Bp. Doran (D. Rockford) vivisects Fr. Jenkin’s (Notre Shame) [Fr. Z]

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In the little time I have spent with Bishop Thomas Doran of Rockford, IL, I picked up a few of the best hard-hitting one liners I have. I preserve them like arrows in my quiver.

His Excellency has written to the President of the University of Notre Dame.

My emphases and comments.
Code: 
                                         March 31, 2009
Reverend John I. Jenkins, C.S.C.
President
University of Notre Dame
400 Main Building
Notre Dame, IN 46556

Dear President Jenkins:
Code: 
I wish to express in my own name and on **behalf of the Catholic community of this Diocese**, my **dismay and outrage**  **[goes a little beyond the soft-peddling "disappointment", right?]** at your decision to invite the current President of the United States to address the 2009 graduates of the University of Notre Dame and to receive an honorary degree.

This decision of your flies in the face of the expressed directive of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops in the year 2004, that Catholic institutions not so **honor those who profess opposition to the Church’s doctrine on abortion and embryonic stem cell research**.

I would ask that you **rescind this unfortunate decision** and so **avoid dishonoring the practicing Catholics of the United States**, including those of this Diocese. **[He is sticking for his flock.]** Failing that, please have the decency to **change the name of the University to something like, “The Fighting Irish College” or “Northwestern Indiana Humanist University.”**  **[simply.too.good]** Though **promotion of the obscene is not foreign to you**, **!  This refers to Fr. Jenkin’s relationship to the play *The V. Monologues* ]** I would point out that it is **truly obscene** ***i.e.*, this is *worse yet*]** for you to take such decisions as you have done in a university named for our Blessed Lady, whom the Second Vatican Council called the Mother of the Church.

I sign myself

                                         Very truly yours,
                                         The Most Reverend Thomas G. Doran, D.D., J.C.D.
                                         Bishop of Rockford
Full entry…
 
Bishop Doran should put teeth in his position by letting the UND president Jenkins know that his school can not recruit at any catholic high schools in his diocese and he should encourage the ND alums to not donate to the school but give to a right to life cause and inform the school that is where their donations went.
 
Bishop Doran comes off like a frumpy old man. Is he trying to be funny with the “Fighting Irish University” bit? I don’t get the point of that. And the ad hominem remark about Fr. Jenkins and obscenity is not worthy of a bishop.

The Bishop can certainly take issue with Notre Dame’s action, but he undermines his case with the nasty tone of his letter.
 
I personally would be shattered if I ever received such a message from my bishop.
I would hope, maybe without reason, that Father Jenkins still identifies with the Catholic faith enough that he likewise would be shattered too.

If his respect for the authority of the Church and bishop is insufficient for him to do anything other than write the bishop off as a cranky only frump, then it is yet another opportunity lost.

I personally have little expectations that even the bishops words will have any effect on Father Jenkins at all.
 
While there are many times when disagreement must be spoken in kinder, gentler ways, there are other times when righteous anger is necessary. Our Lord did that when He drove out the people who had defiled His Father’s house. When a high profile Catholic institution like Notre Dame University invites a high profile person like President Obama who has publicly spoken in favor of an issue which is contrary to the faith of the Church, the potential for harm to numerous people is great and calls for a very strong rebuttal in order to present the truth to the world.
 
I won’t presume to know Fr. Jenkins motivation for his actions. It’s a head-scratcher for sure. I have to agree with the Bishop on this one. Fr. Jenkins is making a stand for something - but it isn’t Catholicism.

Peter
 
PeterK said:
I won’t presume to know Fr. Jenkins motivation for his actions. It’s a head-scratcher for sure. I have to agree with the Bishop on this one. Fr. Jenkins is making a stand for something - but it isn’t Catholicism.

Peter
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I think clearly that Fr. Jenkins has become secular (worldly). He clearly has forgotten his priestly duties and the fact that Notre Dame is a Catholic institution.
 
Pierre_Angulair said:
Bishop Doran comes off like a frumpy old man. Is he trying to be funny with the “Fighting Irish University” bit? I don’t get the point of that. And the ad hominem remark about Fr. Jenkins and obscenity is not worthy of a bishop.

The Bishop can certainly take issue with Notre Dame’s action, but he undermines his case with the nasty tone of his letter.
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Notre Dame seemsto rather resistant to mild repuke. In his first epistle St. John speaks of those who are from us but not of us. Jenkins seems to be playing the role of anti-Christ, those gone over to the" dark side," toput it in terms his students might relate to. I doubt many of them have studied St. John, or else they would know that when Johnsays “God is Love,” he means “tough love.”
 
