Bishop John M. D’Arcy of the Diocese of Fort Wayne-South Bend is planning to release a statement tomorrow, March 24, on the intention of Notre Dame to pay homage to Obama on May 17, 2009. Assuming that the Bishop condemns the visit this would not be his first clash with the powers that be at Notre Dame. On February 24, 2004 he condemned the annual presentation at Notre Dame of the Vagina Monologues. Notre Dame ignored him, and, under President Jenkins, the department sponsored Vagina Monologues performances continue, with his about face on that issue indicating Jenkins’ complete lack of willingness to defend Catholic teaching and morality.  On April 30, 2006 and again on March 2008, Bishop D’Arcy released statements about the ongoing performances of the Vagina Monologues, highlighting his intense disagreement with Jenkins.   The Bishop has also condemned the “Queer Film Festival” sponsored by Notre Dame.
On March 9, 2009 Bishop D’Arcy released this statement regarding the embryonic stem cell policy of President Obama:
“On March 9, 2009, President Obama extended the ability of the federal government to directly fund the destruction of embryonic human beings in order to advance stem-cell research. We should be clear about what is happening here. The president, while claiming to separate science from politics, has, in fact, separated science from ethics. He has brought the American government into supporting the direct destruction of innocent human life.
While the Catholic Church is in full support of stem-cell research that is ethical and scientifically sound, it is opposed to all research that would use a human being — at whatever stage of development — simply as a means to an end. Embryonic stem-cell research does just this.
In addition, while President Obama declared his opposition to human cloning for purposes of reproduction, he left the door open to human cloning for the purposes of experimentation. In other words, while human beings could be cloned with taxpayer money in order to be exploited and killed for scientific research, they could not be cloned and implanted in the womb of a woman in order to be born. This is science at its very worst.
President Obama claims that his decision sets aside ideology in order to advance sound scientific research. The opposite is actually the truth. This decision by the president is an imposition of a utilitarian ideology, which allows a group of human beings that some believe do not share human dignity, to be used and exploited. Human history, of course, is rife with examples of the strong dominating the weak and defenseless. Doesn’t the promise of a democratic America — of respect for the dignity of all — hold us to a higher standard?
Recent breakthroughs in stem-cell research — including the use of adult stem cells — should actually make this question moot. Just last year it was shown that a normal human skin cell could be successfully reprogrammed into an embryonic-like cell. This holds no ethical problems. Yet, there seems to be a headlong rush to do not only what is ethically wrong, but what is likely a scientific dead end.
I pray that Congress will not act to appropriate any funds for embryonic stem-cell research and, in doing so, respect the conscientious objections of millions of American taxpayers who want to preserve, protect and defend the dignity of every human life.”
I look forward to the Bishop’s statement tomorrow. No doubt Jenkins will do his best to ignore it. Perhaps Catholics outraged at his invitation to Obama can make that hard to do this time
This case is akin to that of our American Catholic politicians who consistently ignore Church teaching, our bishops, and most recently (in Madame Pelosi’s case) our pope.
Unless God changes their hearts, nothing will happen until the bishops start laying down excommunications, or in this case revoke ND’s Catholic affiliation.
I’m sure it will be deleted at some point, but why does this idiot troll keep posting these comments on this website? Is this some sort of Hot Air offshoot that I am not aware of?
Because you are a bigot Jim as amply demonstrated by your obsession with attacking the Catholic Church. I have deleted your comment as I will delete any comments of yours that appear in future in any of my threads.
Correct Paul. Follow this link please and you will see what has Jim up in arms:
http://aggressiveconservative.blogspot.com/
Okay, now that you’ve deleted jim’s comment, I hope Blue Shoe doesn’t think I am calling him a troll 🙂
In regard to jim, I shouldn’t allow myself to be drawn off topic, but this is just one of many anti-Catholic comments that he posted at Hot Air:
“If God had thought abortion was murder, then why didn’t He say so more clearly in the Bible? He apparently thought it was significant enough in the Old Testament to tell people what types of clothes they could wear and what types of food they could eat, yet no explicit mention of abortion?
As to you Orthodox Catholics, if you don’t like what’s going on in the US, why don’t you move to Vatican City?
jim m on February 18, 2009 at 11:19 AM”
Needless to say, I have no intention of providing a platform to a person of this stripe.
And Sydney is right. Every HA comment thread that alludes to the Church in some way always seems to draw some anti-Catholic kook. I’ve recently registered to comment there, but it’s hard to dig through the morass on such a highly trafficked site.
In addition to being a bigot Jim you are dense. As I stated earlier I will delete all of your comments in my threads, just as I deleted your latest musing. I will not give you a forum to vent your hatred of the Catholic Church.
I’m a lawyer too Jim, and even a bad attorney should know that you cannot libel or defame a pseudonym. Your threat is as meaningless as your bigotry against my Faith is repulsive, and your comment is deleted.
The Bishop has issued a statement:
http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/new.php?n=15467
[…] Hattip to Dale Price. Bishop John M. D’Arcy has made his statement: […]
Thank you Dale for sharing that link. You and Donald are just as sensitive to this issue as I am and I appreciate your proclivity in sharing this information in a timely fashion.
The best we can do as Catholics outside of prayer is to disseminate this information as quickly as possible to inform Catholics everywhere of the culpability that the University of Notre Dame, in specific, Father John Jenkins, shares in endorsing the slaughter of innocents.
My pleasure. Thanks for the hat-tip.
…of the culpability that the University of Notre Dame, in specific, Father John Jenkins, shares in endorsing the slaughter of innocents….
Fr. Jenkins has made no such endorsement. Tito veers toward calumny again.
You are correct Mr. DeFrancisis, I think the sentence would better read as follows: “shares in honoring a politician who has fought to keep legal the slaughter of innocents.”
Thank you.
Thank you Donald.
You wrote exactly what I was attempting to convey.
Glad to see that Mark DeFrancisis is astute to catch that, but it fails me to comprehend why he is incapable of catching the errors of Father Jenkins in inviting a pro-abortion president. Or condemn President Obama’s policies of promoting abortion on demand. Or ever condemning any action that is unCatholic.
Instead he wriggles in his dungarees reading through various pro-life and pro-Catholic websites trying to find anything that would undermine the Catholic message to relieve his anxiety that there are people that love their faith and actually stand up for their beliefs in God and His Church.
*sigh*
One can only dream of having a warrior such as Mark on the side of good, rather than an enabler of excuses and dissent.
Just don’t forget, Christ has come to save President Obama. Does his work to save Obama mean he supports him? Obviously not. Yet, he worked for his salvation despite what Obama has, and will, do.
Indeed He has Mr. Karlson, and I hope He succeeds.
[…] Olmsted’s statement from the Diocese of Phoenix and Bishop John M. D’Arcy’s statement from the Diocese of Fort Wayne-South […]