Former US Ambassador to Vatican declines top award from University of Notre Dame

Zenit reports today that ‘the former U.S. ambassador to the Holy See, Mary Ann Glendon, sent a letter today to Notre Dame's president, declining to accept the university's Laetare Medal award.‘Glendon, currently the Learned Hand Professor of Law at Harvard Law School and president of the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences, wrote to Father John Jenkins, that she was "profoundly moved" when she was first informed of the decision to award her the medal at this year's commencement ceremony.’

The Laetare Medal is the highest award given by the University of Notre Dame.

Fr John I. Jenkins CSC; Mary Ann Glendon

Here is the text of Mrs Glendon’s letter to Father Jenkins CSC, President of the University of Notre Dame:

April 27, 2009

The Rev. John I. Jenkins, C.S.C.

President

University of Notre Dame

Dear Father Jenkins,

When you informed me in December 2008 that I had been selected to receive Notre Dame’s Laetare Medal, I was profoundly moved. I treasure the memory of receiving an honorary degree from Notre Dame in 1996, and I have always felt honored that the commencement speech I gave that year was included in the anthology of Notre Dame’s most memorable commencement speeches. So I immediately began working on an acceptance speech that I hoped would be worthy of the occasion, of the honor of the medal, and of your students and faculty.

Last month, when you called to tell me that the commencement speech was to be given by President Obama, I mentioned to you that I would have to rewrite my speech. Over the ensuing weeks, the task that once seemed so delightful has been complicated by a number of factors.

First, as a longtime consultant to the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, I could not help but be dismayed by the news that Notre Dame also planned to award the president an honorary degree. This, as you must know, was in disregard of the U.S. bishops’ express request of 2004 that Catholic institutions “should not honor those who act in defiance of our fundamental moral principles” and that such persons “should not be given awards, honors or platforms which would suggest support for their actions.” That request, which in no way seeks to control or interfere with an institution’s freedom to invite and engage in serious debate with whomever it wishes, seems to me so reasonable that I am at a loss to understand why a Catholic university should disrespect it.

Then I learned that “talking points” issued by Notre Dame in response to widespread criticism of its decision included two statements implying that my acceptance speech would somehow balance the event:

• “President Obama won’t be doing all the talking. Mary Ann Glendon, the former U.S. ambassador to the Vatican, will be speaking as the recipient of the Laetare Medal.”

• “We think having the president come to Notre Dame, see our graduates, meet our leaders, and hear a talk from Mary Ann Glendon is a good thing for the president and for the causes we care about.”

A commencement, however, is supposed to be a joyous day for the graduates and their families. It is not the right place, nor is a brief acceptance speech the right vehicle, for engagement with the very serious problems raised by Notre Dame’s decision—in disregard of the settled position of the U.S. bishops—to honor a prominent and uncompromising opponent of the Church’s position on issues involving fundamental principles of justice.

Finally, with recent news reports that other Catholic schools are similarly choosing to disregard the bishops’ guidelines, I am concerned that Notre Dame’s example could have an unfortunate ripple effect.

It is with great sadness, therefore, that I have concluded that I cannot accept the Laetare Medal or participate in the May 17 graduation ceremony.

In order to avoid the inevitable speculation about the reasons for my decision, I will release this letter to the press, but I do not plan to make any further comment on the matter at this time.

Yours Very Truly,

Mary Ann Glendon

Mary Ann Glendon is Learned Hand Professor of Law at Harvard Law School. A member of the editorial and advisory board of First Things , she served as the US Ambassador to the Vatican from 2007 to 2009.

St Gregory the Great with St Ignatius of Loyola and St Francis Xavier

Guercino, c.1626

One can see only a willful betrayal of the gospel in the decision of Notre Dame to give an honorary degree to a politician, albeit the elected president of the USA, whose pro-abortion record is utterly appalling. One can only rejoice that a new sense of direction, of purpose, of courage, is awakening in the Catholic Church in the USA and elsewhere.

