Mary Ann Glendon's Failed "Hail Mary"
I am a longtime admirer of Mary Ann Glendon, a former Ambassador to the Holy See as well as a scholar and innovative thinker on women's issues. However, I was gobsmacked by her recent decision to refuse a prestigious award from Notre Dame because, as she discovered, she would have to share a podium with the president of the United States.
I'm not Catholic, so I'm not going to enter into the internal religious politics of Glendon's decision. In declining the university's Laetare Medal, Glendon wrote an impassioned letter to Notre Dame's president, the Reverend John Jenkins, in which she said, in part:
Last month, when you called to tell me that the commencement speech was to be given by President Obama, I mentioned to you that I would have to rewrite my speech. Over the ensuing weeks, the task that once seemed so delightful has been complicated by a number of factors.
First, as a longtime consultant to the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, I could not help but be dismayed by the news that Notre Dame also planned to award the president an honorary degree. This, as you must know, was in disregard of the U.S. bishops' express request of 2004 that Catholic institutions "should not honor those who act in defiance of our fundamental moral principles" and that such persons "should not be given awards, honors or platforms which would suggest support for their actions." That request, which in no way seeks to control or interfere with an institution's freedom to invite and engage in serious debate with whomever it wishes, seems to me so reasonable that I am at a loss to understand why a Catholic university should disrespect it.
Glendon then went on to suggest that the university was using her as conservative "cover" for the President's visit. Notre Dame had defended its decision in a previous statement, in which it argued, "We think having the president come to Notre Dame, see our graduates, meet our leaders, and hear a talk from Mary Ann Glendon is a good thing for the president and for the causes we care about."
Glendon wrote in retort:
A commencement, however, is supposed to be a joyous day for the graduates and their families. It is not the right place, nor is a brief acceptance speech the right vehicle, for engagement with the very serious problems raised by Notre Dame's decision -- in disregard of the settled position of the U.S. bishops -- to honor a prominent and uncompromising opponent of the Church's position on issues involving fundamental principles of justice.
Many conservatives -- especially those at National Review Online's "The Corner" -- are praising Glendon for her "leadership." This isn't leadership but the opposite: it's burying one's head in the sand. Here we have yet another example of religious conservatives opting out of engagement with the larger political culture, even that within their own church.
Even if you view President Obama's stance on abortion -- which this is about -- as wrong, or even appalling, wouldn't you want to take this opportunity to address the president directly -- or as the old saying goes, "Speak truth to power?"
Notre Dame has not, after all, invited the head of Planned Parenthood, or a doctor who performs abortions, or even a pro-abortion activist, which the language of Glendon's letter suggests.
Rather it has invited the president. Of the United States. For whom many Catholics and non-Catholics alike voted. Glendon's words suggest that Obama may be president but he is not HER President, or the Catholics' president -- a highly divisive and anti-democratic sentiment.
Glendon should have accepted the award graciously, and seized this rare chance to articulate her principles directly to Obama. As the university rightly points out: it is a "good thing" to advance your causes with political leaders. Maybe especially with the ones with whom you most disagree. Certainly, engagement with one's opponents and the passionate debate of ideas should be at the very core of every college education. Notre Dame realizes this. Unfortunately, Glendon doesn't.
This essay originally appeared on NewMajority.Com.
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Obama is not the president of people who believe in liberty, people who love America or people who do not want to live under a fascist dictatorship.
The Catholic church has an abominable record of abuse of women. From the torturing and burnings of females for being witches for centuries to the imprisonment of unwed mothers in convents in Ireland where they were forced to do laundry under threat of physical abuse, the Catholic church is institutionally anti-woman.
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The oddest thing about this entire affair is that people are criticizing the members of the Notre Dame family who have called Notre Dame on the carpet for not standing up to its own principles. How are they wrong? President Obama has talked quite a bit lately about not sacrificing American principles when it comes to gaining military and national security intelligence through the use of torture. Not an untenable position. But should the members of the Notre Dame family who have been critical of Notre Dame's decision been not be as adamant about upholding their standards as the President has been about upholding what he believes America stands for? In fact, Notre Dame's mistake is much more black and white than is President Obama's; the Bishop's edict is straightforward and Notre Dame claims to adhere to it, but in this instance, Notre Dame will not. In addition, on this topic, President Obama's position on torture seems completely antithetical to his position on abortion. A point it would be well to engage him on in public, on the record. But, the President will not be publicly engaging anyone at Notre Dame, he will be giving a speech.
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Crittenden writes: "Certainly, engagement with one's opponents and the passionate debate of ideas should be at the very core of every college education.
I agree. And so does Glendon. Nevertheless, let us be clear about what President Obama will do while at Notre Dame: he will give a public speech. He will not engage anyone in a debate, passionate or otherwise. He will not have a public debate about issues with Glendon, or with Notre Dame students, or with Notre Dame faculty, or with Notre Dame administrators, or with the people of South Bend. There will be no public exchange of ideas whatsoever. There will be a monologue given be the President of the United States. Which is fine. But all this talk about "engagement" and "debate" is horse-pucky. Might the President have a discussion behind closed doors with some Notre Dame higher-ups and maybe Glendon? Sure. But there is no such meeting for "idea exchange" scheduled.
I wonder when Ms. Glendon will also demand that Notre Dame refuse the millions of dollars paid to the school each semester so that non-Catholic parents, many of whom would most assuredly be pro-choice, can send their children there.
Certainly, she has let the school know her stand on that, right?
Sure she has.....Si
Surely you must know that more Americans opose aborton than approve of it. The latest polls show that this has always been true, but the number who are prolife is growing. I would assume that, like most of America, the non-Catholic parents who send there children to Notre Dame are NOT in favor of abortion. As a non-Catholic parent of a college student, I would be delighted to find a school that firmly and proudly supported life.
