Jesuits Who Support Socialized Medicine

Recently PICO, founded by Jesuit Father Paul J. Bernadicou, circulated the petition below, three other Jesuits chose to sign it as well.

Dear President Obama and Members of the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives:

The United States is closer than ever before to making quality affordable health care available to all families.

Yet, health care reform can only succeed if it makes coverage truly affordable for ordinary families who are finding it more and more difficult to get the care they need. Requiring people to purchase health insurance that costs too much and covers too little would frustrate the fundamental goals of health reform and undermine the public support needed to pass and sustain reform.

The House of Representatives has passed health reform legislation that would cover 36 million people, 96 percent of all legal residents. The House covers five million more people than the Senate. We urge you to support the coverage provisions in the House bill, so that millions of Americans are not left uninsured after the passage of comprehensive health reform.........

Link (here) to read the entire letter.

Sincerely,

Fr. Thomas H. Smolich, S.J., President, Jesuit Conference USA
Fr. Michael J. Mandala, S.J., Pastor, Blessed Sacrament Catholic Church, Hollywood, California
Fr. Paul J. Bernadicou S.J., PICO National Network, Los Angeles, California
Fr. Robert A Fambrini, S.J., Pastor, Our Lady of Guadalupe Catholic Church*, San Diego, CA.

Link (here) to see the full list of signatories.

Signed by more than 750 organizations, organizational leaders, congregations, clergy and local and state elected officials...

Boston College Jesuit On Obama

Cyril Opeil, a Jesuit priest and a Boston College physicist who is working on a solar project with one of the centers at MIT, said he feels Obama's speech at MIT signals the president's understanding of how important scientific research is to fixing the nation's environmental problems.

"He knows that in the past great things have come out of MIT,

and I think what he is doing is called upon people who know the challenges, who know the possibilities," Opeil said.

Link (here)

Photo is photoshopper of course, to funny!

Jesuit Editor In Chief On Legionaire Publisher And President Obama

When we Catholic journalists prepared to meet with the president last Thursday morning, NCR publisher Joe Feuerhard reported that his son had told him to ask the president, “How is it to be the coolest guy in the world?”

I can’t say we saw that well-known cool Thursday morning, except perhaps in his interchange with Fr. Owen Kearns, L.C.

but Barack Obama appeared, as he so often does, to be utterly comfortable in his own skin.

Link (here) to the full post by Fr. Drew Christiansen, S.J. the Editor in Chief of America magazine, his post is entitled, The Obama We Met

Fr. Owen Kearns, L.C. is a member of the Catholic religious order of priests, the Legionaries of Christ. He is the publisher of the major American Catholic newspaper called The National Catholic Register.

David Gibson at Pontifications could not contain his "Legion Bashing", read his thoughtless comments (here) on the Catholic meeting with the President.

Frankness

Rendering Unto Caesar

by Patrick J. Buchanan

Posted 04/17/2009

At the request of the White House, Georgetown University covered up all the symbols in Gaston Hall, before the Great Man spoke, including IHS, the millennia-old monogram for the name of Jesus Christ.

Ignatius of Loyola, founder of the Society of Jesus, had adopted the monogram in his seal and it became an emblem of the Jesuit order.

When it comes to rendering unto Caesar, Georgetown is not going to be outshone by Notre Dame, which stole a march by offering the nation's avatar of abortion a doctorate of laws degree, honoris causa.

Actually, it is regrettable the IHS in Gaston Hall was not covered up in shame the first week of Lent. For that week Georgetown's feminist and h*m*s*xual clubs, such as GU Pr*de, put on a G*morrah festival about alternative lifestyles called "S*x Positive Week."

Link (here) to frank confrontation of the issues that are faced in higher education by the Jesuit educated Pat Buchanan.

President Obama's Speechwriter Is Jesuit Educated

Director of Speechwriting

Jon Favreau

Worked in Obama's Senate office. Deputy director of speechwriting on the Kerry-Edwards campaign; started on John Kerry for President early on as national press assistant.

Graduate of the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, Mass., 2003 with a degree in political science; class valedictorian

. Worked as a press intern for Kerry in Spring 2001. From North Reading, Mass.