The decisions of a number of ‘Catholic’ universities to honour persons who promote the killing of the pre-born child, some of them like Vice-President Biden calling themselves ‘Catholics’, remind me of what St Francis Xavier wrote to St Ignatius from India: Very many out here fail to become Christians simply because there is nobody available to make them Christian. I have very often had the notion to go round the universities of Europe, and especially Paris, and to shout aloud everywhere like a madman, and to bludgeon those people who have more learning than love, with these words, Alas, what an immense number of souls are excluded from heaven through your fault and thrust down to hell!' (This is part of the Office of Readings for the feast of St Francis Xavier).

What would this great missionary think of some of his Jesuit brothers in Georgetown University, Washington DC, giving an award last week to a ‘Catholic’ Vice-President of the USA who sees no justification ever for violence against women and children but who actively promotes abortion?

ANZAC Day

Anzac, the Landing 1915, by George Lambert

Yesterday was ANZAC Day, a holiday in Australia and New Zealand that commemorates the members of the Australia and New Zealand Army Corp (ANZAC) who fought in the Great War (World War I). The landed at Gallipoli, Turkey, at dawn on 25 April 1915 and many were slaughtered. The ANZAC soldiers came to be known as ‘Anzacs’.

I happened to be in Australia for the 75th anniversary of that landing, 1990, and, as I recall, it was a moment when ANZAC Day received a new momentum, the young generation in particular, taking a fresh look at what had happened. The Australian government arranged for all veterans of Gallipoli who were well enough to travel to go to Gallipoli again. As far as I know, many Australians now visit Gallipoli on 25 April each year.

I don’t know what influence Peter Weir’s movie of 1981, Gallipoli, has had on Australians. It stars Mel Gibson. I first saw it in Toronto, where I was doing a year’s study, and it is one of the greatest movies I have ever seen, ever single scene a gem, with a magnificent and moving sound-track and the minor characters remaining in my memory.

ABC TV of Australia produced a documentary that I watched yesterday and today, Lost in Flanders, that shows how the remains of three Australian soldiers found in recent years in Belgium were identified through DNA tests. The programme reminds us that it wasn’t only in Gallipoli that Australian soldiers died in that awful war but also on the Western Front. One of the Belgians who discovered the remains was moved to tears when he saw that one of the soldiers had clearly been buried with special reverence, his arms crossed on his breast and his eyes, as it were, looking at you. It turned out that he had been buried by his older brother who survived the war.

I’m familiar with the area in Flanders featured in this documentary and located the grave of my great-uncle Corporal Larry Dowd who was killed near Ieper on the feast of the Transfiguration, 6 August, 1917, not long before the deaths of the five Australians featured in this programme.

Scottish songwriter Eric Bogle wrote The Band Played Waltzing Matilda in 1971. It evokes the terrible scars of war on some of those who survive. It's sung here by Irish singer Liam Clancy.

Anzac Cove, Gallipoli, Turkey

'No excuse for violence against a woman or child' -VP Biden. (But it's OK to kill a child before birth).

This is a 'PS' to my previous post.

Two quotes from US Vice-President Joseph Biden:

'The next Republican that tells me I'm not religious I'm going to shove my rosary beads down their throat....( 22 October 2005);

'You know there is no excuse for violence against a woman or child. There is no excuse,' said Biden in his speech at the Law Center of Georgetown University, Washignton DC, a 'Catholic' school, on 23 April, when he was given an award.

Clearly a wonderful Catholic of whom we should be proud.

By the way, he's all in favour of the ultimate form of violence against women and children, abortion. Too bad that none of the 47,000,000 children legally aborted in the USA since Roe v Wade in 1973 have never been able to hold rosary beads in their hand, never mind shove them down anyone's throat.

And too bad that none of them will be ever able to make any choices because of his, Hillary Clinton's and Barack Obama's perverted understanding of what a choice is.

'Reproductive Rights' include the 'right' to abortion: Hillary Clinton

Last Wednesday US Secretary of State clarified at a congressional hearing what most of us have known for a long time: 'Reproductive Rights' include the 'right' to abortion.

You can see a video of part of the hearing.

Mrs Clinton is mealy-mouthed in her praise of Congressman Jeff Fortenberry for having raised five daughters who would probably be 'pro-life' - her words. I wonder if she reflected that the opposite to 'pro-life' is 'pro-death' or 'anti-life'. She saw the Fortanberry girls as making a choice.

