Charlie Sykes' TV show, Sunday Insight, isn't the usual panel discussion of various topics this weekend. Sykes is devoting the half hour to the soon to be former Archbishop of Milwaukee, Timothy Dolan.
On his blog, Sykes writes:
Among other things, he addresses the controversy over Notre Dame's decision to invite President Obama to deliver its commencement address and the future of Catholic hospitals if Congress passes a Freedom of Choice Act (FOCA) that would require them to perform abortions.
On its Saturday newscasts, TMJ4 played a choice clip from the interview. It was a snippet of Archbishop Dolan's thoughts on the Notre Dame controversy.
Archbishop Dolan says that Notre Dame made a mistake by inviting Barack Obama to give the commencement address. He also criticizes Notre Dame for awarding an honorary degree to Obama.
It would have been easy enough for the Archbishop to avoid taking a stand on the issue. I admire the fact that he's not backing away from controversy. He's addressing it head-on.
That's what I've always found so impressive about Archbishop Dolan. He has a backbone and doesn't mince words. He delivers his message clearly and firmly, but he does it in such a personable manner.
He's an excellent teacher.
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UPDATE: Video of Archbishop Dolan commenting on the Notre Dame controversy
Transcript
CHARLIE SYKES: Notre Dame -- under a lot of fire for inviting President Barack Obama to deliver the commencement address. And a number of your fellow bishops have been very critical. Bishop of Phoenix Diocese called Obama's selection a 'public act of disobedience, a grave mistake.' The bishop of the Fort Wayne-South Bend diocese, which includes Notre Dame...
ARCHBISHOP TIMOTHY DOLAN: Bishop D'Arcy.
SYKES: ...says he will not attend the ceremony. What do you think? Did they make a mistake?
ARCHBISHOP DOLAN: They did. They did. And I say that as one who loves and respects Notre Dame. They made a big mistake. I think I'd find myself very much in agreement with Bishop D'Arcy, who's the local bishop, who by the way is passionately in love with Notre Dame and still is, but he says this is a big mistake. He said the university of Notre Dame, the decisions it makes has national and international implications. It prizes its Catholic identity. It should not have done something to have placed itself so far outside the teaching of the Church. I'd agree with him.
SYKES: Now explain it to me. They've invited other presidents of the United States...
ARCHBISHOP DOLAN: They have.
SYKES: ...the presidents of the United States to speak. What was inappropriate about Notre Dame inviting the president to show up?
ARCHBISHOP DOLAN: Well, you got two things: Not only are you inviting him to speak, but they're giving him an honor. And we bishops have said when a president dramatically disagrees with the teaching of the Church on a nonnegotiable issue, we got to be careful about giving him a public platform.
And President Obama, who by the way, you might recall, Cardinal George who's the president of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, there's a lot of things that President Obama does that we can find ourselves allied with and working with him on. And we have profound respect for him and are praying with him and for him. But in an issue that is very close to the heart of Catholic world view, namely the protection of innocent life in the womb, he has unfortunately taken a position very much at odds with the Church. And to give him a platform and to honor him, I think sends a mixed message.
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Video of full interview here.
2 comments:
Sad, ignorant position taken by leaders of the church.
The archbishop is totally correct. I think Notre Dame wants to have the cake and eat it too. For Catholics, abortion is non-negotiable. Let's not honor someone who not only finds abortion utterly negotiable, but also worthy of public funds.
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