Link (here)

A Liberal Priest Arrested A Conservative Priest At A Catholic University While Praying The Rosary

We Are At War!

By Bishop Robert W. Finn

An excerpt.

What can we say about this constant warfare?
Our battle is ultimately a spiritual battle for the eternal salvation of souls – our own and those of other people. We are not engaged in physical battles in the same way military soldiers defend with material weapons. We need not – we must not – initiate violence against other persons to accomplish something good, even something as significant as the protection of human life.

But it is true that we might have to endure physical suffering to prosper the victory of Jesus Christ. He carried the Cross. He promised us that – if we were to follow Him – we also would share the Cross. We must not expect anything less. When you stand up for what is right – you will be opposed. The temptation will be to avoid these attacks. But through our responses we must see what kind of soldiers we are.

Who is our enemy in this battle of the Church Militant?
Our enemy is the deceiver, the liar, Satan. Because of his spiritual powers he can turn the minds and hearts of men. He is our spiritual or supernatural enemy when he works to tempt us, and he becomes a kind of natural enemy as he works in the hearts of other people to twist and confound God’s will. In our human experience people deceived by Satan’s distortions and lies may appear as our “human enemies.”

Read Bishop Robert Finn's full piece (here)

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Norma Leah McCorvey ("The Roe" of Roe vs. Wade) was arrested while praying the Rosary for trespassing by police after Notre Dame University authorized the police action. Watch the video of her arrest (here) and read more (here).

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Notre Dame President Fr. John Jenkins, C.S.C. authorized the arrest by police of Father Norman Weslin for trespassing. The frail Father was arrested twice, watch video of his first arrest (here) and the second arrest (here). Fr. Weslin is the co-founder with Alan Keyes of Lambs of Christ. The video shows the 80 year old Fr. Weslin caring a large cross on his shoulder then being apprehended, cuffed and carried off in a full body restraining devise. While being taken down he is singing the hymn Ave Maria.

Fr. Norman Weslin is no stranger to President Obama, he was arrested for praying at the 2008 Democratic Convention. See the picture (here) of his arrest by the Denver Police Department.

Fr. Norman Weslin was portrayed in the 2006 pro-abortion film "Lake of Fire" read Lifesite's analysis (here)

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Lifesite has reported (here) that Notre Dame President Fr. John Jenkins, C.S.C. has been on the board of a directors a pro-abortion and pro-contraceptives anti-poverty group called Millennium Promise. More on the subject from the Cardinal Newman Society (here)

Last week Notre Dame was awarded a multi-million dollar grant from the Obama administration (here).

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Former Ambassador to the United Nations Alan Keyes, a long standing political rival to President Obama was also arrested. You can watch the video (here). Keyes ran unsuccessfully in 2004-5 against President Obama for the United States Senate in Illinois. Keyes ran an unorthodox race against Obama, he ran on their pro-life differences and what it means to be a Christian in public office. You can watch a samples of their debates (here) , (here) , (here) and (here) President Obama was taken back by Keyes' strait forward criticism and President Obama gave this speech at the Call to Renewal Conference (here) as a reflection of that criticism. With some follow up commentary (here)

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364,351 people signed the petition at notredamescandal.com against President Obama's speech at Notre Dame. The strengthening and influence of the Cardinal Newman Society in Catholic academics is hard over look.

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Over 80 Roman Catholic Bishops openly denounced the invitation of President Barack Obama by Notre Dame President, Fr. John Jenkins, C.S.C.

Former Vatican Ambassador Mary-Ann Glendon refused to accept Laetare Medal because of President Obama's stance on abortion.

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Jesuit Round Up

Fr. James Martin, S.J. the Acting Publisher at America Magazine writes at In All Things: his posts are entitled The Speech at Notre Dame and Who Is A Real Catholic.

Fr. Martin was on CNN with Raymond Arroyo from EWTN. You can read the transcript of their exchange (here)

####

Fr. Frank Pavone of Priests for Life did a great job on
"FOX News Sunday With Chris Wallace."
he debates Fr. Richard McBrien
(here)

####

Despite what President Obama said in his speech. Watch (here). Despite the positive spin put on it by the Catholic left (here). President Obama actions and why he is such a threat to the unborn can be found (here).

