He went on to discuss Pope John Paul II who stated that “all pleas for other important human rights are ‘false and illusory’ if we do not defend with ‘maximum determination’ the fundamental right to life upon which all other rights rest.”
“Maximum determination,” repeated the ND alum. “Ladies and gentlemen, the unborn child’s right to life represents the defining civil rights issue of our day – and it ought to be a defining civil rights issue on this campus.”
“In our culture, so many of our most powerful and influential institutions are hostile to any hint that abortion might be an unsettled question. And in our public life, one of the most pernicious effects of the imposition of abortion via the Supreme Court is that it has deprived a free people of a fair and open debate. Notre Dame remains one of the few institutions capable of providing a witness for life in the fullness of its beauty and intellectual integrity – and America is waiting to hear her voice,” he said.
He then recognized the strong witness that is alive at Notre Dame. It can be seen in the pro-life teachers, the new Notre Dame Fund to Protect Human Life and the students who attended the annual March for Life.
“Unfortunately, people across this nation – and perhaps even here at this university – know little of these things” because “in her most public witness, Notre Dame appears afraid to extend to the cause of the unborn the same enthusiasm she shows for so many other good works here.”
After acknowledging that war, capital punishment and other issues deserve “more serious treatment,” McGurn noted that the “debate over these prudential judgments loses coherence if on the intrinsic evil of abortion we do not stand on the same ground.”
McGurn urged prolifers to begin dialogue with professors and classmates. “Say to them: ‘Brothers! Sisters! We are not perfect, and we will be much improved by your participation. We are holding a place for you on the front lines. Come join us – and let us walk together in our witness for life’.”
He continued: I appreciate that for some people, the idea of Notre Dame as an unequivocal witness for the unborn would be a limit on her work as a Catholic university. The truth is just the opposite. The more frank and forthright Notre Dame’s witness for life, the more she would be given the benefit of the doubt on the many judgment calls that the life of a great university entails.”
Right now, the former presidential speech writer urged, “America thirsts for an alternative to the relativism that leaves so many of our young people feeling empty and alone. This alternative is the Catholic witness that Notre Dame was created to provide – that Notre Dame is called to provide – and that in many ways, only Notre Dame can provide.”
Drawing his lecture to a close, McGurn asked encouraged his audience: “Make yours the voice that affirms life and motherhood. Be to those in need as the words of our alma mater: tender … strong … and true.”
He concluded, “let us pray that our beloved university becomes the Notre Dame our world so desperately needs: a witness for life that will truly shake down the thunder.”
In a Q & A session following his address, McGurn was asked if he was calling on Fr. Jenkins to resign. He answered that he didn’t want to go there. “If Father Jenkins resigned and President Obama did not come, my problem would remain: the school's lack of a witness for life.”