By Susan Brinkmann, OCDS
Staff Journalist
The president of the University of Notre Dame has issued a letter announcing a series of pro-life initiatives to be undertaken on-campus, saying these decisions came “out of the vigorous discussions surrounding President Obama’s visit last Spring . . .”
Fr. John Jenkins, C.S.C. issued a letter on Wednesday outlining plans to establish a new Task Force on Supporting the Choice for Life which is intended to “consider and recommend to me ways in which the University, informed by Catholic teaching, can support the sanctity of life.”
Some of these initiatives include “fostering serious and specific discussion about a reasonable conscience clause; the most effective ways to support pregnant women, especially the most vulnerable; and the best policies for facilitating adoptions,” Fr. Jenkins wrote.
He also pledged to personally attend this year’s annual March for Life in Washington, D.C. on January 22 and invited other members of the Notre Dame family to join him in both the March and a Mass for Life at the event.
“Our Commencement last Spring generated passionate discussion and also caused some divisions in the Notre Dame community,” he concluded. “Regardless of what you think about that event, I hope that we can overcome divisions to foster constructive dialogue and work together for a cause that is at the heart of Notre Dame’s mission.”
Reaction to the announcement has been mixed. Notre Professor Rick Garnett, who opposed the invitation to President Obama to speak at the school’s commencement last spring, said that while the initiatives are clearly not enough, they should be welcomed by all.
“I believe that those of us who opposed the invitation last year, and who very much want Notre Dame to be what she should be, and what the world needs her to be, should welcome Fr. Jenkins’ announcement.”
However, he added: “No one who knows Fr. Jenkins doubts his own commitment to . . . human dignity, but it is not unreasonable to think that Notre Dame’s public, institutional activity and commitment on this front have sometimes been uneven, and lagged behind where they should be.”
Ed Morrissey, a Catholic contributor to the HotAir blog, thinks the initiative would be more impactful if Fr. Jenkins would drop the charges against 88 pro-life protestors so that they could also attend the 2010 March for Life rather than having to sit it out while preparing their legal defense.
“Apparently the irony was lost on Jenkins that while he will be preparing to protest against Roe v. Wade, the actual Roe, Norma McCorvey, will be preparing for her criminal trial for protesting at Notre Dame after she was arrested under orders from Father Jenkins who has, so far, refused to drop the charges brought against McCorvey and the rest of the ‘ND 88’, the dozens of pro-life protestors arrested last spring for ‘crimes’ such as saying the rosary and wearing pro-life t-shirts. . . .”
While applauding the announcement, Cardinal Newman Society president Patrick J. Reilly also suggested a few more “serious steps” the school should take to atone for its shocking betrayal of the Church last spring.
“Acknowledge the scandal of publicly honoring a staunchly pro-abortion public official as commencement speaker and recipient of an honorary degree, and apologize to the U.S. bishops, the 2009 Notre Dame graduates, and all faithful Catholics,” Reilly suggests.
In addition to calling for the dropping of all criminal charges against the peaceful protestors arrested last spring, and support for the Notre Dame Fund to Protect Human Life, he also wants the school to change their policies in regard to commencement and other campus speakers.
“Develop firm policies to prevent such scandal in the future, by ensuring that honorees are not public opponents of Catholic teaching on key moral issues, and favoring campus speakers who uphold Catholic teaching with regard to the topic of their address and also in their public life.”
There is much more that should be done to renew and strengthen Notre Dame’s Catholic identity, he says, such as ensuring fidelity to Catholic teaching in the classroom, increasing Catholic faculty, and restoring authentic academic freedom, “but the above actions would help indicate the seriousness of Father Jenkins and the Notre Dame trustees in upholding the mission of ‘Our Lady’s University.’”
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