Obama And Notre Dame

A new Gallup Poll, conducted May 7-10, finds 51% of Americans calling themselves "pro-life" on the issue of abortion and 42% "pro-choice." This is the first time a majority of U.S. adults have identified themselves as pro-life since Gallup began asking this question in 1995.

Link (here)

President Obama on his grand children
"Look, I got two daughters — 9 years old and 6 years old," he said. "I am going to teach them first about values and morals, but if they make a mistake, I don't want them punished with a baby. I don't want them punished with an STD at age 16, so it doesn't make sense to not give them information."

Link (here) and watch video (here)

Fr. James Schall, S.J. on human rights

So when President Obama goes to Notre Dame this week, we should be sure what is at issue. He goes there for one reason, namely, in this symbolic place, to convince the vast majority of Catholics that his operative definition of “human rights,” not that of the Church, is the correct one.

Link (here)

Obama on "Born Alive Act"

One night, a nursing co-worker was taking an aborted Down’s syndrome baby who was born alive to our Soiled Utility Room because his parents did not want to hold him, and she did not have time to hold him. I could not bear the thought of this suffering child dying alone in a Soiled Utility Room, so I cradled and rocked him for the 45 minutes that he lived. He was 21 to 22 weeks old, weighed about ½ pound, and was about 10 inches long. He was too weak to move very much, expending any energy he had trying to breathe. Toward the end, he was so quiet that I couldn’t tell if he was still alive unless I held him up to the light to see if his heart was still beating through his chest wall. After he was pronounced dead, we folded his little arms across his chest, wrapped him in a tiny shroud, and carried him to the hospital morgue where all of our dead patients are taken.

Obama questioned whether the born alive legislation would impede the right to abort and doctor/patient decision-making. He and an American Civil Liberties Union attorney speculated Born Alive would force doctors to resuscitate nonviable aborted babies.

Obama opposed Born Alive in committee, but voted “present” — neither “yes” nor “no,” but merely “present” — on the state Senate floor, one of many “present” votes that Hillary Clinton has cited as evidence that Obama lacks leadership skills. Clinton voted for the federal Born Alive bill, putting her on record as more pro-life than Obama.

Link (here)

Today a 80 year old priest carrying cross was arrested by police at Notre Dame while he is being arrested and restrained Father Norman Weslin was singing the Ave Maria. This will bring tears to your eyes I promise.

Watch (here)

The most up to date news on President Obama's speech at Notre Dame (here)

The current opinions from America magazines blog In All Things (here)

Link to the Cardinal Newman Society (here)

Link (here) to Priests For Life

Former Jesuit, Bashes Bishops In Jesuit Magazine

More Light, Less Heat

The column by John F. Kavanaugh, S.J., on the recent controversy over President Barack Obama’s scheduled appearance at the commencement ceremony at the University of Notre Dame (“Outrages,” 4/13 online edition) is a fine contribution to the dismal story of Catholic attacks on

Obama, is the first president in quite a while who seems genuinely committed to seeking the common good.

Beyond the particular issue, what is most disquieting is the latent venom in so many Catholics, just waiting to be called into action by some poisonous standard-bearer. Of course the issue of abortion is a serious one; but it is a complex issue, not one best dealt with in haste or by over-simplification.

It is a great pity that the American bishops do not choose to lead by recognizing the complexity of the issue on which they are called to teach,

and then teaching in a way that produces more light and less heat.

In the resultant moral vacuum, it is no surprise that demagogues can whip up the masses on matters whose complexity they have not explored. And I wonder how many of them have reflected on the fact that this man they apparently hate is breaking his back trying to save their jobs, their pensions and perhaps their way of life.

Paul Lakeland

Fairfield, Conn.

Link (here)

Photo is of Paul Lakeland

Crunchy Con Weighs In On Julius Ceasar At Georgetown

According to Georgetown, the president asked them to cover up the Christian symbolism for his speech. Naturally, that gutless bunch agreed.

What is wrong with them? I mean, really: What the freak is wrong with them? Caesar wants you to cover up the Christian symbolism in your, ahem, Christian university before he speaks there, you tell Caesar to go find somewhere else to speak.

How hard is that? For Georgetown, impossible, it appears.

