro-life, or at least in the holistic sense of the term – what’s the deal with the private theology of these bishops?
at least in the holistic sense of the term
Does one have to drink green tea, do stretching exercises and burn some sort of herb to achieve this kind of holistic sense of the term? A sort of alternative medicine for the mind?
🙂
Darwin,
Whooaaa now, that’s hitting to close to home with me.
Fortunately, I don’t burn herbs of any sort (I don’t burn anything except a good Jamaican cigar for that matter — Cuban cigars are vastly overrated).
🙂