Pope to Notre Dame: Be uncompromising witnesses

[MarcoPolo]

Figured I’d post this here since I site Pope Francis’ comments to Notre Dame.

Notre Dame professor’s flawed argument for abortion

 

[ProVobis]

It’s not Ave Maria, but it’s not Georgetown either. If anything, it’s a battleground and I prefer not to declare defeat when there are clear signs of a Catholic identity.

Fair enough.

I almost failed high school (right after Vatican II) theology so I’m not going to make any more judgements in that department. I’ll take your word for it.

 

[Domer1997]

Sounds like someone’s hands were smacked!

I don’t believe anyone’s hands were smacked at all, since the Holy Father called the University of Notre Dame to CONTINUE to be an uncompromising witness to the faith. I read the entire meeting’s comments, and I think it was an exceptional exchange of love for Christ’s Church…on the Pope’s side and on Notre Dame’s side. Fr. Jenkins stated that the new facility in Rome allows the university to better use its resources for the Church in Rome.

I applaud him.

 

[Domer1997]

Okay, you got an outstanding education and there are good people there. I get that. But isn’t it true that there is a declining number of Catholic teachers at that institution? How long can you keep calling it Catholic?

Reference: ndsmcobserver.com/2012/11/death-of-a-catholic-university/

Actually, Notre Dame has instilled an office run by Father Sullivan, CSC whose office is charged with the tasks of distinctively finding Catholic scholars and researchers, because the university knows that the hiring trends have to change to approximately 65-70% practicing Catholic “new-hires” to begin increasing the teaching faculty from it’s current 53% practicing Catholic, and that number is across all academic disciplines…from Chemistry to Theology. They have also stated clearly that they are searching for Catholics that practice and adhere to the teachings of their faith. Listen, there are 238 Catholic universities in the United States of which 218 have significantly worse issues than Notre Dame has ever dreamed of having. The faith is alive at ND and the sacramental life and communal living is unmatched anywhere. I went to graduate school at another Catholic university and trust me, there are FAR more issues. Much of the sacramental life is anemic. Our attention needs to go there to be honest. Yes, there is some dirty laundry at Notre Dame, but seriously, we need to attend to institutions like G’town, BC, Loyola, DePaul, Dayton, Xavier, etc…before we lose them for good. We already lost Marist in NY. The Church cannot afford to lose her educational institutions!

 

[ProVobis]

We already lost Marist in NY. The Church cannot afford to lose her educational institutions!

Personally, I think grammar school is more critical to the development of one’s catchesis. High school to some extent too, to study the life of Christ and the history of the Church. You can also pick up some morals of Cicero in Latin classes. More in the area of marriage and religious life after that. But then we all have different areas of interest. FWIW, I have a masters from Benedictine University and that served my needs well enough. The Brothers of the Holy Cross were too much for me in high school.

 

[Ender]

I don’t believe anyone’s hands were smacked at all, since the Holy Father called the University of Notre Dame to CONTINUE to be an uncompromising witness to the faith.

If Notre Dame wants to be a witness to the faith then she needs to announce that she will not comply with the HHS mandate. Announcing that she would comply is the wrong kind of witnessing.

Ender

 

[Havard]

If Notre Dame wants to be a witness to the faith then she needs to announce that she will not comply with the HHS mandate. Announcing that she would comply is the wrong kind of witnessing.

Ender

You are right.

ND has both stood up and backed down on the mandate recently, so it’s been a mixed bag. The Holy Father was being polite and gentle, but firm, which is exactly what I would expect in a situation like this.