RobbyS said:
Notre Dame seemsto rather resistant to mild repuke. In his first epistle St. John speaks of those who are from us but not of us. Jenkins seems to be playing the role of anti-Christ, those gone over to the" dark side," toput it in terms his students might relate to. I doubt many of them have studied St. John, or else they would know that when Johnsays “God is Love,” he means “tough love.”
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My guess is that Jenkins is trying to please a select group and that he will do nothing unless they tell him to reverse his stand. Of course THEY in turn are looking to those who tell them how to think and they will do nothing unless they are told it is all right. Jenkins, I think it safe to say, is a lackey.
 
What a great letter – I wish I’d said that!
Fifteen U.S. bishops have now publicly rebuked Father Jenkins and ND.
I just had a thought. It would be great if Pope Benedict XVI would address this issue (Catholic institutions demonstrating their catholicism), and the pro-life issues in general, during one of his homilies during this holiest of weeks.
 
PeterK said:
I won’t presume to know Fr. Jenkins motivation for his actions. It’s a head-scratcher for sure. I have to agree with the Bishop on this one. Fr. Jenkins is making a stand for something - but it isn’t Catholicism.

Peter
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Why don’t they reassign him somewhere else. A Bishop can surely do this. Take Fr Jenkins away from ND. Put him in a Monastery somewhere.
 
bkovacs said:
Why don’t they reassign him somewhere else. A Bishop can surely do this. Take Fr Jenkins away from ND. Put him in a Monastery somewhere.
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A bishop could, if Fr. Jenkins were a diocesan priest. However, you’ll notice in the letter, he is “Reverend John I. Jenkins, C.S.C.” C.S.C is the Congregation of Holy Cross or Congregatio a Sancta Cruce. In other words, Fr. Jenkins is a member of a religious order. It is the religious order that founded and still runs Notre Dame. As such, Fr. Jenkins answers not to the local bishop, but to Rev. David T. Tyson, C.S.C., Provincial Superior for the Indiana Province. If you wanted to write to him and express your displeasure over Fr. Jenkins’ actions, you could write to him at:

Rev. David T. Tyson, C.S.C., Provincial Superior
c/o Priests of Holy Cross, Indiana Province
P.O. Box 765
Notre Dame, IN 46556-0765

P.S. You may want to remind Rev. Tyson that his order was suppressed once already by the French government in 1903. It would be a pity if His Holiness were forced to suppress it again due to their peculiar opposition to Church rules and doctrine.
 
bkovacs said:
Why don’t they reassign him somewhere else. A Bishop can surely do this. Take Fr Jenkins away from ND. Put him in a Monastery somewhere.
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Bishops have no canonical authority over religoius men of Pontifical Right. The Congregation of the Holy Cross is protected by the Holy Father. No bishop can interfere with their members. After the superior general the only other authority over them is Pope Benedict.

The likelyhood that the Holy Father will become directly involved is unlikely, because he (the pope) is a head of state and so is Obama. The Holy Father will not jeopardize the position of the Vatican/USA diplomatic relations on a short-term issue, when there is the long-term issue of abortion continuing after the graduation is long forgotten. Right now, there is no diplomatic bridge between the Vatican and the White House, because the Vatican has rejected the three ambassadors that President Obama has sent. That’s another way that these situations are often handled, through ambassadors.

In these situations, the popes allow the superiors general to deal with their religious internally. It is only when a religious directly defies a papal order that the Holy Father becomes involved, because then it becomes an issue between them and the Pope.

In this situation, ND’s poor judgment has brought in two heads of state into an impasse. I can’t imagine how they (both sides) could not see this ahead of time.

The worse part is that the president of the university may not have the authority to rescind the inviation, because the Holy Cross religious do not own the university. ND is a privately owned institution governed by governors. The president is one vote on that board.

Something to think about here is whether the president of the university was soley responsible for this invitation. After many years as a university professor and several as a dean, I know that this is not usually the case. Presidents work on teams and committees.

He should have had the clarity of mind to say something before this went further. It’s unfortunate that it did not happen this way.

The best solution now is for the White House to bow out graciously. I’m not so sure that this is going to happen. From their perspective it may look as if they’re caving in to Catholics, even though the university is Catholic.

What a mess! :eek:

Fraternally,

JR 🙂
 
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