Marquette bishop weighs in on Notre Dame scandal

Marquette, Mich., Apr 7, 2009 / 16:15 pm

Bishop Alexander Sample of Marquette, Michigan has joined the growing number of Catholic bishops and laity speaking out against Notre Dame’s invitation to President Obama. Bishop Sample called the university's decision to honor Obama is "unconscionable" and "completely out of step with the Catholic Church’s teaching."

On Tuesday Bishop Sample joined an increasing number of bishops denouncing Notre Dame’s speaking invitation and bestowal of an honorary degree to President Obama. A petition asking the university's president Fr. John Jenkins to put an end to the scandal had nearly 250,000 signers on Tuesday afternoon.

In his statement, Sample said that Obama’s "campaign rhetoric" and the "actions he has taken since becoming president" have made it clear that he intends to fuel the Culture War and continue the "destruction of innocent human life."

Bishop Sample cited Obama’s "Mexico City Policy" executive order, approval of funding embryonic stem cell research, and "his pledge to sing into law a resurrected Freedom of Choice Act."

Given Obama’s record, Bishop Sample said it was "unconscionable" that a Catholic university would honor someone who is "so completely out of step with the Catholic Church’s teaching" on the protection of "human life in its most vulnerable forms, even if that individual holds the highest office in the land."

Bishop Sample also said he has personally written Fr. John Jenkins and asked him to withdraw the invitation.

He concluded his letter by saying that it "saddens [him] beyond words that the great university name after Our Lady" would honor a politician "who would seek to expand threats to such innocent human life."