Link (here) to the full post by Rod Dreher

From the combox

Jean Francois Thomas S.J said...

It is a very serious matter. Shame on us , Jesuits, not witnessing our faith in Christ ! It also shows that the American president is certainly muslim, since, for muslims, the Cross must be destroyed. May the Lord have pity on our religious Order.

Fr. Jean-Francois Thomas S.J

Dawn Eden On The Georgetown Mess

UPDATED—Obama's messianic jargon hits 'rock' bottom ...
and G'town removes the Holy Name to accommodate The One

At Georgetown University today, while sitting in the press section at Gaston Hall awaiting the arrival of President Obama for a "major address" on economics, I overheard a reporter discussing the advance text of the speech.

The reporter said that senior presidential adviser David Axelrod had compared Obama during his European trip to one planting seeds for a harvest. Along the same lines, he noted, in today's speech, Obama was set to use another Gospel analogy: that of the "house built upon a rock."

And so it came to pass, beneath Gaston Hall's beautiful painting of Morality, Faith, and Patriotism, with gold letters on the wall behind him spelling the Jesuit motto "Ad majorem Dei gloriam"—"To the greater glory of God"—Obama shared his prosperity gospel at the nation's oldest Catholic university

Read the full post (here)

Diogenes: On Qualifications

Young Catholics love Obama. Or so says

Tom Reese, whose qualifications to speak on behalf of young Catholics are nearly as impressive as the President's qualifications as a "very professorial" economist.

The kids "were dying to get into the hall" when the President spoke.

Oh, and about that hall. A bit of unpleasantness arose when it came to light that Georgetown had covered up the name of Jesus, at the request of White House operatives, on the podium where Obama spoke.

Father Reese saw no special significance in that gesture. It was just a matter of creating clean sight lines, he said. "They don't want distractions that would make the eye wander,"

he explained.

Why, again, was the name of Jesus hidden?

"I don't think this is motivated by theology, but by communications strategy," Father Reese assures us.

And you know what? He's right. Georgetown and the White House were united in the desire to communicate a message. A political message: a positive message about the President's economic program.

Questions about theology-- about God, about Jesus Christ, whose Resurrection we celebrate this week-- never crossed their minds.

There was important work to be done at the nation's oldest Catholic university, and we couldn't allow those enthusiastic students any to be distracted by the name of Jesus.

Link (here) to the full op-ed piece.

Photo is from a pro-life rally at Georgetown during the Presidents speech were a man is holding a picture of Jesus and a man in a Presindent Barak Obama mask is hold a pro-life sign. (here)

Julie Green Bataille," “Frankly, The Pipe And Drape Wasn’t High Enough By Itself To Fully Cover The IHS And Cross ..."

Georgetown Covers Up Name of Jesus at White House Request

---

Before President Barack Obama spoke on Tuesday, April 14, at Georgetown University, the White House asked that all signs and symbols be covered up at the Gaston Hall venue, CNSNews.com reports. In compliance with the request, the university covered over the monogram “IHS,” an ancient Christian symbol of the name of Jesus Christ.

“It is such a sad commentary that Catholic universities are willingly hiding the most visible signs of their Catholic identity when hosting secular leaders,” said Patrick Reilly, president of The Cardinal Newman Society. “What’s next, will Notre Dame cover images of Jesus and Mary and ban rosaries when they honor President Obama next month?”

The CNSNews.com story notes that Julie Green Bataille, associate vice president for communications at Georgetown, said, “In coordinating the logistical arrangements for yesterday’s event, Georgetown honored the White House staff’s request to cover all of the Georgetown University signage and symbols behind Gaston Hall stage.”

“The White House wanted a simple backdrop of flags and pipe and drape for the speech, consistent with what they’ve done for other policy speeches,” continued Bataille. “Frankly, the pipe and drape wasn’t high enough by itself to fully cover the IHS and cross above the GU seal and it seemed most respectful to have them covered so as not to be seen out of context.”

This is not the first controversy surrounding religious imagery at Georgetown recently. A prominent statue of Our Lady of Fatima was desecrated twice in less than a month at the university earlier this year. When the first desecration of the statue occurred, a group of concerned students organized a 24-hour prayer vigil in response, but students complained to The Cardinal Newman Society that the Georgetown administration’s response was tepid.