Unfortunately, girls and boys who have been aborted aren't in a position to make any choice.

She also condescendingly told Congressman Chris Smith that he and other pro-lifers had the right to speak their opinion anywhere in the world, just as pro-abortion people did.

Yes, I can share with the whole world that my choice is strawberry ice-cream, even if yours is chocolate ice-cream. After all, it's a free world.

And it's also officially part of the Obama-Clinton policy to work for the 'right' of women in every part of the world to abort her child. It's interesting that these two people - the president who is the first 'African-American' holder of the office and his secretary of state - are admirers of Margaret Sanger who said, among other things, 'The most merciful thing a family does for one of its infant members is to kill it.' And Congressman Fortanberry pointed out to the secretary of state: 'She [Sanger] advocated for the elimination of the disabled, the downtrodden, and the Black child. I don't believe these ideologies have a place in our pluralistic society.'

Here is a full report from LifeSiteNews:

Secretary of State Clinton Admits Obama will Work to Dismantle Abortion Laws around the World

By Kathleen Gilbert

WASHINGTON, D.C., April 23, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) - In a House Foreign Affairs Committee hearing yesterday, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was confronted on her avowed commitment to eugenicist Margaret Sanger's global agenda, and asked whether the Obama administration would work to overturn pro-life laws around the world - a priority that Clinton confirmed.

In a hearing to discuss the Obama administration's foreign policy, New Jersey Congressman Chris Smith questioned Clinton on her statements upon receiving Planned Parenthood's Margaret Sanger award on March 27. Clinton had said she was "really in awe" of the Planned Parenthood founder.

"The 20th century reproductive rights movement, really embodied in the life and leadership of Margaret Sanger, was one of the most transformational in the entire history of the human race," Clinton had said. She also said that Sanger's work "is not done."
Smith yesterday asked Clinton about her praise for Sanger's eugenic agenda, saying "it is extraordinarily difficult [to see] how anyone could be in awe" of Sanger, who "made no secret whatsoever" of her views.

"With all due respect, Madam Secretary, Sanger's legacy was indeed transformational, but not for the better if one happens to be poor, disenfranchised, weak, disabled, a person of color, and unborn child, or among the many so-called undesirables Sanger would exclude and exterminate from the human race," said Smith.

"Sanger's prolific writings dripped with contempt for those she considers to be unfit to live," he continued. "Sanger was an unapologetic eugenicist and racist, who said, and I quote, 'The most merciful thing a family does for one of its infant members is to kill it.'

"She also said, on another occasion, quote, 'Eugenics is the most adequate and thorough avenue to the solution of racial, political and social problems.'"

Smith asked, "As part of Sanger's work that remains undone," whether the Obama administration seeks "in any way to weaken or overturn pro-life laws and policies in African and Latin American countries, either directly or through multilateral organizations, including and especially the United Nations, African Union, or the OAS, or by way of funding NGOs like Planned Parenthood?"

Clinton replied: "It is my strongly held view that you are entitled to advocate and everyone who agrees with you should be free to do so anywhere in the world, and so are we."

Clinton confirmed that the Obama administration's definition of "reproductive health" includes abortion, and that, "We are now an Administration that will protect the rights of women, including their rights to reproductive health care."

Congressman Jeff Fortenberry of Nebraska also told Clinton he was "stunned" by her commitment to Sanger, and that he was "deeply grieved" at her answer to Congressman Smith.
"She [Sanger] advocated for the elimination of the disabled, the downtrodden, and the Black child," Fortenberry objected. "I don't believe these ideologies have a place in our pluralistic society."

Decrying taxpayer funding of abortion overseas as "a form of neo-colonialism" that is "elitist, paternalistic, and an assault on the dignity of the poor," Fortenberry challenged Clinton to instead pursue foreign policy that "upholds the genius of womanhood and the life nestled within her."

Clinton responded by emphasizing that the "choice" to carry or kill an unborn child should be available "for all women."

Commenting in a later statement on Clinton's remarks, Smith said: "It is evident that Mrs. Clinton and President Obama want to force the tragedy of abortion upon women around the world especially and including in countries where democratically elected leaders want to continue to protect their unborn children.

