More Notre Dame backlash: USCCB rejects Obama enabler as president
On May 17, 2009, pro-abortion/pro-infanticide President Barack Obama gave the commencement address at Notre Dame University and received an honorary doctor of laws degree upon the invitation of its president, Fr. John Jenkins (pictured right with Obama at the event).
I thought at the time the incident held historical significance for our movement. As I’ve written previously, I’m not even Catholic but was quite upset, writing about the story extensively and spending 2 days there covering it.
History is bearing out the enablers are suffering consequences. A couple weeks ago it was reported private donations to ND fell by $120 million in the year following Obama’s visit. And today came this news, from the Associated Press:
In an upset, NY Archbishop Timothy Dolan was elected president Tuesday of the US Conference of Catholic Bishops, defeating a vice president who had been widely expected to win the job.
It is the first time since the 1960s that a sitting vice president was on the ballot for president and lost. It follows protests by some conservative Catholics against the vice president, Tucson Bishop Gerald Kicanas….
Bishop Kicanas has not denied Communion to any Catholic politicians and rejected calls to punish the president of the University of Notre Dame for honoring President Obama, who supports abortion rights. Bishop Kicanas instead urged bishops and Catholic university presidents to start a discussion about their differences.
Partly because of Bishop Kicanas’ approach, he was pilloried in the days leading up to the vote by right-wing Catholic bloggers, who urged readers to send protest faxes and leave messages for bishops at the hotel where they are meeting….
Very good. No justice no peace.
Photo above via the AP shows Bishop Kevin Vann, Robert Vasa (according to several emails received) left, congratulating Archbishop Dolan, right. I also see pro-life USCCB stalwart Richard Doerflinger in the left background.
Thomas Peters added at LifeSiteNews.com:
Kicanas parted way with dozens upon dozens of his brother bishops who issued statements opposing the invitation. Instead, he chose to play semantics (much like how Notre Dame President Fr. Jenkins chose to respond to criticisms of the University’s move).
Earlier this year, Bishop Kicanas went a step farther: he invited Notre Dame into his diocese to designate three of his diocesan schools as Notre Dame feeders, the first in the country, representing a “significant deepening of the Notre Dame relationship with the Diocese of Tucson.” While the rest of the country has punished Notre Dame’s bottom line since they honored President Obama (to the tune of $120 million in withheld donations), Bishop Kicanas has doubled-down in his support of the institution.
[HT: Jim Finnegan]
Jill Stanek is a nurse turned speaker, columnist and blogger, a national figure in the effort to protect both preborn and postborn innocent human life.
According to Wikipedia, UND has an endowment of over 5.5 billion dollars. Somehow I don’t think that missing $120 million is going to hurt it too much.
Congratulations to Archbishop Dolan!!! I’m very pleased to have, as a witness to my faith and the church I hold dear, an outspoken man of integrity and solid moral grounding! Its shameful that we have shepherds leading us astray on this very important issue called “LIFE”.
Somehow I don’t think that missing $120 million is going to hurt it too much.
Joan,
LOL. Tell that to professors hoping for raises this year.
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My prayers are with Archbishop Dolan as he begins his new role as President of the USCCB.
Notre Dame has lost its way. The Church is struggling and we see it in our universities, in the scandals, in the decline of couples seeking marriage in the Church, and in the dropoff in attendance at Sunday Mass. There are more indicators-not the least of which are so called “Catholic” politicians supporting abortion, and associations of sisters supporting Obamacare even though it included access to abortion.
Yet at the same time many Catholics have been very active in the pro-life movement and we are encouraged by the beauty of young families living their faith seriously. In times like these God sends saints into our midst.
Git ’em BISH!!!
Thanks be to God for this great blessing on the Catholic Church in America! +
Janet
November 16th, 2010 at 5:34 pm
Definitely. And all those football players they can’t recruit. And all those music scholarships they can’t endow. Etc., etc., etc. There’s no way that they didn’t notice.
Minor correction (for the AP, not Jill). That is actually Bishop Robert Vasa pictured left of Archbishop Dolan. :)
I know a Norte Dame graduate who protested having Obama at the University. He and his wife are Catholic and weren’t too impressed with the Obama invitation.
My dad says of Norte Dame “It USED to be a Catholic university.” Meaning that it has lost its way.
It’s sad and it hurts my heart that there are Catholic Universities, Churches and Dicoeses unfaithful to the Magisterium (the teaching side of the Catholic Church) and that they lead other Catholics astray by acting like certain teachings aren’t important.
The vote was 128-111. It was WAY too close as far as I’m concerned. Kicanas should have been shut out completely. Our Church is still riddled with numerous lax bishops who are content to leave our extraordinarily poorly catechized generation floundering. 111 of them, to be exact. Thanks be to God for EWTN, Relevant Radio, and priests like Fr. Frank Pavone and Fr, Robert Barron!
Hey, he’s still a Bishop. Pretty good gig. I’m sure he’s not crying that he can’t be President of some society.
