Posted on 08/25/2010 4:25:32 PM PDT by markomalley
(CNSNews.com) – When President Barack Obama speaks at Xavier University of Louisiana on August 29 to commemorate the fifth anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, one person who will not be in attendance is New Orleans Archbishop Gregory Aymond.
In fact, according to a spokeswoman for the Catholic Archdiocese of New Orleans, the archbishop wasn’t consulted about the president’s visit to the Catholic university in New Orleans.
“I have spoken with Archbishop Aymond about this and he let me know that he was not consulted about the president's visit to Xavier nor will he attend,” spokeswoman Sarah Comiskey McDonald told CNSNews.com by e-mail.
McDonald did not specifically indicate that the archbishop was protesting Obama’s visit to the Xavier campus--but did indicate that Aymond would be busy that day.
“On August 29, the day President Obama will be at Xavier, Archbishop Aymond will first celebrate Mass and then will be participating in an Interfaith Prayer Service with other religious leaders in New Orleans at St. Louis Cathedral to pray for a sense of hope and rebuilding for the city and the region,” McDonald said.
“The archbishop did note however, that this is not a political speech, but one that is a gesture of compassion for and solidarity with the people of New Orleans and Xavier University of New Orleans is often used by the mayor and public officials for such events,” she added.
Patrick Reilly, president of the Cardinal Newman Society, a lay Catholic educational organization, agreed that the president is less likely to focus on abortion politics at Xavier than he did in 2009 at Notre Dame, when he addressed students at commencement.
“Certainly it is not an event, presumably, where President Obama will be presenting his views on embryonic stem-cell research and abortion, but the fact that he’s very open with those views makes it inappropriate for him to be given a platform,” Reilly told CNSNews.com.
“It was certainly a much more wide-open topic of discussion at Notre Dame--at a commencement ceremony--and he took the opportunity to pronounce his views once again on abortion and stem-cell research, at a Catholic university,” Reilly said. “We certainly don’t want to see that happen again.”
Reilly said the appearance of a pro-abortion president on a Catholic university campus is unwelcome news because the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops has not changed its position.
“The U.S. bishops have clearly stated that Catholic institutions should not provide a platform or honor to an individual who is publicly opposed to Catholic teachings,” Reilly said.
In 2009, the University of Notre Dame drew fire from Catholics around the world for asking the pro-abortion president to deliver the school's commencement address and receive an honorary law degree. Notre Dame’s president, Father John Jenkins, drew fire from 80 active Catholic bishops and over 350,000 Catholics who signed a petition asking him to withdraw the invitation, which Jenkins refused to do.
The president of Xavier, meanwhile, welcomed Obama--who has spoken at the university before--with open arms.
“We are pleased and grateful that the president has decided to include a visit to the Xavier University campus as part of his visit to New Orleans on August 29 to commemorate the fifth anniversary of Hurricane Katrina," said Xavier President Norman Francis.
“Mr. Obama will get to see firsthand why we are so proud of the progress we have made here at Xavier during the five years since Katrina, not only restoring our campus but expanding our facilities and services since then in order to fulfill our mission established 85 years ago," he added.
In 2006, one year after Katrina devastated parts of Louisiana and Mississippi, then-Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) received an honorary doctorate from the university.
The university describes itself as both a "Catholic and historically black" institution. "Xavier University of Louisiana, founded by Saint Katharine Drexel and the Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament, is Catholic and historically Black," says the schools Web site. "The ultimate purpose of the University is to contribute to the promotion of a more just and humane society by preparing its students to assume roles of leadership and service in a global society.”
“Values don't change, whether it's an historically black university or not,” said Reilly. "I think the point that Catholic universities need to understand is that Catholic educators should be spending more time promoting Christian values in the public square rather than trying to pretend that a Catholic university is the public square.”
Reilly, meanwhile, also pointed out that the university is not under the legal control of the archbishop.
“But neither is any individual Catholic,” he added.
ML/NJ
What is wrong with these Catholic Universities?
Ah, you answered my question.
They're apologizing for the Crusades and letting the Muslims rise to victory.
The Catholic Church must take full control of its institutions of higher ruling and remove its own Marxist oriented educators and intellectuals from making any decisions for them.
That would be nice.
I wonder if the various protestant congregations which founded Yale, Harvard, Columbia, William and Mary, etc could take full control of their institutions of higher learning ...
“I wonder if the various protestant congregations which founded Yale, Harvard, Columbia, William and Mary, etc could take full control of their institutions of higher learning ...”
The authorities of those institutions are not, and the institutions themselves do not pretend, that they are “protestant”.
I do not believe the same secular “independence” is the status of places like Xavier and Notre Dame.
And the old “mainstream” Protestant Christian denominations are socially and publicly recognized “Liberal” institutions from which only the ignorant expect a “Conservative” view to emerge.