"There are other ways in which both mother and baby are protected, cared for and helped - with food, nutrition, clean water and life-affirming healthcare," he said.

"Secretary Clinton's inability to see this will mean more babies will die and more women will suffer the consequence of abortion as a result of U.S. foreign policy overseas."

See related LifeSiteNews.com coverage:

Secretary Clinton "In Awe" of Racist Eugenicist Margaret Sanger

'I Dreamed a Dream'

For a real treat, if you haven't seen it already, watch this video. It proves beyond all doubt that you can't judge a book by its cover. Susan Boyle, a 47-year-old unemployed single woman from central Scotland, has become internationally known as a result of her appearance on Britain's Got Talent.

What surprised me is that this story has appeared on a number of Catholic news agencies. Here is that of CiNews from Ireland, based to some extent on an interview with her parish priest, Fr Basil Clark. Knock, in the west of Ireland, is where our Blessed Mother appeared in 1879.

Overnight sensation has sung many times in Knock

Monday, April 20th, 2009

Just before Easter a quiet woman from a small village in Scotland - a devout Catholic and long-term member of the church choir - came to London to sing in a competition, stating that her dream was to be like Elaine Paige.

When she came on the stage the audience snickered and the judges of Britain's Got Talent either rolled their eyes or allowed their blank expressions to betray their bemused scepticism.

When Susan Boyle began to sing I Dreamed a Dream, from the musical Les Miserables, they were spellbound and shocked by the beauty of her voice and rose to their feet in applause.

Back in Scotland Fr Basil Clark, who watched the show on television at his home in Broxburn, was not surprised.

He had seen the situation unfold many times before, having regularly accompanied Susan, 47, on the annual Legion of Mary pilgrimage to the Marian shrine in Knock, Ireland.

'When I watched the judges' faces it reminded me of what I was like when I first saw Susan singing - absolutely blown away by the quality of the singing and by that fantastic voice,' said Fr Clark.

'Anyone who sees her for the first time behaves the same way. I have never heard her sing badly, though she might lose the words if the stress gets too much,' he told the Catholic News Service.

Fr Clark said, 'When she gets up to sing it can either be wonderful or you can get the unpredictable eccentric behaviour, but it is to do with the fact that she has learning difficulties.'

He said that local people who knew her, the youngest of nine children of a family descended from Irish migrants, were 'enormously proud of her and wish her the best but they are aware of the risks she is running', adding that her behaviour has previously drawn cruel taunts from children.

'People are slightly worried about what might happen after this bout of fame,' he explained.

'I am quite worried for her,' he added. 'I think it's great at one level. It might just be the thing that will make her, but she is a very vulnerable person and it could be quite difficult.

'It is a great opportunity for her and as far as I am concerned she should make the best of it, and if it lasts, it lasts, and if it doesn't, then it's still more than almost any one of us will ever achieve," he added. "It is important in sustaining her and making sure this is all a very, very beneficial experience.'

He described Susan as 'a woman of great faith' who was often 'very gentle and very caring' .

Part of her attraction is that she appears to be such an unlikely candidate for stardom. She said on TV that she has 'never been kissed' and has lived alone with her cat since her mother died in 2007.

She received a standing ovation at her parish’s Easter Sunday Mass.

Her fame spread on the Internet, and in just a week she had attracted more than 26 million YouTube viewings of her rendition of I Dreamed a Dream.

Father Michael Cody RIP

Please pray for Father Michael Cody, the Columban Regional Director in Chile since 2007, who died on Tuesday. He will be buried today, Thursday, 23 April, in Santiago.

Father Mike was from Dorchester, Boston, Massachusetts, and was ordained in 1973. He spent the earlier and latter years of his priesthood in Chile while serving in the USA in between. His death is a real shock. He was admitted to hospital on Holy Saturday and was diagnosed as having terminal cancer of the liver. He had shown no symptons of illness before that except for some tiredness.

Father Mike was aware of his situation and grateful for the prayers of his Columban colleagues and friends. But getting word of his death only a day after learning of his illness is a great shock to those of us who knew him.

