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Keyes, priest arrested at Notre Dame protest
IMO a handful of Catholics and non-Catholics on the far-right are attempting embarrass the President and one of our nation's most outstanding universities. As a Catholic, I find this shameful and embarrassing.
Catholics have always shown a mature understanding of the world outside the church. We strive to bring about change by being a living example to others. We protest (for lack of better word) in a thoughtful and respectful way. These people are not examples of the Catholic faith--they are over-politicized misrepresentation of the faith.
Durning the Iraq invasion, we did not stand on street corners calling Bush a 'baby kiler'. We prayed for the soldiers safe return and reached out to families in our community who had family members serving the country. And Priests would offer spiritual guidance to young people conflicted about their service. That's the Catholic way.
This is a grotesque and disturbing misrepresentation of the Catholic faith.
Brennan Bollman, the Notre Dame Valedictorian, however, is shinning example of what the Catholic University is all about:
LINK
Brennan is headed to medical school at Harvard.
SOUTH BEND, Ind. (AP) — Former Republican presidential hopeful Alan Keyes, a Roman Catholic priest and 19 others were arrested Friday after marching onto the University of Notre Dame campus to protest President Barack Obama's planned commencement speech.
The arrests marked the third straight Friday that protesters have been detained. They are angry about the school's decision to give Obama, who supports abortion rights and embryonic stem-cell research, an honorary degree and have him speak at Sunday's commencement.
IMO a handful of Catholics and non-Catholics on the far-right are attempting embarrass the President and one of our nation's most outstanding universities. As a Catholic, I find this shameful and embarrassing.
Catholics have always shown a mature understanding of the world outside the church. We strive to bring about change by being a living example to others. We protest (for lack of better word) in a thoughtful and respectful way. These people are not examples of the Catholic faith--they are over-politicized misrepresentation of the faith.
Durning the Iraq invasion, we did not stand on street corners calling Bush a 'baby kiler'. We prayed for the soldiers safe return and reached out to families in our community who had family members serving the country. And Priests would offer spiritual guidance to young people conflicted about their service. That's the Catholic way.
On May 1, anti-abortion activist Randall Terry and another man were arrested on campus while pushing strollers containing dolls covered in fake blood. On May 8, Keyes and 21 others, many of them pushing strollers containing dolls covered in fake blood, were arrested.
This is a grotesque and disturbing misrepresentation of the Catholic faith.
Brennan Bollman, the Notre Dame Valedictorian, however, is shinning example of what the Catholic University is all about:
I think the word "Catholic" means universal. And I think as a Catholic university, we have to engage all ideas at all levels in a very thoughtful and constructive way, which is what we're doing by inviting this speaker.
He is someone who aligns with Catholic teaching on a number of positions -- immigration, healthcare, poverty -- all things that are very close to the Catholic social tradition that is really a big force at the university -- disagrees with catholic teaching on a number of other positions, but I think does so in a respectful way and is aware of the weightiness of these issues.
So it is of the utmost importance that at a university we engage all of these perspectives.
LINK
Brennan is headed to medical school at Harvard.