Link (here)

"IHS" And Every Knee Shall Bend, Except?

Georgetown Says It Covered Over Name of Jesus to Comply With White House Request
Wednesday, April 15, 2009
By Edwin Mora

Photo of Gaston Hall stage that shows symbol "IHS" that was covered up during President Obama's speech to accommodate a White House request. (Wikimedia photo)

(CNSNews.com) - Georgetown University says it covered over the monogram “IHS”--symbolizing the name of Jesus Christ—because it was inscribed on a pediment on the stage where President Obama spoke at the university on Tuesday and the White House had asked Georgetown to cover up all signs and symbols there.

As of Wednesday afternoon, the “IHS” monogram that had previously adorned the stage at Georgetown’s Gaston Hall was still covered up--when the pediment where it had appeared was photographed by CNSNews.com.

President Obama is greeted by Georgetown University President John J. DeGioia as he arrives to deliver remarks on the economy, April 14, 2009, at Georgetown University. Georgetown had covered the symbol "IHS" on the pediment above and behind the two men. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)

“In coordinating the logistical arrangements for yesterday’s event, Georgetown honored the White House staff’s request to cover all of the Georgetown University signage and symbols behind Gaston Hall stage,” Julie Green Bataille, associate vice president for communications at Georgetown, told CNSNews.com.

“The White House wanted a simple backdrop of flags and pipe and drape for the speech, consistent with what they’ve done for other policy speeches,” she added. “Frankly, the pipe and drape wasn’t high enough by itself to fully cover the IHS and cross above the GU seal and it seemed most respectful to have them covered so as not to be seen out of context.”

Pediment in Gaston Hall with "IHS" covered as photographed by CNSNews.com, April 15, 2009. (Photo by Penny Starr,CNSNews.com)

On Wednesday, CNSNews.com inspected the pediment embedded in the wall at the back of the stage in Gaston Hall, where Obama delivered his speech. The letters “IHS” were not to be found. They appeared to be shrouded with a triangle of black-painted plywood.

Pictures of the wooden pediment prior to Obama’s speech show the letters “IHS" in gold. Many photos posted on the Internet of other events at Gaston Hall show the letters clearly.

The White House did not respond to a request from CNSNews.com to comment on the covering up of Jesus’ name at Gaston Hall.

President Obama speaking at Gaston Hall at Georgetown on April 14 with the "IHS" covered up on the pediment behind him. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)

Georgetown, which is run by the Jesuit order, is one of the most prestigious Catholic institutions of higher education in the United States.

Roman Catholics traditionally use “IHS” as an abbreviation for Jesus’ name. According to the Catholic Encyclopedia, “St. Ignatius of Loyola adopted the monogram in his seal as general of the Society of Jesus (1541) and thus became the emblem of his institute.” The Society of Jesus is the formal name for the Jesuits.

Gaston Hall stage as it looked on the afternoon of April 15 with "IHS" still shrouded. (Photo by Penny Starr, CNSNews.com)

Although the monogram was covered over on the wooden pediment at the back of the Gaston Hall stage where it would have been directly above and behind President Obama as he spoke, the letters “IHS” are posted elsewhere around the hall approximately 26 times on shields representing different parts of the United States and the world.

Obama did not mention the name of Jesus during his address. However, he did mention Christ’s Sermon on the Mount.

“There is a parable at the end of the Sermon on the Mount that tells a story of two men…‘the rain descended and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house…it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock,’” Obama said.

“We cannot rebuild this economy on the same pile of sand,” he added. “We must build our house upon a rock.”

Link (here)

The Big Left-Wing Catholic Media Smokescreen

An excerpt of David Gibson's blog post at dotcommonwheel.

The kind of opportunities we as a church would miss if the “bar Obama” voices were to prevail. But they keep on keeping on. Randall Terry et al planned to lead protests at Georgetown:

“The University has deliberately poked its finger in the eye of the Bishops and faithful Catholics who have condemned President Obama’s appearance at Notre Dame. But far worse – they have cast aside the unborn who will perish under President Obama’s policies. They have put prestige ahead of life. Georgetown’s attitude seems to be: Germany’s leaders built great roads in the 1930s, they helped save the banks, and they rebuilt the economy. Let’s focus on their economy – not that whole genocide thing.”

