Cardinal Stands By Notre Dame Obama Criticism As Chicago's Catholic Mayor Daley Disagrees

Mayor Daley, a lifelong Catholic and the father of a Notre Dame graduate, said Friday he disagreed with Chicago's most prominent Catholic about the storied Catholic university inviting President Obama to give its commencement address.

"This is not about all political correctness. This is the President of the United States," the Sun-Times' Fran Spielman quoted Daley as saying. "There's always controversy any time the President speaks -- whether [it was] President Clinton, President [George H.W.] Bush, President [George W.] Bush, President Reagan. There's always controversy. But, you live through the controversy."

Cardinal Francis George, the Archbishop of Chicago, recently said that Obama's planned speech caused "extreme embarrassment" for Catholics and that Notre Dame, the country's flagship Catholic university, "didn't understand what it means to be Catholic when they issued this invitation."

George reaffirmed those comments Friday, but he told NBC Chicago that they were made in response to a question and not meant for a broad audience:

"The Bishops don't control the University of Notre Dame ... but what one Catholic does affects all of us," George said. "I have great respect for Mr. Obama and his office and we agree (on many issues)."

However, George made it clear that Obama's positions on abortion and embryonic stem cell research remain fault lines, saying, "It is a crime to kill a human being."

George joined a growing list of Catholic officials who have spoken out against Obama's selection. Notre Dame's President, the Rev. John Jenkins, said that while the school does not support all of Obama's views, it sees the speech as "a basis for further positive engagement" and has no plans to rescind the invitation.

Daley's brother, Bill, also a Catholic and a co-chairman of Obama's presidential campaign, took issue with George's reasoning in an op-ed published Friday in the Tribune:

I believe Cardinal George's stand is an embarrassment to Chicago Catholics and furthers the divide among the church, its members and the rest of America.

To follow his rule, students at Catholic universities would hear only from other Catholics--and, even then, only from those who agree with church doctrine on every subject. But the fact is that American Catholics are divided over the difficult moral issues of stem-cell research and abortion. It's important that students, and Catholics generally, be exposed to people with different ideas and ways of thinking. It is particularly important for them to hear from Obama, whom a majority of voters, including a majority of Catholic voters, have chosen to lead our country through difficult times.

Supporters of Notre Dame's invitation to Obama have started a petition at wesupportnotredame.org.

Watch Cardinal George's remarks on Notre Dame and Obama from a March 28 conference in suburban Chicago:

Comments

[sagcat]

05:14 PM on 04/19/2009

I'm a Notre Dame Alum and a former Catholic. I'm proud of my school for getting Obama to speak at graduation and for standing up to the politically motivated bishops who are condemning them

This episode should demonstrate to everyone that Catholics are far from a mono-thought group and that ND is a fine institution that stands up for academic dialogue and freedom of thought.

And it's clearly incorect to post that all ND people are wingnuts, republicans or worse. (wait, is there worse?) The evidence is staring you in the face right here in this article. Most Domers want Obama to speak this year, including the vast majority of the graduating class.

[Fra Nas]

10:10 PM on 04/13/2009

The fact is we are giving the false impression that the Catholic Church and President Obama are on common ground on issues of abortions, etc. There are a lot of ways to be in dialogue (like the Pope sending Obama a diplomatic congratulation letter on winning the election) but inviting the "face of black genocide" home and give him an honorary degree is not an option. As ever, we don't need lukewarm priests and nominal Catholicism. If Fr. Jenkins and the trustees of Notre Dame don't like to be aligned with Catholic moral teachings, then disconnect from the Church completely. I will send my children to the Franciscan University of Steubenville which is a wholesome and godly place, a model for every Catholic universities!