But, the Catholic Church makes all these Conservative noises in public and then so many of its own institutions act, in an intellectual sense, as if the Catholic Church and its positions had no standard and policy role in what those institutions say and do, and do not do.
The Catholic Church should either do what the old mainline Protestant churches did (left the Ivy league schools on their own) and abandon the pretense that they actually RUN their “Catholic” colleges, and make them drop their “Catholic” affiliation, or it should take FULL charge of them; that’s all I’m saying.
Xavier doesn't get any money from the church, and (unlike Notre Dame and many other Catholic schools) doesn't appear to have much of a formal relationship with the religious order that founded it. The only options the bishop would have would be to shut down the university sacramentally (which only hurts the Catholic students and faculty on campus) or to remove the university's Catholic identification completely (which is an ending of the relationship, not a call to repentance).
As a Catholic, personally, I don't find what Xavier is doing 10% as offensive as Notre Dame giving Zero an honorary degree "because we just *have* to have the President at our commencement -- it's our tradition" ... and then arresting Catholics who protested the action. If Notre Dame isn't going to be formally punished for that, then Xavier certainly shouldn't be.
**“The U.S. bishops have clearly stated that Catholic institutions should not provide a platform or honor to an individual who is publicly opposed to Catholic teachings,” Reilly said. **
Archbishop Aymond, please blast this occurrence. Obrotion O is not Catholic at all.
Freep-mail me to get on or off my pro-life and Catholic List:
Please ping me to note-worthy Pro-Life or Catholic threads, or other threads of general interest.
If it claims to be a Catholic University/College, it can be kicked out of the Church.
This happened to Marymount Manhattan in April 2005, which used to be Catholic.
Then Marymount Manhattan invited Hillary Rodham Clinton to give the Commencement Address.
The good Cardinal of New York [Egan] made his life very, very easy by just tossing Marymount Manhattan out of the Catholic Church in April 2005 -- just weeks before Hillary was scheduled to speak. His office was catching alot of flack about this event.
At the time, I was working for Priests for Life [Father Frank Pavone]. At that time, Father Frank told us to start using our PFL email address for private emails.
So I voiced my opinion to newly elected Pope Benedict XVI and to the President of Marymount Manhattan about Hillary Rodham Clinton speaking there.
I do not know what happened, but I think Father Frank got a major "chewing out" by the Cardinal because of my emails. Shortly after this happened, Father Frank made a remark that he was very thankful to be transfering to the Diocese of Amarillo. Additionally, at this time Father Frank stopped by my office and said some unusual things but did not give a reason. He seemed upset did not indicate why.
I think thatit is possible that folks both in the Vatican and Marymount Manhattan thought I was speaking for Priests for Life... I was just "Freeping" Hillary and Marymount Manhattan...
Marymount Manhattan College is no longer Catholic, nor can it claim to be...
However, because Xavier is a pre-dominantly African American College having an African American president speak, I can cut the college some slack.
But in no way should this be considered a Catholic event
I still can't believe I sent such emails without considering the fact that they were coming from the Priests for Life domain name...
Such is life..
MARYMOUNT MANHATTAN COLLEGE DECLARED NOT CATHOLIC by Archdiocese of New York [Hillary at issue]New York College Found "No Longer Catholic"
Catholic Group Opposes College's Plan to Honor Senator Hillary Clinton
But they were originally very explicitly established for the purpose of educating protestant clergy, and they were very good at it. How far the mighty have fallen.
And the old “mainstream” Protestant Christian denominations are socially and publicly recognized “Liberal” institutions from which only the ignorant expect a “Conservative” view to emerge.
Try to maintain a historical perspective longer than 20 years. The Anglicans, Puritans, and Congregationalists who founded those institutions were not liberals. Far from it. I wonder what Increase Mather thinks of the current condition of Yale.
it should take FULL charge of them
I agree. I merely point out that the formerly Protestant institutions paved the way down the drain. On the one hand, they provide a cautionary tale that the Catholics would do well to heed. On the other hand, they are cause for the Protestants to exercise a little humility.
If Xavier is going to be a racist college, and invite speakers on racist grounds, then by definition it is NOT Catholic, and I cut it no slack whatsoever.
Oh yes, they were. They were dissenting sects, at odds with the established church of England, and in most cases on hostile terms with the Sovereign. Closely identifying with the Whigs in England, they were committed to principles of personal judgment (what we might call relativism), representative government (for the rich and well-connected, anyway), and robust free market capitalism. These are all liberal projects. It's no accident that the most extreme forms of modern American liberalism emerged in the former domain of New England puritans and congregationalists, not in Anglican Virginia or Catholic Louisiana.
They OUGHT to be apologizing... for LOSING.
Therein lies the problem.
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