Posted on 05/14/2009 1:52:09 PM PDT by topher
Thursday May 14, 2009White House Downplays Catholic Opposition to ND Honor, Claims Only "One Group" Boycotting
By Kathleen Gilbert WASHINGTON, D.C., May 14, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Responding to the uproar from U.S. Catholic bishops and laity protesting the honor of President Obama at the University of Notre Dame, the White House Tuesday downplayed the degree of opposition, claiming that only one Notre Dame student group opposed the invitation and that "the majority of Catholics are supportive of the invitation." White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said that only one student group at Notre Dame is boycotting the decision, as opposed to 23 in support, reports ABC News. "I think there's one group organizing a boycott, and, as best I can understand it, there are 23 groups that have formed in support of the president's invitation," said Gibbs. ND Response, the force organizing Sunday's prayer vigil and peaceful pro-life rally against the Obama invite, is actually a coalition of 11 different student groups.
Two weeks ago, 23 student groups, including the College Democrats, Feminist Voice, NAACP, Progressive Student Alliance and the Black Cultural Arts Council met with Fr. Jenkins to express approval of the Obama invitation and hand over a letter of support with about 1,000 signatures from the ND community. Jenkins had rescinded an invitation to dialogue with representatives of ND Response. Gibbs also said, "I think I saw a figure that 97 percent of the students are supportive." According to an Associated Press report, 97 percent of the 95 Notre Dame seniors who wrote to the student newspaper The Observer supported the invitation. 2,001 undergraduate seniors will graduate on Sunday. "The president understands the right of anybody in this country to disagree and to exercise their disagreement in that way," Gibbs continued.
"I think it's important to understand it appears as if the vast majority of students and the majority of Catholics are supportive of the invitation the president accepted. And I know he's greatly looking forward to seeing them." A Pew Forum poll last month showed that 50% of Catholics agreed with the decision to invite President Obama to Notre Dame, while 23% opposed it. Among Catholics who attend Mass on Sundays, 37% agreed, while 45% disapproved. However, the statistics were drastically different on whether the president ought to be awarded an honorary degree, despite a 2004 directive by U.S. bishops forbidding Catholic schools from honoring pro-abortion politicians. A Rasmussen Reports survey last week found that 60% of Catholics agree Notre Dame should obey U.S. bishop's guidelines and refrain from awarding an honorary degree to the president, with only 25% disagreeing. 52% of all Americans agreed with the statement, while 25% disagreed. An unprecedented backlash from 75 U.S. bishops and over 360,000 petitioners to date has erupted following the announcement that Notre Dame would honor to the deeply pro-abortion president. However, University president Fr. John Jenkins has dug in his heels over the invitation, telling graduates in a letter this week that "there is much to admire and celebrate in the life and work of President Obama," and that he looks forward to welcoming him.
To see the list of bishops who have been confirmed as opposing the Notre Dame scandal: http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2009/may/09050607.html See related LifeSiteNews.com coverage: Fr. Jenkins to Graduating ND Students: "There is Much to Admire and Celebrate in the Work of Obama" Notre Dame President Sits on Board of Directors of Pro-Abortion, Pro-Contraception Organization Leading Vatican Official Cites ND Honor for Obama as 'Greatest Scandal' |
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Quite a few "coordinated" groups opposing Obama/Father Jenkins...
The Monica Media now has its talking points.
Uhhh ... he’s right ... the group happens to be Catholic ... millions of’em.
“I’ll take ‘Scams and Lies’ for $500, Alex.”
“The answer is... 23”
“How many groups can you set up in 5 minutes?”
Then there are pro-life groups involved in the boycott:
HLI.org -- Human Life International
American Life League -- ALL.org
And let us not forget about the airplane and trucks running around South Bend -- courtesy of Center for Bio-Ethical Reform.
Their website is:
>>Among Catholics who attend Mass on Sundays, 37% agreed, while 45% disapproved.<<
OK, someone help me out. How can you be a Catholic and not attend Mass? Did something change since I became Confirmed decades ago?
These 23 groups are really the "code pink" groups of Notre Dame:
Africa Faith and Justice Network
African Student Association Alliance-ND
Anthropology Club
Asian International Society
Black Cultural Arts Council
Brazil Club
Campus Labor Action Project
College Democrats
Feminist Voice
Human Rights- Notre Dame
Indian Association of Notre Dame
Movimiento Estudiantil Chicano De Azatlan de Notre Dame
National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, ND
Native American Student Association of Notre Dame
ND for Animals
Notre Dame Peace Fellowship
Outreach ND
Progressive Student Alliance
Spanish Club
Students for Environmental Action
Sustained Dialogue at Notre Dame
The Wabruda
This is from the website Replace Jenkins.com website (ReplaceJenkins.com)
Wednesday May 6, 2009List of Bishops Opposing the Notre Dame Invitation and Award to President Obama
SOUTH BEND, Indiana, May 6, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Following is an alphabetical list of bishops who have so far expressed disapproval of the University of Notre Dame's invitation to President Obama to give the commencement speech and receive an honorary law degree May 17. Included are links to the original source as well as LifeSiteNews.com coverage. Current count: 76 bishops Bishop John D'Arcy - Fort Wayne-South Bend, IN Bishop Edward Cullen - Allentown, PA Bishop Nicholas Di Marzio - Brooklyn, NY Cardinal Francis George - Chicago, IL; President, USCCB Auxiliary Bishop Roger Gries - Cleveland, Ohio Bishop James V. Johnston - Springfield-Cape Girardeau, MO Bishop John Smith - Trenton, NJ Bishop David Zubick - Pittsburgh, PA URL: http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2009/may/09050607.html
Copyright © LifeSiteNews.com. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-No Derivatives License. You may republish this article or portions of it without request provided the content is not altered and it is clearly attributed to "LifeSiteNews.com". Any website publishing of complete or large portions of original LifeSiteNews articles MUST additionally include a live link to www.LifeSiteNews.com. The link is not required for excerpts. Republishing of articles on LifeSiteNews.com from other sources as noted is subject to the conditions of those sources. |
19 of those 23 are only on Facebook. Meanwhile 11 REAL groups are opposed to honoring Obama.
Your bishop not on this list? Contact him!
I’m am shocked, shocked, shocked but pleased about this one!
Opposing the Notre Dame Invitation and Award to President Obama is Cardinal Daniel DiNardo - Houston, TX
Statement: http://www.texascatholicherald.org/columnists.html
LSN: http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2009/mar/09032717.html
Cardinal Daniel DiNardo - Houston, TX remarks constitute the highest-ranking criticism yet from a member of the Catholic Church hierarchy against the University’s decision.
The Cardinal was one of the first 10 to 15 to speak out... As I recall...
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