I first met Father Mike when he was still in the seminary and met him once or twice in later years.

May her rest in peace.

You can read an obituary by Fr Michael Hoban, a Columban from New York City who has spent many years in Chile, on the website of the Columbans in that country. The same obituary is also on the website of the Archdiocese of Santiago. The obituary notes that Father Mike was the son of immigrants from Ireland, Jeremiah Cody and Mary Cashman, and that his father was a firefighter. The firefighters in Boston and New York City include a very high percentage of members with an Irish background.

Father Mike, for me, bore a remarkable facial resemblance to the great English comedian, Eric Morecame, on the right in the photo, with his comedy partner, Ernie Wise. Morecambe and Wise were two funny men. May they too, with Father Mike, enjoy the light of heaven.

The Nine Tasks of Marriage

The Boulevard, Dumaguete City, Negros Oriental, Philippines

I spent last weekend in San Jose, Negros Oriental, near Dumaguete City, as part of a team giving a Worldwide Marriage Encounter weekend. The three WWME priests in the Diocese of Dumaguete were all tied up with parish activities. It was a seven-hour bus journey from Bacolod. We were somewhat delayed by road works approaching Dumaguete.

Before Easter Jackie Parkes featured this item. She got it from Robert Colquhoun’s blog, Love Undefiled. Although there’s no reference to the sacrament of matrimony there’s a lot of wisdom in what Judith Wallerstein, an American psychologist and researcher, writes. The very first point clearly reflects Gen 2:24: Therefore a man leaves his father and his mother and cleaves to his wife, and they become one flesh.

This text is put into the mouth of Jesus in the gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke and is also quoted by St Paul. I believe it’s one that needs to be constantly reflected on by couples and by priests, so that a married couple will always see their spousal relationship as their basic vocation from God. It’s only within that relationship that God calls them to be parents.

St Catherine's Cathedral, Dumaguete City

The Nine Tasks of Marriage (Judith Wallerstein).

1. To be in a marriage is to be a guardian of the other person's solitude.When a couple marries they find that, although they may not be aware of them, there is a series of sequential psychological tasks to address together. Achieving these tasks helps the couple to deal with the inevitable major changes - accidental or developmental - that will occur and that have the potential for weakening or re-enforcing the relationship throughout the marriage.The nine tasks of marriage are:1. To detach emotionally from the families of childhood, commit to the relationship, and build new connections with the extended families.

2. To build togetherness through intimacy and to expand the sense of self to include the other, while each individual carves out an area of autonomy. Identification with the other provides the basis for bonding but within the new unity, there must be room for autonomy; otherwise there is no true equality.

3. To expand the circle to include children, taking on the roles of parenthood from infancy to adulthood, while maintaining the emotional richness of the marriage and keeping a balance between raising the children and nurturing the couple's relationship.

4. To confront the inevitable developmental challenges and the unpredictable adversities of life, including illness, death, and natural disasters, in ways that enhance the relationship despite stress and suffering. Every crisis carries within it the seeds of destruction as well as the possibility of renewed strength.

5. To make the relationship safe for expressing difference, anger and conflict, all of which are inevitable in any marriage. All marriages involve love and anger, connectedness and disruption. The task is to find ways to resolve the differences without exploiting each other, being violent, or giving away one's heart's desire.

6. To establish an imaginative and pleasurable sex life. Creating a sexual relationship that meets the needs and fantasies of both people requires time and love and sensitivity. The stresses of work and family life, changes in sexual desire over time, mean that this aspect of the marriage requires special protection in order to flourish.

7. To share laughter and humour and to keep interests outside the marriage alive in the relationship. A good marriage is alternately playful and serious, sometimes flirtatious, sometimes difficult and cranky, but always full of life.

8. To provide the emotional nurturance and encouragement that all adults need throughout their lives, love, sympathy, restoration of battered self-esteem, especially in today's isolating urban communities and high-pressure workplaces, is hugely important to the relationship.

9. To sustain the innermost core of the relationship by holding on to the early idealisations while realising one is growing older, remembering the images and fantasies of courtship and early marriage and maintaining that joyful glow over a lifetime.

From The Good Marriage by Judith Wallerstein.