Hal,
I wish that were true; but I’ve met and worked with Bishop Kicanas… and I strongly suspect that he’s really smarting over this one. He has a sense of entitlement that’s downright scary in anyone, let alone a bishop.
The election of Archbishop Dolan is one of the most heartening things I’ve seen, this year, regarding the Church. And MamaMT: I definitely empathize; it was too close! But I *do* feel better, knowing that past history has had vice-presidents voted into the presidency by unanimous (or nearly unanimous) votes. This is historic… and, especially given the wonderful VP, we probably have 6 years to let “squishy” bishops retire and new (orthodox) bishops replace them. It’s uphill from here, I hope.
wonderful!! Proof that the Holy Spirit is working in the Catholic church.
The time for liberal Catholics is coming to an end.
Timothy Dolan is an awe-inspiring archbishop here in New York, and is very pro-life. I’m thrilled at his election.
(Doesn’t the good man’s face look red in the photo? – All eyes on him and all :) )
MOST of the flap against Kicanas in the last few days has not really been over the pro-life issue, but about him passing on a seminarian for ordination who turned out to be a molester. This was was when he was a seminary rector, even before he became a bishop. Still, one more good reason not to elect him. The Church doesn’t need the bad publicity right now.
I don’t see any bishop as true conservative if abortion is the only reason for opposing Obamacare.
Obamacare will kill the goose that laid the golden egg, and that has funded the charitable outreaches of the Church heavily.
Medicare denies more claims than any private insurer.
Obamacare will (supposedly )take on more patients. It will waste more funding through administrative cost, chase health care providers out of business, and make our elderly and disabled SHOVEL READY.
George Bush and Barack Obama somehow ended up at the same barbershop.
As they sat there, each being worked on by a different barber, not a word was spoken. The barbers were even afraid to start a conversation, for fear it would turn to politics.
As the barbers finished their shaves, the one who had Obama in his chair reached for the aftershave. Obama was quick to stop him saying, ‘No thanks, my wife Michelle will smell that and think I’ve been in a bordello.’
The second barber turned to Bush and said, ‘How about you sir?’
Bush replied, ‘Go ahead; Laura doesn’t know what the inside of a bordello smells like.’
Target, the dog who survived Afghan war and melted hearts on Oprah, mistakenly put down at Arizona animal shelter
‘www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1330088/Afghanistan-dog-hero-mistake-Arizona-animal-shelter.html’
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She had even become a life-saving hero by sniffing out a suicide bomber on a military base. But, sadly, these dangers paled against the threat from a clerical error at a U.S. dog pound. An employee at the Pinal County facility was today on administrative leave after euthanizing the shepherd mix by mistake.
‘When it comes to euthanizing an animal, there are some clear-cut procedures to follow,’ said Ruth Stalter, director of the Animal Care And Control centre.
‘Based on my preliminary investigation, our employee did not follow those procedures.’
===========================================================================
Wow!
‘On behalf of a grateful nation’…
In the the ‘what have you done for me lately’ department, mans best friend experiences how vulnerable you become when a bureaucrat determines your value by your present circumstances.
Target had no idea she was in the cross hairs.
Her productive years behind her, Target was put down without even having the benefit of end of life counseling.
On the bright side Target’s untimely demise provided one, all be it temporary, shovel ready job.
NASA used to be an acronym for National Aeronautics and Space Administration.
?
But when b o selected Charles F. Bolden, Jr. to be the next Administrator, b o secifically instructed Bolden that his highest priority should be “to find a way to reach out to the Muslim world and engage much more with dominantly Muslim nations to help them feel good about their historic contribution to science … and math and engineering.”
?
Adds a new a different meaning to NASA; ‘Not About Space Anymore’
?
Recently the Transportation Safetey Administration [TSA] implemented new and un-announced security procedures at the nations airports.
Would be fliers were greeted by TSA officials with a choice between volunteering to do a virtual ‘full monty’ or submit to being groped by an TSA agent.
Potential passengers who objected to the procedures, or heaven forbid refused to submit, were subjected to intense pressure to comply. Some were escorted from the airport and one would have to assume, their names are now on a list maintained by the TSA and the Department of Homeland Security.
Ten thousand dollar fines have been threatened.
The new procedures were not authorized by Congress. A bill considering these measures is still under consideration.
These measures are the result of an autocratic over reach by the b o aministration.
When asked if Muslims would be exempted from these new measures, Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano, hemmed and hawwed but never gave a coherent response where a simple yes or no would have sufficed.
Suggested new meanng for TSA: Targeted Sexual Assault.
Lori, it would have been more than bad publicity if Bishop Kincanas had been elected despite ordaining a known homosexual.
It shows that he does not understand the doctrine of the Church. Celibacy is part of the sexual morality of the Church, which includes prohibitions of contraception, same sex marriage and abortion. If a bishop can overlook a lapse in sexual morality in one area, and excuse politicians who do the same (ND scandal) he is not qualified to lead the American bishops.
Hooyah! The Holy Spirit really worked overtime on this one….
The gates of hell will never prevail in the Church no matter how many of it’s enemies have infiltrated it from the inside….
