“He is a very confused philosopher, which makes Notre Dame an especially appropriate place for him.”
Notre Dame vs. Bishop Jenky: Academia purportedly is about the pursuit of knowledge, but today most academics seem to be chiefly concerned about ideological purity and attacking ideas that offend their preconceived prejudices.
Father Wilson Miscamble, a priest of the Congregation of the Holy Cross and a history professor at Notre Dame defends Bishop Jenky from the attacks of members of the Notre Dame faculty:
Notre Dame survey of African American Catholics offers important insights
A new, unprecedented national survey of African American Catholics by University of Notre Dame researchers reveals several significant insights into individual religious engagement and identifies several notable demographic trends facing the church. The survey was sponsored by the National Black Catholic Congress and Notre Dame’s Institute for Church Life and Office of the President.
Notre Dame social scientists Darren W. Davis and Donald B. Pope-Davis, who coauthored the report, set out to test the validity of anecdotal accounts that African American Catholics were becoming increasingly disengaged from their religion. Although the primary focus of the survey is on African American Catholics, the researchers utilized a significant comparative component with white Catholics, which resulted in several notable findings about both groups of Catholics.
The survey also is historic in that it represents the largest sample of African American Catholics ever surveyed on their faith.
Real shame: Notre Dame students have little or no idea what it means to be truly Catholic … or why.
A a recent USA TODAY article, examined the survey “Catholics in America: Persistence and change in the Catholic landscape.”
The survey examined the beliefs and practices of 1,442 U.S. Catholic adults. The research was led by Catholic University sociologist William D’Antonio, and provided detailed information about specific beliefs.
George Weigel on the sad politics behind recent Notre Dame Board of Trustees shenanigans
After Father Jenkins had met with Bishop Kevin Rhoades of Fort Wayne–South Bend, this sad affair came to a formal end on June 8 when Ms. Martino resigned from the Notre Dame board, telling the Chicago Tribune that “the current controversy doesn’t allow me to be effective.” Yet the fallout from the Martino affair continues, and one finds some rather depressing indicators about Notre Dame’s future while sifting through the wreckage.
At no point during the controversy did the formidable Notre Dame publicity machine do the obvious and honorable thing: admit that due diligence had not been done; admit that a serious mistake had been made and that the mistake was deeply regretted; then state that Ms. Martino had been asked to remove herself from the board. Those watching from a distance could only conclude that Ms. Martino, Mr. Notebaert, and perhaps Father Jenkins simply did not understand what the fuss was about, and yielded only under unbearable pressure. That impression was strengthened by the affair’s untoward end game, which Father Miscamble described in a public statement after the Martino resignation:
I am grateful that Mrs. Martino had the decency to resign from the Board of Trustees but very disappointed that she included no apology in her statement for her sad record of donations to Emily’s List and other virulently pro-abortion PACs like Illinois State Personal PAC. I am further disappointed by the very limited press release from the University of Notre Dame and by the remarks of the board chairman, Mr. Richard Notebaert. He neither gives an apology for his earlier misleading statements concerning Mrs. Martino’s donations nor expresses regret for his failure to vet this appointment with appropriate diligence. Further, he gives no assurance that contributing in any way to explicitly “pro-choice” organizations in incompatible with service on the Notre Dame Board of Trustees.
Small victory: Pro-abort Notre Dame trustee steps down
A Chicago business executive resigned today from the University of Notre Dame‘s board of trustees, after conservative Catholic columnists reported that she donated thousands of dollars to an organization that supported pro-choice politicians.
Roxanne Martino, president and chief executive officer of Aurora Investment Management, a Chicago firm that manages more than $8 billion in hedge funds, said she decided to step down in the best interest of the university.
Be courageous Catholics, Archbishop Chaput urges Notre Dame students
“(W)e need to learn that not from the world; not from the tepid and self-satisfied; and not from the enemies of the Church, even when they claim to be Catholic; but from the mind and memory of the Church herself, who speaks through her pastors,” he said in an April 8 speech at the university.
