The Independent Record, Helena’s local newspaper, printed a Letter to the Editor (6-11-09) with the acerbic headline, “Bishops Give New Meaning to Hypocrisy.” The writer opined, “To the more than 55 Bishops who have denounced Notre Dame for inviting President Barack Obama to speak at its commencement, I can only think of the collective hypocrisy and double standard they represent.” Sadly, the letter’s writer, like so many others, had missed the point.

Most of the bishops who raised their voices against Notre Dame, including myself, did not object to the university’s choice of commencement speakers. Notre Dame has a history of inviting sitting Presidents to address the graduating students. In this instance, the election of America’s first African-American President is cause to celebrate.

The issue at hand was not the choice of commencement speaker, but rather Notre Dame’s decision to confer the honorary doctorate of law degree upon President Barack Obama.

In 2004, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops wrote in unequivocal language, “Catholic institutions should not honor those who act in defiance of our fundamental moral principles. They should not be given awards, honors, or platforms which would suggest support for their actions.”

In my letter to Father John Jenkins, President of Notre Dame, I asserted, “Sadly, President Barack Obama’s consistent assault upon the civil rights of the unborn reflects the very antithesis of our Catholic social and moral teaching on the sacredness of life from conception until natural death.”

Many of the people who wrote my office following the publication of the letter to Father Jenkins voiced support for the points I had proffered in my letter. A few others, however, voiced vehement objections, many holding up Mr. Obama’s many accomplishments in the Illinois State Senate and his nascent presidency as reason to confer the doctorate.

I see these conflicting viewpoints as a teachable moment, and an opportunity to articulate the Church’s hallowed teaching on the sacredness of life, and to explore some possible benefits that may emerge from these tensions and difficulties.

In 1995, the late Pope John Paul II wrote his Encyclical entitled Evangelium Vitae, The Gospel of Life. The Holy Father appealed to “every person open to truth and goodness and led by the light of reason and grace,” inviting them to “recognize in the natural law written in the human heart (Romans 2: 14-15), the sacred value of human life from its beginning to its end and the right to have it respected.” Pope John Paul II asserted that “it is upon this right that every human community is founded.”

The Church’s vision of human life and human dignity is expansive and deep. The Fathers of the Second Vatican Council outlined the myriad threats to human life and dignity felt in the heart of the Church.

In particular, they name the “old scourges of poverty, hunger, disease, violence and war” as well as new threats to the life of individuals and peoples, especially where life is weak and defenseless. They condemn crimes and attacks against human life:

• whatever is opposed to life itself, such as any type of murder, genocide, abortion, euthanasia or willful self-destruction;
• whatever violates the integrity of the human person, such as mutilation, torments inflicted upon body or mind, attempts to coerce the will itself;
• whatever insults human dignity, such as sub-human living conditions, arbitrary imprisonment, deportation, slavery, prostitution, the selling of women and children;
• as well as disgraceful working conditions, where people are treated as mere tools for profit rather than as free and responsible persons…

“All these things and others of their kind are infamies indeed. They poison human society, but they do more harm to those who practice them than to those who suffer from injury. Moreover, they are a supreme dishonor to the Creator” (GS 27).

The Church must serve as the conscience for society and culture and raise her voice whenever inhumane practices and inhuman living conditions are found.

As Mother and Teacher, the Church has the obligation to preach both to its own people and to society uncomfortable truths that do not always please public opinion. In every situation and at every opportunity, the Church will preach the value of human life and its inviolability, proclaiming unequivocally that human life belongs to God who is its Author and in whose image every person is made.

In light of these observations, I hold the position that the honorary doctorate, when conferred by a Catholic university, should be reserved for persons whose lives and accomplishments uphold the Culture of Life and reflect those exemplary qualities and values we wish to cultivate in the lives of our students.

I believe that Mr. Obama’s voting record on abortion, particularly late term abortion and infanticide in the Illinois Senate, his dismantling of the Mexico City Policy and his support for embryonic stem cell research disqualify him from consideration for an honorary doctorate at a Catholic university.

Why?

Because, the Catholic Church holds that “procured abortion is direct killing.” The late Pope John Paul articulated this position in the Encyclical Letter Evangelium Vitae, when he wrote “we are dealing with the murder of a human being at the beginning of life, lacking even that minimal form of defense consisting of the cries and tears of a newborn baby. Doctors and nurses who put their skills at the service of death also are responsible, like the legislators, who promote or approve abortion laws, and the administrators of abortion centers.”

The Church is committed to building a Culture of Life, and defending the voiceless and the vulnerable in our midst. Her consistent ethic of life causes us to speak out whenever human dignity is threatened or human life made vulnerable.

Our commitment to human life and dignity also compels us to provide loving care and outreach through Catholic Relief Services, Catholic Charities USA, Catholic hospitals, missions, education institutions, refugee camps, HIV-Aids treatment centers, and other forms of Gospel outreach across the globe.

This vision also compels the Holy See, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, and State Catholic Conferences across the land to ask hard questions on a number of issues like poverty, the morality of war and its effects on civilian populations, assisted suicide, capital punishment, torture, the treatment of war prisoners, immigration, the growing chasm between the rich and poor, and the array of issues rightfully included in the seamless garment of life.

But even as the Church rightfully raises its prophetic voice concerning these complex issues, we cannot lose sight of the fact that the systematic killing of unborn life under the protection of law stands as the pre-eminent life issue of our day.

It is my sincere hope that the conferral of the honorary doctorate upon Mr. Obama, and the conflicts it generated, may produce some beneficial consequences for Church and society in the months and years ahead.

If the Notre Dame/Obama controversy is indeed a teachable moment, will it also provide opportunities to:

• heighten the awareness of the American public that since 1973 some 43 million unborn children have lost their lives under the legal protection of Roe v Wade?
• provide new momentum for protecting the civil rights of the unborn under the mantle of the U.S. Constitution?
• help both Church members and society understand the wide spectrum of life issues which must be included when anyone speaks of the Church’s consistent ethic of life?
• put pressure on the Administration to give heightened visibility and support for the adoption option?
• generate greater care and support for women and families to bring their child to full term by opening up new opportunities for education, medical assistance and job training?
• allow the Church to build upon Mr. Obama’s stated commitment to “honor the conscience of those who disagree with abortion and draft a sensible conscience clause …”?
• promote greater dialog between the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops and Catholic university leadership in addressing creatively the tension between institutional autonomy and the Catholic university’s communion with the wider Church?
• provide a catalyst for university leadership to create policies and criteria for persons nominated for honorary doctorates based on clear and lived commitment to Catholic social and moral values?

It is my sincere hope that good will come out of this unfortunate situation, thus strengthening both Church and society’s awareness and commitment to stand with the least, the last, and the lowliest in our midst, and our mutual obligation to uphold and protect their life, dignity and worth.

Published in The Montana Catholic, Vol. 25, No. 6, June 19, 2009.