Leticia, I don’t disagree with you at all. Notice I said one MORE good reason not to elect him. Everything you said is a good reason as far as I’m concerned.
How does the drop in donations to Notre Dame compare to other Catholic universities over the same period? Is it a greater percentage drop?
I know a person who is familiar with some faculty at Notre Dame(the ones he knows who are stll there) and he told me that there has been action taken against or the academic atmosphere has gotten worse for)those who protested Mr. Obama’s given an honorary degree from that University.
That’s academic freedom at Notre Dame for you.
1. Ken, I’m sure your joke at the expense of the first lady violates Jill’s rules.
2. Angel, Why is this vote “Proof that the Holy Spirit is working in the Catholic church?” Maybe the original invitation to President Obama to speak at Notre Dame is “proof that the Holy Spirit is working in the Catholic church.” Or does it have to be something you agree with to be credited to the Holy Spirit?
I wonder how my Bishop voted. I hope he voted for Dolan.
Hal, you are either not Catholic or you are one of the lib/lefty Catholics that the Notre Dame/Jenkins/Obama fiasco and the USCCB/Kicanas fiasco, among others, are about. The Notre Dame fiasco was definitely not inspired by the Holy Ghost because it was gave a pro abort an opportunity to look respectable and that is not the way the Holy Ghost works. The USCCB presidency, that is, the defeat of lib/lefty Kicanas, on the other hand, was good therefore attributable to the Holy Ghost. Get informed.
Yes, Kicanas is known in the Tucson Diocese as a politician, nothing more. He is not respected much, except, of course, by the other libs/lefties of which there are too many. Every one knows he would rather displease the orthodox Catholics than the self-proclaimed-but-probably-also-self-excommunicated Catholic politicians, including Napolitano (gone, at least for now), Ralph Grijalva, Ed Pastor, Richard Elias, who have 100% NARAL ratings.
Hal,
The joke was ‘tacky’, as my dearly departed brother in law used to say.
It is unfair to madams and working girls to associate them with b o.
I agree the joke might be understood as a ‘jab’ at the first lady, but it could also be understood as a ‘jab’ at b o. [Actually the joke has different facets on differing levels.]
Ask any spouse who has had a straying partner if there were not tell tale evidences the partner had been canoodling and in most cases he/she was the last to know.
[Ask Hillary Clinton she is certainly experienced, but Hillary despite her assertions to the contrary, was not always the last one to know. I am sure she was convinced beyond a reasonable doubt before the existence of the infamous ‘blue dress’ was known to her. Billy was serial offender after all.]
It could also be understood as a jab at Laura Bush because she was too naive/not wise enough in the ways of the world to recognize the evidences.
I could have told the joke and had Bush and b o switch places and it would still have evoked laughter.
Well, conservatives can still laugh when the jokes on them, but liberals do not seem to have a sense of humor, at least not one of which they are aware.
Political correctness has robbed liberals of the license to laugh.
When I see/hear b o trying to tell a joke, I get this mental image of ‘Data’ from Star Trek:Next Generation attempting to develop an algorithm for ‘funny’.
Yor, you remember that news story about the couple that gate-crashed the White House? They’re still there!
Doh!
Sorry, it’s a bad joke but one of my friends sent it to me by email and I couldn’t resist!
Bishop Kicanas denies he had any knowledge of McCormack’s offenses while he was at Mundelein. This was clearly a lie because there were at least 2 sexual misconduct allegations at the seminary. That is a big offense and it should have been his business.
Here is Cardinal George under oath on McCormack’s record at Mundelein: “I believe there were only two (sexual misconduct allegations) when he was a college seminarian and then the immediate incidents of misconduct when he was in Mexico…”
Pediphiles, and politicians, sinners and liars do make it into the Priesthood, and every profession of trust. They need to be weeded out by their peers. Medical doctors do about as bad a job as Priests of all denominations did/do.
“The Notre Dame fiasco was definitely not inspired by the Holy Ghost because it was gave a pro abort an opportunity to look respectable and that is not the way the Holy Ghost works”
The Holy Ghost works in mysterious ways perhaps. Don’t think you can know everything.
Hal, His work is better understood by people committed to natural law, and less by libs/lefties, humanists, secularists, Darwinists, feminists, homosexualists, materialists, in other words, those who attempt to pervert natual law and fail to use common sense, which is. Get informed.
hippie
November 17th, 2010 at 3:41 pm
How does the drop in donations to Notre Dame compare to other Catholic universities over the same period? Is it a greater percentage drop?
That’s a good question that may be difficult to answer. Been looking on Google…
I’m not Catholic, and I was horrified when ND honored BO as they did. In so doing, they dishonored the God they proclaimed to serve. This is a step in the right direction.
Hal, the Holy Spirit is the Spirit of God who inspired (literally, “breathed”) the scriptures to those who wrote them. Because He is the Spirit of God, He does not contradict His own Word, and He does not honor those who dishonor Him.
The Lord told Samuel that He would honor those who honor Him.
Anyone who does otherwise does not honor the Lord, is not motivated by the Spirit of God.