Pres Obama isn't MY president either. The USA's voters elected Obama POTUS. Obama is the President OF the USA. You don't have to like him or, even, respect him. However Obama is the President OF the USA.
I was disappointed that W had not been impeached. I avoided listening to him when he spoke. There are silent ways of showing displeasure with a POTUS. But Americans are allowed to protest. Let the lady protest. You do not have to pay attention to her protest. A wall of silence would be an appropriate response to the lady's protests. No pickets, jeers or blogs, simple silence could greet her as she protests.
I recognize that there will be columns & blogs criticizing or defending the lady. That is an American freedom & custom too. She isn't BHO. Why bother with her? Let her protest to a blank wall of silence.
Yup, thanks to ACORN and poor media attention some 52% of Americans did elect Mr. Obama. We must now suffer the consequences of a having a fascist government destroying our freedom and our country.
Oh please. "He's not my President" was the Democrats tag line for 8 years. Is there no limits to the dishonesty here?
"It goes something like, "Thou shalt not kill".
Really? Then how come so many Christian conservatives believe in the death penalty and war? An eye for an eye? As Gandhi said, it only makes the whole world blind. And how come so many pregnancies end in miscarriages or still births? Oh let me guess....i
"And until you can PROVE - not believe, not think, not feel, not suspect, not hope, not anything else, but PROVE that abortion isn't murder, then you have no voice in the discussion, which should be between the mother, father, doctor and their god"
A murder can only be committed against a human being. Not a zygote, not an embryo, not a collection of organic cells. Prove to me that the latter organisms are legally classed as a human being.
If the DECISION to abort a pregnancy is between the mother, father, doctor and god, then you are, by definition, pro-CHOICE
And until we can agree on when a fetus becomes a human being we must err on the side of "innocent until proven guilty" and protect that life. So if you believe in America and our system of justice, you are by definition PRO-LIFE.
How does one stand so firmly on abortion and yet continue in a church, that for years just moved pedophile priests from one diocese to another? Why all the effort and energy before birth and none after birth? If churches in this country served the people as Jesus preached, you would have no homeless and you certainly would not have children going hungry!!!
Stateretiree,
The church is made up of human beings, men and women who are just as fallible, human and frail as anyone else. And the Church, being a 2000 year old institution, comprised mainly of men in the hierarchy, is prone to making mistakes.
And as such, problems like the tendency of being more "Republican" then Catholic do exist.
It might be helpful to consider that we worship Jesus, who was both human and divine and the rest of the church is prone to being human.
It's high time for humanity to finally discard the ignorance that is religion, and live in the clear light of our own reason and intelligence.
Okay, so why does the church get off taking sole responsibility for their pedophile actions and they are merely "human" but women who exercise reproductive rights, are deemed condemned, sinners, etc??
So, you will admit that women who choose abortion are just, oh I don't know, being "human"? Because when it comes to pedophiles, isn't that what you are stating?
Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely .... Lord Acton
If they stood up against pedophile priests they would lose half of them. It's easier to hack away at women's rights.
Catholic countries have higher abortion rates than non-catholic countries.
(Compare Mexico, South America, etc. to Germany, France, Denmark, etc.).
The legality of Abortion has nothing to do with abortion rates, opportunities for women are far more important.
Christians have more babies, those who believe that abortion is ok have the abortions not babies.
And hispanics are mostly Catholic as are most of the 12 million or so illegal immigrants from Mexico.
Catholics are leaving the church in droves because of stands such as this. It no longer is the church that welcomes, but rather, excludes. Some of the church lay leaders are worse than the clergy about judging and seeing a world of us vs. them. And yet, there are orders of men, and congregations of women who lead us to peace and justice by their brave stands. I wonder if this particular woman wrote her letter because she makes her living working as a consultant to the Catholic Hierarchy? The Catholic Church is a boon for some people to make a nice yearly salary. All they have to do is leave their compassion at the door.
And Jesus said "Many are called but few are chosen".
Sounds like discrimination to me. Predestination? A charming idea, complete with infant damnation.
Count me as one of what I hope is a growing crowd of people fed up with the "Holy See" and its meddling in our politics.
Their hypocrisy is palpable: Catholic bishops threaten to excommunicate politicians who vote for choice, but fail to do so for politicians who vote for weapons and the "war on terror."
It's time to withdraw the tax exemption from this rancid institution of ignorance, along with any other "religious" organization that makes even one political statement. Yes, that includes storefront churches that rail against gay marriage laws -- a political issue -- as well as the more famous evangelical bigots and "family defenders" who push creationism.
One of the reasons Central Asia lacks the Islamic fanaticism of other Muslim areas is the vigorous anti-religion campaign carried out by the former USSR. I count that as one accomplishment of an otherwise failed system, and hope to see a similar campaign here.
Religion is hype, a way for useless blubberers to get people to support them.
She is just another old school, Republican hater...it
Glendon merely caved under all the pressure of outside groups and to have taken this long to do it seems almost like an orchestrated attempt to further embarrass Fr. Jenkins the president of ND and to diminish the next recipient of the award's honor. Of course she could have taken the opportunity to respectfully address the issue with the object of their disdain just feet away-but to pull out less than 3 weeks before the event and to post her letter first on a religious website before faxing it to Notre Dame has more of the PR smackdown effect.
I do believe she is probably a very good person who feels strongly , but I also believe she became a pawn.
I always rejected the Know-Nothings' anti-Catholic stance, based on the idea that Catholics placed loyalty to the Pope above loyalty to America, as fatuous. Glendon seems intent on proving me wrong. Fortunately, having grown up in a Catholic neighborhood, I know she's more the exception than the rule among Catholics.
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