Bishop Takes Public Stand Against Notre Dame

Good for Bishop D'Arcy! Unfortunately not only is Notre Dame having a performance of the V-Monologues but also is having a "Queer" film fest.



I know many good and holy alumni of Notre Dame. Is this what you remember about your alma mater? The Bishop's stand will mean more if you the alumni of Notre Dame back him and threaten to cut off all support. Notre Dame's prestige comes from its being the premier Catholic University in the United States--but because of weak leadership from within its days as a "Catholic" university may be numbered.



From A Statement by the Bishop of Fort Wayne-South Bend:



"Also, what possible advantage can this text have to the common good of society or of the church? I have dialogued on this matter with Father Edward Malloy, CSC, most recently in an exchange of letters initiated by me this past summer, in which I shared with him my pastoral concern. Such quiet dialogues on difficult matters have always been my modus operandi with Notre Dame and the other Catholic institutions of higher learning in our diocese, especially on difficult issues. This is in the spirit of Ex Corde Ecclesiae which calls for a spirit of friendship between bishops and university leadership through close personal and pastoral relationships characterized by mutual trust, close and constant cooperation and continuing dialogues. But a bishop has an obligation to teach, and there comes a time when the young people at Notre Dame, many of whom, along with their parents, have written to me over the years about this text, need to know the judgment of the bishop on a moral question at a time when clarity about the teaching of the church is required. A bishop can never refuse to exercise this responsibility so central to his vocation.



As an example of a sound moral choice within the context of true academic freedom, I would like to refer to Portland University, a sister institution of Notre Dame, also under the Congregation of Holy Cross. There, Rev. David Tyson, CSC, at that time president of Portland, after reading the text and consulting his deans, who also read the text, determined that it was inappropriate to the mission of a Catholic university, and the play was cancelled.