Knute Rockne, Catholic convert, on the 80th anniversary of his death
If Rockne was merely the greatest coach who ever lived (his 13-season record of 105 wins, 12 loses and 5 ties, still remains the best ever in college football) his death at forty-three would not have brought such grief, nor would his legend have been so lasting. Son of Norwegian immigrants, Rock came to America at the age of five after his father’s two-wheel carry-all buggy won an award at the Chicago World’s Fair of 1893. Knute learned the game of football in the rough and tumble Windy City neighborhood of Logan Square, under the watchful eye of (I’m not kidding!) “an Irish copper named O’Goole.” Knute’s dad Lars wasn’t keen on college, so Rockne earned his way to Notre Dame (then cheaper than the University of Illinois!) by working in the mail room for five years before entering Our Lady’s University, “the lone Norse Protestant invader of a Catholic stronghold,” a balding broken-nosed freshman, at the age of twenty-two.
Bishop who contended with Obama and Notre Dame being treated for cancer.
FORT WAYNE, Ind. —
The retired bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Fort Wayne-South Bend says he will undergo radiation treatments for prostate cancer. The Rev. John M. D’Arcy is 78 and retired in January 2010 one year ago and was succeeded by Bishop Kevin Rhoades.
Why Is Paris’ Notre Dame Cathedral In Al Qaeda’s Crosshairs?
While one doesn’t expect radical Islam to be familiar with Marian Apparitions or Catholic eschatology, it does appear that elements of radical Islam takes this all very seriously. Now some may say doesn’t Islam give great reverence to the Blessed Mother? Yes this is true. However, we have to look at the theology of the radical. In addition to being an Apostate faith, Christianity was in their eyes a failed religion. The rhetoric of Al Qaeda increasingly reflected a radicalized Muslim world. While the academics loved to reminisce about Islam’s cerebral side, the radicalized Islamic world quoted form the more militant parts of the Koran. They loved to remind the unbelievers of how Islam spread the faith with the sword farther in one century than Christianity had with kindness and love for seven centuries.
Dr Yossef Bodansky provides us with an interesting glimpse into this mindset. Dr Bodansky refers to a January 7, 1994 speech given by former Iranian President Hashemi Rafsanjani. The former Iranian president stated that Christ’s message had failed, because Jesus had been incapable of bringing man to God, so God had to send Muhammad to get the job done. In other words, the Islamic Conquest of the Middle East, North African and southern Europe was necessary, only because Christianity had failed.
This is an interesting statement because although Rafsanjnai is a Shiite and Al Qaeda is Sunni, the message is the same; Christianity failed and conquest was needed to bring man to God. However, even in their defense of the Islamic Conquest, these two radical wings of Islam are forced to admit that Christianity was alive and well in the Middle East and North Africa centuries before the arrival of Islam. One of the familiar themes on any Al Qaeda tape is the plea to remove the infidel from Islamic lands.
Who Are These Fake Catholic Groups?
By Anne Hendershott
Some of the biggest supporters of the current health reform bill—replete with public funding for abortion—are self-described “progressive” Catholic organizations, such as Catholics in Alliance for the Common Good, Catholics United, and Catholic Democrats. These Catholic organizations, along with the Catholic Health Association have created confusion for Catholics because at the same time the USCCB has strongly opposed the current health care reform bill because of its inclusion of public funding for abortion, these Catholic organizations are providing “official” Catholic support for the bill.
This duplicity should surprise no one. In 2008, these so-called Catholic organizations encouraged Catholics to elect Obama because he would reduce the rate of abortion by addressing poverty as the “root cause.” Supporting and publishing a study by a Notre Dame professor which erroneously claimed that the data demonstrate that reducing poverty reduces abortion, they convinced many Catholics to support Obama’s strategy. Unfortunately, the study was quietly removed from the Catholics in Alliance for the Common Good website after the election when its faulty methodology and erroneous conclusions were pointed out by several social scientists. Professor Bailey, the first author of the initial study, removed his name from the revised report. Joseph Wright remains as the sole author—and is listed as Chairman of the Board of Catholics United on the Form 990 EZ submitted by the organization in 2007.
