A Priest First, and Always

Rev. Theodore  M. Hesburgh, C.S.C.

Veni Sancte Spiritus.  Come, Holy Spirit.

With these daily words of prayer, Rev. Theodore M. Hesburgh, C.S.C., implored the Holy Spirit to fill the hearts of thefaithful and to kindle in us the fire of God’s love.  Last night, at theage of 97 and after 71 years of priestly ministry in the Congregation of HolyCross, Father Ted has gone home to the Lord. 

(from statement of Notre Dame President Rev. John Jenkins, C.S.C.)

Personal note:  Fr. Ted was a Catholic priest who brought together in one special man the identity of the American Catholic.  In the mid 1970's, during late night strolls on the campus, I recall often seeing the light from his office under the Golden Dome. Working, studying, praying, he was ever dedicated to the service of God, Country and Notre Dame. 

Cheer! Cheer!

The University of Notre Dame Sues to Stop HHS Mandate

In a U.S. federal district court complaint by the University of Notre Dame filed today against the Obama administration’s HHS Mandate, numbered paragraphs from the legal pleading outline how the federal mandate violates religious liberty for Catholic institutions:  

271. The Free Exercise Clause and Establishment Clause protect the freedom of religious organizations to decide for themselves, free from state interference, matters of church government as well as those of faith and doctrine.

272. Under these Clauses, the Government may not interfere with a religious organization’s internal decisions concerning the organization’s religious structure, ministers, or doctrine.

273. Under these Clauses, the Government may not interfere with a religious organization’s internal decision if that interference would affect the faith and mission of the organization itself.

274. Notre Dame is a religious organization under the general control and direction of the Roman Catholic Church.

275. The Catholic Church views abortifacients, sterilization, and contraception as intrinsically immoral, and prohibits Catholic organizations from condoning or facilitating those practices.

276. Notre Dame has abided and must continue to abide by the decision of the Catholic Church on these issues.

277. The Government may not interfere with, or otherwise question the final decision of the Catholic Church that its religious organizations must abide by these views.

278. The Government may not interfere with the Catholic Church’s affiliated religious organizations, including Notre Dame, with regard to their religious beliefs on abortifacients, sterilization, and contraception.

279. In accordance with this Catholic doctrine, Notre Dame has made the internal decision that its employee and student health plans may not cover, subsidize, or facilitate abortifacients, sterilization, or contraception.

280. The U.S. Government Mandate interferes with Notre Dame’s internal decisions concerning its structure and mission by requiring it to either facilitate practices that directly conflict with Catholic tenets or face substantial penalties.

281. As a University with a publicly stated goal to ensure that its Catholic character informs all its endeavors, Notre Dame is an integral part of the Catholic Church.

282. The U.S. Government Mandate and its religious employer exemption interfere with the organizational structure of Notre Dame as part of the Church by requiring Notre Dame to include or facilitate coverage for practices that directly conflict with its Catholic tenets but purporting to exempt the Church.

283. Because the U.S. Government Mandate interferes with the internal decisionmaking and organizational structure of Notre Dame in a manner that affects its faith and mission, the U.S. Government Mandate violates the Establishment Clause and the Free Exercise Clause of the First Amendment.

284. The Government is also requiring student health plans, including the one currently offered by Notre Dame, to include abortion-inducing drugs, sterilization, and contraception, and related education and counseling.

285. Defendants have again violated the Establishment Clause and the Free Exercise Clause of the First Amendment by requiring Notre Dame’s student health plan to include services that violate its religious beliefs, and thereby interfering with the internal decisionmaking and organizational structure of Notre Dame in a manner that affects its faith and mission.

Read the full complaint here.

Gutting Church Authority?

In a recent New York Times opinion piece, University of Notre Dame philosophy professor Gary Gutting, who holds the University’s endowed Philosophy Chair, discounts the teaching authority of the U.S. Bishops.  Professor Gutting posits an opinion, purportedly based on philosophical principles, that the tenets of a U.S. Catholic “majority”—and not the teachings of the Church through its Bishops—forms the faith-and-morals authority of the Church on the issue of birth control—and presumably whatever else a “majority” of U.S. Catholics tend to believe. The U.S. Bishops, the professor argues, have no claim on God’s teaching.   Vox populi, vox Dei (the voice of the people is the voice of God).  Note to the University of Notre Dame: 

Really!

As we move into Holy Week, on to Holy Thursday, Good Friday, and Easter Sunday, and all through the 40 days of Eastertide, listen closely to the Scriptural readings to hear what Jesus tells the Apostles about their teaching authority.   Then read the Acts of the Apostles to see how it all works out on Pentecost Sunday and in the days, weeks, months, and years that follow.

In the meantime, you can read this counterpoint response on why there can be no gutting of Church authority on issues of faith and morals, reported by EWTN, from Professor William E. May of the Pontifical John Paul II Institute for Studies on Marriage and Family. Read more.

Fightin' Irish

The Cardinal Newman Society reports on the recently launched 'Dear Father Jenkins' Campaign:

“While the University of Notre Dame continues to be considered as a model Catholic institution by so many Americans, the institution's public response following Obama's February 10 nominal revision to the HHS mandate has been very low key. Now, ND alumni are actively calling on Fr. Jenkins to turn up the University's level of opposition to the HHS mandate."

Follow Dear Father Jenkins here.