South Bend, Ind., Apr 14, 2009 / 16:36 pm
Fr. John Jenkins, the President of the University of Notre Dame, has written a letter to the school's board of trustees, defending the university’s invitation of President Obama to the school’s May commencement ceremony. Fr. Jenkins argues in his letter that while many have criticized the school’s move, canon lawyers and the USCCB document, “Catholics in Political Life,” both support his action.
In the letter, posted in full on LifeSiteNews, Fr. Jenkins recalls the June 2004 USCCB statement on Catholics in political life and cites “two key sentences” that “have been frequently quoted” in criticism of Notre Dame's invitation to President Obama.
The first sentence is: “Catholic institutions should not honor those who act in defiance of our fundamental moral principles. They should not be given awards, honors or platforms which would suggest support for their actions.”
However, Jenkins explains, he interpreted the line to refer only to dissident Catholics, not Protestants such as President Obama. “Because the title of the document is ‘Catholics in Political Life,’ we understood this to refer to honoring Catholics whose actions are not in accord with our moral principles.”
“This interpretation was supported by canon lawyers we consulted, who advised us that, by definition, only Catholics who implicitly recognize the authority of Church teaching can act in ‘defiance’ of it,” he continues. “Moreover, fellow university presidents have told me that their bishops have told them that in fact it is only Catholic politicians who are referred to in this document.”