Orlando, Fla., May 5, 2009 / 19:10 pm
Bishop Thomas Wenski of Orlando, Florida led a Mass of Reparation on Sunday for Notre Dame’s invitation to President Barack Obama and “the sins and transgressions committed against the dignity and sacredness of human life.” Criticizing Catholic “complacency,” he urged the faithful to be “for the world” by living the Gospel.
In his Sunday afternoon homily at the Cathedral of St. James, Bishop Wenski said the University of Notre Dame “chose to defy the Bishops of the United States” by granting him an honorary degree “despite his rather extremist views on abortion.”
“[O]ur purpose here this evening is not to rail against the insensitivity or thoughtlessness exhibited by Notre-Dame’s president and board. As I told a reporter who asked me last week why I am celebrating a Mass of Reparation, ‘I am a bishop; and so I am not going to send upset Catholics to storm Notre-Dame with pitchforks, I am going to tell them to pray.’”
Prayer should not resemble that of the self-righteous Pharisee, he noted.
“In our prayer, we seek to make reparation not just for Notre Dame’s regrettable decision, but more importantly we seek to make reparations for our own complacency. Yes, we pray for Notre Dame – for Notre Dame holds a unique place in the heart of most American Catholics and not just its alumni; but we pray for ourselves as Catholics in America.”