Show Catholicism and politics u Lo s Angeles Times 1 This editorial appeared in Wednes Wednesdays Wednesday's ys y's Los Angeles Times After Barack was elected president Pope Benedict XVI sent him a congratulatory letter So did Cardinal Francis George of Chicago the president of the US U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops At the time neither the he Vatican nor the Catholic bishops were under any illusion about opposition abortion a to outlawing wing position that obviously put him at odds odd with the churchs church's agenda That I didn't prevent them from welcoming a dialogue with the new president or orI offering to work with him himin himin I in common pursuits I r The same cant can't be said I of conservative Catholics who are are re lobbying Notre Dame Jame University the best- best known Catholic institution of higher learning in the country to rescind an invitation to to speak at its commencement in May and accept an honorary degree Led by bythe bythe bythe the Cardinal Newman Society a self-appointed self guardian of orthodoxy the protesters seem to believe they are more Catholic than the pope The argument against appearance at appearance Notre Dame is that its it's incompatible with the thet t churchs church's opposition to abortion and the use of ot embryonic stem cells in m J medical research But a 4 similar charge could have I been leveled against the the 4 2001 appearance at W W. of George university of ot Bush who as governor Texas presided over scores of executions Although to the churchs church's objections the death penalty aren arent aren't t as absolute as its opposition 1 to abortion US U.S. bishops have taught since 1980 that the legitimate purposes of punishment do not justify the imposition of the death penalty For them the death penalty is also a life issue Catholics in America clergy and lay people alike are divided over whether the church should equate political support for legal abortion with moral approval of the procedure In 2004 the archbishop of St. St Louis threatened to deny Holy Communion to Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry a pro-choice pro Catholic Cat olic Other bishops including Ca Cardinal dinal Roger M. M Mahony Maho y of Los Ls Angeles leave it to pro- pro choice Catholic officials to search their own I consciences Of course the issue at Notre Dame isn't whether O am a Protestant should be welcomed to a a. Catholic Communion rail Its It's whether a distinguished university should ban a speaker with whom it disagrees or engage him as the pro-life pro evangelical pastor Rick Warren did when he invited to speak at his church Notre Dames Dame's decision reflects a historic development in the way Catholic universities are viewed by Catholics and non-Catholics non alike Thanks in part to the Second Vatican Council the last four decades have seen a unthinkable once-unthinkable integration of Catholics into the American mainstream As part of that development Catholic universities have attracted students and faculty of all aU religious backgrounds by combining their identification with the church with the principle of open discussion disc Sometimes that requires a balancing act and there I are voices in the church advocating what they see as the re of institutions such as Notre Dame or Georgetown University These critics took some comfort in a speech by Benedict last year in Washington in which he told Catholic educators that academic freedom couldn't justify a Catholic university's endorsement of positions that contradict the faith and the teaching of the church But the popes pope's mandate is consistent with the position adopted by Notre Dame Damein in the controversy The university's president the Rev John Jenkins has emphasized that the invitation to should in no way be taken as condoning or endorsing his positions on specific issues regarding the protection protect on of life such as abortion and embryonic stem cell research It isn't just Catholic universities that sometimes need to be reminded of the importance of uninhibited debate In 1974 students at Yale drowned out a speech by the physicist William Shockley because they objected to his views about race and intelligence In 2007 I President Lee Bollinger Bellinger of Columbia University rightly resisted calls that he cancel an appearance by Iranian President Mahmoud and then welcomed with a litany of denunciations The attempt to have Notre Dame d is only one example of the impulse to censor dissenting views inan in inan inan an environment that should welcome them In resisting that campaign Notre Dame has kept faith with both its religious and its academic missions 1 |