Just finished listening–really good speech. (And I didn’t see any goose-stepping storm troopers, but they’re probably being feted at the cafeteria.) Yes, the bar was low, as far as basic speechifying. But even 12 weeks after the inauguration it’s still so astonishing to hear a president speaking so honestly about the problems and challenges and stressing the difficulties ahead, and the responsibilities each of us has.

Link (here) but get your respirator out!

Torturous Reading At America Magazine

Accounting for Torture
'What are our moral obligations as disciples of a tortured God?'
Maryann Cusimano Love | MARCH 30, 2009

What does it mean to worship a tortured God? Many do not think of the crucifixion in the context of torture, but Christ was in fact tortured—in what would today be considered violations of the Geneva Conventions and Conventions on Torture. God became not just any human, but a person who was methodically tortured, stripped of his clothing, beaten by guards and forced into stress positions by the wood of the cross. Many of the methods used to torture Jesus were also used by U.S. forces at Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq and military bases in Guantanamo and Afghanistan.

Read the rest (here) from America Magazine

For a "Bona Fide" Ignatian reflection read from the hand of St. Ignatius

OF THE MYSTERIES DONE FROM THE SUPPER TO THE GARDEN, INCLUSIVE

OF THE MYSTERIES DONE FROM THE GARDEN TO THE HOUSE OF ANNAS, INCLUSIVE

OF THE MYSTERIES DONE FROM THE HOUSE OF ANNAS TO THE HOUSE OF CAIPHAS, INCLUSIVE

OF THE MYSTERIES DONE FROM THE HOUSE OF CAIPHAS TO THAT OF PILATE, INCLUSIVE

OF THE MYSTERIES DONE FROM THE HOUSE OF PILATE TO THAT OF HEROD

OF THE MYSTERIES DONE FROM THE HOUSE OF HEROD TO THAT OF PILATE

OF THE MYSTERIES DONE FROM THE HOUSE OF PILATE TO THE CROSS, INCLUSIVE

OF THE MYSTERIES ON THE CROSS

OF THE MYSTERIES FROM THE CROSS TO THE SEPULCHRE, INCLUSIVE

.

Obama Judicial Appointee Jesuit Educated

Gerard Lynch is currently serving as a district judge in Manhattan. He holds an endowed chair at Columbia Law School has, throughout his career, served in a wide variety of government positions. He also seems to have figured out the fine art of being a student.

According to the White House press release: “After graduating first in his class from Regis High School, a Jesuit school in New York, he received his B.A. from Columbia in 1972, where he was valedictorian. He received his J.D. from Columbia in 1975, again graduating first in his class.”

Perhaps not surprisingly, Lynch snagged a couple of elite clerkships: working first for the Second Circuit’s Wilfred Feinberg and later for (supporter of abortion rights) Supreme Court Justice William Brennan.

So how will Senate Republicans greet these nominations? It’s too early to tell; the Senate Judiciary Committee will not vote on the nomination for several weeks. A hint could come from the AP story: “with Republicans complaining of inadequate preparation time, the hearing signaled a rocky beginning to Obama’s attempt to remake the federal judiciary.”

Link (here) to the Wall Street Journal

Photo is of Judge Gerald Lynch

America Magazine Blogger Attacks Bishops

Exclusive: President of US Bishops' Conference: Notre Dame Obama Invite an "Extreme Embarrassment"

By Kathleen Gilbert

NOTRE DAME, Indiana, March 31, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Cardinal Francis George, Archbishop of Chicago, has said that the University of Notre Dame's decision to host and honor President Obama at their commencement ceremony this year was an "extreme embarrassment" to Catholics.

"Whatever else is clear, it is clear that Notre Dame didn't understand what it means to be Catholic when they issued this invitation,"

George told the crowd at a conference Saturday on the Vatican document Dignitatis Personae. The conference was hosted by the Chicago archdiocese's Respect Life office and Office for Evangelization at the Marriott O'Hare hotel.