Make the Pilgrimage to Chartres, France
The 72 mile pilgrimage from Notre Dame Cathedral to the cathedral at Chartres (arguably one of the most beautiful in the world) is a truly unique Catholic experience, which is almost totally out of place in today’s modern world.
All the more reason to “make” it!
Left-wing Jesuits at America have finally “lost it”
According to the editors of America Magazine:
Four steps are necessary for the U.S. church to escape the strengthening riptide of sectarian conflict and re-establish trust between universities and the hierarchy. First, the bishops’ discipline about speakers and awards at Catholic institutions should be narrowed to exclude from platforms and awards only those Catholics who explicitly oppose formal Catholic teaching. Second, in politics we must reaffirm the distinction between the authoritative teaching of moral principles and legitimate prudential differences in applying principles to public life. Third, all sides should return to the teaching of the Second Vatican Council and Pope Paul VI that in politics there are usually several ways to attain the same goals. Finally, church leaders must promote the primacy of charity among Catholics who advocate different political options. For as the council declared, “The bonds which unite the faithful are mightier than anything which divides them” (“Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World,” No. 92).
Editor’s note: What are these guys smoking?
Here’s my four steps: 1) Keep those who advocate immoral and non-Catholic political and/or religious positions OUT of Catholic universities, no matter WHO they might be and no matter with whom they might be associated. 2) Keep those who advocate positions contrary to the authentic teachings of the Catholic Church (ESPECIALLY POLITICIANS and Professors) as far away from Catholic universities as possible. 3) Religion is not politics. Abortion is not health care. Universities should prepare students to be able to tell the difference. Christ demands that we Catholics know the truth and stand up for it … on campus or off. 4) Sometime, loving one’s neighbor means engaging in fraternal correction … especially when it comes to fundamental issues like abortion. Students need to know that there is no common ground between life and death. Both are absolute opposites. Charity demands that Catholics choose life, without reservation.
The guys at America should know better! Abortion remains primarily an ethical and moral issue that has so far claimed the lives of nearly a third of today’s under thirty population.
Abortion is no more a political issue than the Holocaust was, during World War II. Abortion remains the greatest moral evil of our times.
Pro-death politicians and the editors of America would LIKE us to believe that abortion is a political issue, but many of us are simply NOT that stupid! Abortion is a totally immoral act that just happens to have been temporarily decriminalized by a corrupt government. But it will not stand, forever.
Until then, we fight.
Want dialogue? Stop the killing. Then we can talk!
“IN HOLOCAUST DEBATE, A CALL FOR OPEN MINDS ???
“This is arguably one of the most disastrous moments in American Catholic history in the last hundred years as the moral teaching authority of the Catholic Church in America was passed from the Bishops to President Obama, the most popular president in a generation. Given the commencement rostrum of the most revered Catholic University in the nation, Obama taught a rapt and mesmerized American people — Catholic or not — that they could disregard and dismiss the Catholic Church’s teaching on abortion (which goes all the way back to the Apostles) and consider the killing of children as something we need to learn to live with. He more than implied that the Church in her unequivocal condemnation of abortion and abortion promoting politicians was wrong.”
“Catholic” universities promote internships at anti-Catholic organizations
DePaul University: The DePaul University Women’s and Gender Studies program offers credit for internships, noting that students have interned with abortion provider Planned Parenthood and the Chicago Women’s Health Center, which offers emergency contraceptive services and alternative insemination for “lesbians, bisexual, and queer couples, single women of any sexual orientation, and trans people.”
Loyola University of Chicago: The Loyola University of Chicago Women’s Studies and Gender Studies website lists opportunities for internships and volunteer opportunities at the following pro-abortion organizations: Chicago National Organization for Women, the Feminist Majority Foundation, Planned Parenthood, and the Chicago Abortion Fund.
Unfortunately, there’s LOTS more!
Doug Lawrence's Catholic Site 