Obama's Commencement Speech Rouses Catholic Protest

While it is almost considered tradition for the University of Notre Dame in South Bend, Indiana to invite the President of the United States of America to deliver a Commencement Speech for its proud graduates and receive an Honorary Degree for the positive accomplishments gained in life, including achieving the U.S. Presidency, Catholics across the nation are protesting the scheduled speech.

The University of Notre Dame announced on its website on March 20, 2009 that President Barack Obama will be the principal speaker and recipient of an Honorary Doctor of Laws degree at the University during the educational institution's 164th Commencement Ceremony, held on May 17, 2009.

Unfortunately, Roman Catholics across the nation are not as pleased with this scheduled speech as the University has been. With the University of Notre Dame's religious affiliations as a Catholic educational institution for higher learning, several Catholic organizations have spoken publically for the expectation that Father Jenkins, President of the University of Notre Dame, to adhere to dogmatic Catholic beliefs and retract the invitation to the President of the United States of America based on these beliefs.

President Barack Obama continues to advance health care policies and medical research which the Roman Catholic Church strictly opposes, namely Embryonic Stem Cell Research and Legal Elective Abortions. With these two issues viewed as a major violation of pro-life morality, The Cardinal Newman Society has spearheaded the protest to demand that the University of Notre Dame show solidarity with the Roman Catholic Church's dogma by shunning the current U.S. President.

The Cardinal Newman Society started in 1993 and is lead by its current president, Patrick Reilly. It focuses on policing the demonstration and presence of Catholic faith in Catholic Universities. The organization started a petition to protest the upcoming speech and honoring of President Obama, which at the time of this article had gathered over 80,000 signatures.

The University of Notre Dame campus body voted in a large majority for President Barack Obama in a mock election before the 2008 Presidential Election that elected Barack Obama into the office of the United States Presidency. The mock election was conducted by the University's student government and the mock election event yielded over three times the participation that the event experienced in 2004. Despite the apparent popularity of the current president from the 2008 mock election results, conservative students are protesting in the University's periodicals and distributing information on campus.

President Barack Obama will be the ninth U.S. President to speak at the University of Notre Dame, joining the company of individuals such as President Dwight D. Eisenhower, President Ronald Reagan, and both President George Bush and George W. Bush.

At this time, both the University of Notre Dame and the President of the United States of America intend to follow the current schedule and look forward to the Commencement Ceremony on May 17, 2009.

Sources:
University of Notre Dame, ND Newswire;
Notre Dame Scandal;
The Cardinal Newman Society