Obama and Notre Dame

Here in Honduras I’m far from the US, but news of the controversy over President Obama speaking at Notre Dame has reached me via cyberspace. I, at first, hadn’t even thought of commenting on the controversy.

In 2006 Boston College, my Ph.D. alma mater, invited Secretary of State Condaleeza Rice to speak at their commencement and receive an honorary degree. Faculty, students, alumni, and others protested this decision, because of her support for the Iraq war which many of us believed is immoral as well as her support for abortion. She described herself as “moderately pro-choice.” Two theologians on the BC faculty initiated a petition; I wrote my letter to BC’s president, Jesuit Father William Fahey, expressing my concerns.

I was not in Boston at the time and so I don’t know if the environment was extremely divisive. According to a report in the Boston College Magazine, which may or may not be “objective,” the protest was very civil. http://bcm.bc.edu/issues/summer_2006/linden_lane/a-civil-discourse.html

But the brouhaha surrounding Obama and Notre Dame is far from civil. As always, Fr. John Kavanaugh in America offers poignant commentary in his column subtitled “We Catholics are in danger of becoming known not by how we love but by how we hate.” I urge you to read it.
http://www.americamagazine.org/content/article.cfm?article_id=11564

Should President Obama be disinvited? I am not sure, because it might create more harm than good at this point. But what should happen is that both proponents and opponents should not resort to name-calling and preposterous claims.

But what I would hope is that President Obama would take seriously how many of us oppose his decisions on abortion and embryonic stem cell research and begin a real dialogue about the issues. If he really wants to decrease the number of abortions, Notre Dame might be the place for him to make a serious proposal, not only for assisting pregnant women but also for a careful examination of US abortion laws.

Let us pray that the current controversy will not leave open wounds that might fester in the life of our Church and in the nation. Let’s purge the uncivil speech, seek serious debate, and above all support and defend pregnant women.


PS I recommend almost everything that Jesuit Father John Kavanaugh has written, especially Following Christ in a Consumer Society: The Spirituality of Cultural Resistance (Orbis Books, 2006).