Fargo, N.D., May 15, 2009 / 08:38 am
Most Rev. Samuel J. Aquila, bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Fargo, said on national television May 14 that the University of Notre Dame is “ignoring their Catholic identity” by giving an honorary degree to President Barack Obama. Obama will speak at the university’s commencement exercises May 17 and receive an honorary degree.
“Certainly Notre Dame is a wonderful Catholic institution. It is one that has a Catholic character and a Catholic identity,” Bishop Aquila said on “On the Record with Greta Van Susteren” on Fox News channel Thursday, May 14. Referring to President Obama’s views and actions related to abortion, Bishop Aquila said “to extend an honorary degree to someone who is opposed to a basic, fundamental right as the right and the dignity of human life, from the moment of conception until natural death, that sends a very mixed message and certainly is perceived by the average layperson as condoning or giving an appearance of supporting his ideas on human life and the unborn child.”