With all the folderol around Ronald Reagan’s having played the movie role of Notre Dame football legend George Gipp, Reagan rarely attended church.
Another classmate/friend has persistently e-mailed to me copies of pronunciations and letters to the president from an ND grad who is apoplectic over the prospect of Mr. Obama’s appearance at the commencement.
I will pray for poor Father Jenkins, if he is forced to read much more of this claptrap! Somewhere in the middle of this missive, the author peels off into a foaming rant about Franklin Delano Roosevelt, and the massive injustices he visited on the country (probably by helping to form an American middle class). Once I saw this, that old alarm bell went off in the back of my head. What a perfect place to attempt to settle “old scores;” well at least as old as last November’s election.
Like it or not, the University of Notre Dame bears perhaps the largest footprint of any Catholic University on the United States. What better way to fire up the right-wing, than to tie this to the school of the Fightin’ Irish?
A number of American Bishops, including the Bishop of Fort Wayne-South Bend, stepped up and denounced Father Jenkins for his decision, and his invitation to Mr. Obama. I’m not convinced how much gravitas the Catholic Bishopric carries right now, considering their performance on other matters over the last few decades.
This also caused me to remember the polite, respectful, but ever-vigilant posture former University President Theodore H. Hesburgh extended over his almost four decades of leadership, in keeping the hands of the Vatican off the controls of the University. Guys from my era (the ‘60’s) understand that Father Ted’s vigilance and steady hand on the tiller made this university what it is today.
Another friend/classmate sent me a poll taken amongst current students, where 97% of the comments in the student newspaper strongly approved the selection of Barack Obama as their commencement speaker. When all is said and done, is this not their graduation?
For those who prefer a more dogmatic, doctrinaire approach, there is always pizza mogul Monahan’s Ave Maria University on Florida, or Catholic University in Washington D.C. which is under the direct control of the Vatican.
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