Bishop Finn interviewed on ND commencement

[cathgal]

catholicculture.org/culture/library/view.cfm?recnum=8961

 

[Michael_C]

I think this is the meat of the interview.

“I think the message of the day was this – that the President of Notre Dame said that they had invited the President of the United States and decided to honor him for the sake of dialogue. And then the President got up and said that the differences that we have on abortion – namely the Catholic Church’s staunch opposition to abortion and his staunch support of abortion were “irreconcilable.” And at that moment, it would seem to me that the dialogue came to a screeching halt. Father Jenkins’ expressed desire for dialogue, whether it was well-founded or justified, at that point got thrown back in his face. The President shut the door on dialogue by saying that there was not going to be any change in his position on abortion and he understood that there was not going to be any change in the Church’s position on abortion. To me, that was the lesson of the day. I am glad that Mr. Obama was so clear.
And then, amazingly, everybody gave him a standing ovation. The perception unfortunately was that this was a completely acceptable position of his and, because he is a bright and talented man, this trumps the destructive decisions that he’s making day after day.”

 

[cathgal]

I think this is the meat of the interview.

“I think the message of the day was this – that the President of Notre Dame said that they had invited the President of the United States and decided to honor him for the sake of dialogue. And then the President got up and said that the differences that we have on abortion – namely the Catholic Church’s staunch opposition to abortion and his staunch support of abortion were “irreconcilable.” And at that moment, it would seem to me that the dialogue came to a screeching halt. Father Jenkins’ expressed desire for dialogue, whether it was well-founded or justified, at that point got thrown back in his face. The President shut the door on dialogue by saying that there was not going to be any change in his position on abortion and he understood that there was not going to be any change in the Church’s position on abortion. To me, that was the lesson of the day. I am glad that Mr. Obama was so clear.
And then, amazingly, everybody gave him a standing ovation. The perception unfortunately was that this was a completely acceptable position of his and, because he is a bright and talented man, this trumps the destructive decisions that he’s making day after day.”

Very very disheartening…

 

[KathleenElsie]

What dialogue and how do you compromise on life and death?

 

[Michael_C]

What dialogue and how do you compromise on life and death?

I think Bishop Finn hit the nail on the head when he said the attempt at dialogue backfired in Fr. Jenkins face. If in fact that was his intent when he invited Obama.

 

[mdgspencer]

I think Jenkin’s words on dialog were hype. He wanted Obama there to bask in the glory of association with the President.

 

[Liraco]

Now the thing I’m worried about is: what next? More “Catholic” schools giving the false message that Obama’s policies are ok? That it’s ok or even good for catholics to think issues like abortion are fine? Will they continue promoting the lie that Obama’s being ethical?

Bishop Finn’s comments are indeed spot on, and I just hope this whole scandal leads more people to be even more active when something like this goes on at their school.