Link (here)

America Magazine blogger Michael Sean Winters writes,

"Cardinal Francis George has now entered the fray regarding Notre Dame’s invitation to President Barack Obama to deliver the commencement address this year. A total of nine bishops have issued statements on the matter, which have sadly come precariously close to disrespecting the President and more than amply shown how out of touch the bishops are with the culture in which they live."

Link (here)

What is the definition of Sacrilegious?

Create Your Own Poll, Get The Answers You Want

Poll Shows American Catholics Go With Their Faith Over Their Religion

By Mary Kate Cary, Thomas Jefferson Street blog

A new Gallup poll is out that finds almost no difference between mainstream American Catholics and non-Catholics when it comes to deciding the moral acceptability of abortion (a majority of both say no) and embryonic stem cell research (a majority of both say yes).

When you look further into it, the poll shows that rank-and-file American Catholics—whether they go to church on a weekly basis or not—are not as conservative as regular churchgoers from other religions, which I assume means observant Jews, Muslims, and Christians.

According to the poll:

Regular churchgoers who are Catholic are significantly more liberal than churchgoing non-Catholics on gambling, sex before marriage, homosexual relations, having a baby out of wedlock, and divorce. Committed Catholics are at least slightly more likely than devout non-Catholics to say that abortion and embryonic stem-cell research ... are morally acceptable. Only on the death penalty are committed Catholics more conservative than regular churchgoers who are not Catholic.

I'm not surprised at all by these findings. I consider myself a mainstream American Catholic—I attended Catholic schools until college, but we don't send our kids to a Catholic school, although we do attend Mass as a family every week (well, nearly every week). We're parishioners at a Jesuit church known for its very activist commitment to social justice and service to others. In the old "faith vs. good works" argument, we like both. Apparently that makes us less conservative than other churchgoers. Why? I think I have an explanation.

Read the explanation (here)

Here is an alternative opinion on abortion polling from Fr. Frank Pavone of Priest for Life (here)

This poll claims 90% of all Americans want limits on abortion, read the results (here)

Peace With Everyone Else Except The Holy Father

Rabbi Yehuda Levin says he sees the media attack on Pope Benedict as being more about the influx of morally conservative Catholics into the mainstream of the Catholic Church, rather than anything else, including the holocaust denial of one of the SSPX bishops, which has received widespread media coverage.

"This is just going to increase the frenzy of left wing Catholics, whether outside the Church or inside, because they now have to carry the ball in terms of keeping the attack on the Pope going."

German dissident priest-theologian Hans Kung is one such left-wing Catholic,

who recently suggested in an article that Barack Obama would make a better Pope than Benedict.

Writing in the German publication Sueddeutsche, Kung expressed his wish that Obama were the Pope. "The mood in the church is oppressive, reforms are paralyzed, and the church in crisis," he said. "Benedict is unteachable in matters of birth control and abortion, arrogant and without transparency and restrictive of freedom and human rights."

Link (here)

Photo is of Rabbi Levin with his Holiness Pope John Paul II

From Georgetown a few months ago, the President John J. DeGioia had this (here) to say.

Father Kung is uniquely qualified to speak to the “Challenges to Islam, Christianity and Judaism in Today’s Global Crisis,” and we are truly privileged to have him with us today. Given his experience and expertise, I know that he will provide an invaluable perspective on how to deepen interfaith and interreligious understanding in the global community…on how the three monotheistic faiths can address today’s challenges…and on how to continue the enduring legacy—and spirit— of Nostra Aetate.

It is now my pleasure to introduce Father Hans Kung… .

Coopted By A Certian Ideology

In less than five minutes after Barack Obama took over as the next president, the White House web site changed from pro-life to pro-abortion. The previous site, which touted the pro-life proclamation President Bush signed late last week, now includes Obama's agenda for women, which calls for promoting abortion. Link (here)

Fr. Jim McDermott, S.J. associate editor at America Magazine wrote this while he was live blogging the inauguration at In All Things.

"The inauguration ends with the singing of the Star Spangled Banner. I realize it's the first time in about six years that I have been asked to sing the song without feeling as though it's been coopted by a certain ideology. For the first time in a long time, I sing along."

Link (here) to the post entitled, Blogging the Inauguration: Wrap Up