[mergina]

06:22 AM on 04/10/2009

The catholic church acting upset over someone's stand on abortion is in itself just another Catholic Abomination. A good point was made about them accepting Bush who not only sent many to their deaths with the texas death penalty, but along with Cheney, is guilty of countless murders in their War in Iraq, their War for Greed Fueled Profits. But that aside, some of the worst murderous atrocities over the ages have been spawned by Catholics and other religions. Religions are an abomination, control mechanisms that care only about their own gain and profit and power over others. To take the innocent message of love and compassion delivered by a spiritual masters mission, and warp it into a religion of your own design is nothing more thay hypocricy and abomination.

[litlbznsmn]

08:26 PM on 04/09/2009

Talk about a hypocrisy - Where was the outrage from the Cardinal concerning the priest abuse scandals. How can anyone claim that it is worse to invite a speaker who has a viewpoint different from your own, than it is to molest young children and have a hierachy which is complicit in the abuse by covering it all up??

The Catholic church is elbow deep in some of the most outrageous periods of human history -think Spanish conquests. The church, through it's continued resistance to birth control, is largely responsible for the downward spiral of many nations such as the Philippines. Once one of the most prosperous nations in the region it is now one of the poorest and most over populated. The good work of the Catholic church.

And why is it that the groups who scream over abortion are also the groups which scream when it comes to having to support all the unwanted children and dysfunctional families.
The same people who are against abortion are also the one who do not want their tax dollars used to help the needy - those who often turn to abortion

And why is it that the majority of these groups anly care about the lives of unborn caucasian babbies?
When was the last time you saw one fo these groups protesting outside an abortion clinic in a minority community?

And why are the lives of the unborn more important than the lives of those already living???

[howcome]

05:54 PM on 04/06/2009

as a practicing Catholic who did not vote for Obama because of philosophy and policy , I believe Cardinal George and any others , who do not show the same outrage at any speaker who supports capital punishment are hypocrits

[Aline Binette]

05:52 PM on 04/06/2009

The Constitution of the United States is based on freedom of religion and the separation of Church and State. THose kinds of intgerventions are out of bounds.

God does not want robots, he wants free human beings who have liberty of conscience. This takes precedence over ideologies that churches try to impose on people. The Roman Church is not the State Church of the USA. Give to Cesar what is Cesar's and God what is His. Imposed faith does not work it has to come from the heart. Mr. Obama is the President for all Americans, whatever their faith is.

It is morally wrong per se to mix religion and politics. They are not trying to convince or convert, but to impose their views. Those decisions belong in a person's conscience. This written by someone who studied theology in a Catholic faculty.

[24kgold]

05:34 PM on 04/06/2009

What the fuss is all about? There are many black colleges that would love to have him without all the drama. He should just say F it and go where he is respected and honored as the first black President.... Move on, Move on, Move on, Mr. President Go where you are wanted.....

[bluerthanblue15]

03:59 PM on 04/07/2009

It's the principle of the whole situation.

Why should Obama run from where he's wanted?

Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely.... Lord Acton

[SonofLiberty1]

02:06 PM on 04/06/2009

Right afer the election, I was told that it was wrong to vote for President Obama because of the economy.

I can not tell you how shaken I was.

Here is a member of my church, an ordained Deacon of St. Ignatius Roman Catholic Church, telling me that I had gravely sinned when I voted AGAINST the Republican Party that had caused me to lose my job and had also caused the greatest financial crisis since the great depression.

It was very hard to believe. So I wrote to both the Monsignor and to the Deacon and told them that I would never attend Mass there again.

I believe that they insulted both myself and my entire family. So now I attend another Catholic Church in a town not far away. The truth is that the REPUBLICAN PARTY has taken over many Catholic Parishes in the United States.

I think it's time to send these REPUBLICAN CATHOLICS to some other nation.

[TMIDGE66]

08:20 AM on 04/11/2009

you have hit the nail on the head. i too am a catholic and i voted for Obama and would vote for him again. catolics are republican and hypocritical when they voice opinions on abortion. they look the other way when they declare marriage sacred in insoluble and then grant annulments (for a fee). at my church they practice what it was said in the religious teachings of the church: "render unto Cesar the things that are Cesar's and to God the things that are God's." if we try to twist things around we shall reach a point where one religion will take over the country. this was tried by the evangelicals during the bush debacle.
i do not believe in abortion and if you ask many catholics they will tell you the same thing and then they will add "i just dont believe the government has a right to determine what a woman does with her body, that is her choice and her penance, otherwise, what is the point of confession?"

[SonofLiberty1]

01:54 PM on 04/06/2009

As a practicing Catholic and a graduate of a Catholic University, I must disagree with the Cardinal.
Many here like to show their Anti-Christian and Anti-Catholic bias and they do so at their own peril for they are just as bigoted as any other bigoted group.

And may God have mercy on them.

And as to my church, The Roman Catholic Church....
It is a human institution and like most human institutions it is capable of making mistakes.
The fact is that most good Catholics are extremely distressed over the epidemic of Pedophile priests
to the point of not giving money every Sunday. That being said, the church has instituted changes which any non Catholic probably is not aware of.

And as to what Cardinal George is talking about...
Well, it shows that he is nothing but a Republican stooge and if I had any say about it, he would
be shipped off to an island in the south pacific as a missionary.

Yes, like him, I agree that abortion is something that is an intrinsic evil that should be stopped.
And I too disagree with President Obama but I realize that he also wantst to stop it too.

This brings us to another point that many don't know about and that is the Republican Party has really
taken over the Catholic Church in many areas and it was what forced me to leave my parish

[tantamnt]

02:51 AM on 04/06/2009

Roman Catholicism started to stray away from Christianity about the time of the Arian Heresy when the big boys in Rome determined that they got to set the rules and could change the rules as needed.
Christ had a bit different message.
And yes I am a practicing Catholic.

[Kingstone]

09:13 PM on 04/05/2009

George Cardinal needs to find a wife so that he can start reasoning again. Ironically, he does not condemn boys' abuse. Start thinking out of the boxes, no wonder they lose too many catholics.

[naschkatze]

06:22 PM on 04/05/2009

George made a little reference to the fact that his remarks were intended for a certain audience but not the rest of us. A good illustration of the hypocrisy of the church and lack of "transparency". If he held the conviction of his remarks before his fellow bishops, why is he wiggling now that they are out in the wider world?

[JaneaneTheAcerbicGoblin]

04:26 PM on 04/05/2009

If the Catholic Church wants to remain relevant, perhaps they should stop thinking only about abortion, stem cells, and gays.

This is ridiculous. Cardinal George should be ashamed of his idiotic, myopic view of the world.

[BlueKansas]

01:19 PM on 04/05/2009

I imagine others have mentioned this, but it might bear repeating. Cardinal George would have undoubtedly welcomed George W. Bush to speak at Notre Dame because of his stance on stem cell research and abortion, forgetting about the fact that Bush's war of choice has killed or maimed hundreds of thousands of innocent lives.

The Catholic church really does have abortion on the brain. A few weeks ago, a 9-year old girl in South America aborted twin fetuses after her stepfather raped and impregnated her. The girl's mother and the doctor were excommunicated. The stepfather was not -- because according to the Church, "abortion is a more serious sin than rape".

Oh yeah? Says who??

[naschkatze]

02:58 PM on 04/05/2009

I'm not going to read all the comments, but I suspect you are correct.

[me again]

12:54 PM on 04/05/2009

The Catholic Church continues to lose members each year. They are having a difficult time finding young people to join the clergy. The reason is the Church does not move with the times and has been inflexible in the modernization of their religion. While Pope John Paul II did make inroads with Jews and did help with the democratization of Poland setting the stage for the downfall of the Soviet Empire, his dogma was extremely conservative and alienated a huge portion of the young mmembers of his Church who moved onto other religions, or none at all. Benedict is merely a caretaker Pope and has done nothing to modernize his Church. Acceptance of people whether within the Church, or out of the Church for differing opinions must be changed, as it will only alienate members of this declining faith.