Joseph Pecar
A final appeal to Dr. DeGioia and Father Jenkins
Rescind the Obama invitation
By Joseph Pecar
Georgetown University President Dr. John J. DeGioia
Notre Dame President Reverend John I. Jenkins
Dear Father Jenkins and Dr. DeGioia,
Dr. DeGioia, your Georgetown University Internet site biography reads in part, "As the first lay president of a Jesuit university, Dr. DeGioia places special emphasis on sustaining and strengthening Georgetown's Catholic and Jesuit identity."
I was astonished, therefore, to learn that in preparation for President Obama's speech at Georgetown that you ordered the very symbol of the Society of Jesus, IHS — which is the monogram of the name of Jesus — to be covered so that it would not be visible to the audience, or appear in videos or photographs. How in God's name can that action in any way be consistent with your stated emphasis to "sustain and strengthen Georgetown's Catholic and Jesuit identity"? It does just the opposite, it hides or denies Georgetown's Catholicity, its identity with the Jesuit Order, and hence, even the University's identity with Jesus Christ.
But being inexplicably contradictory is incidental to the wicked immorality and harm that the "cover up" has wreaked. Would you have covered "IHS" if the Pope was the one speaking — if anyone known to be pro-Life was speaking? The answer is clearly no. The only people visiting and speaking that you would have covered IHS for are those who support and promote a Culture of Death, like Obama, who since being elected President has become the most well-known, and now the most powerful, radically pro-Abortion person in the world.
Alas, your "cover-up" has little to do with "who" in particular is visiting Georgetown but instead is blatant evidence of Georgetown's inveterate deference to and tolerance of the beliefs, policies, and actions themselves that promote and support the scourge of unrestricted Abortion — and of the Infanticide and Black Genocide that Abortion gives rise to. Jesus has great compassion for people who, even as St. Paul, commit grievous transgressions. But clearly He never shows deference to or tolerates sinful acts themselves. Regrettably, you do exactly the opposite.
And whosoever shall scandalize one of these little ones that believe in me; it were better for him that a millstone were hanged around his neck, and he were cast into the sea — Mark 9:42
Dr. DeGioia, your cover up is just one example of the shameless scandal being given by supposedly highly educated people — often in the name of heretofore highly esteemed Catholic institutions — that is now taking place at an alarming rate.
There are millions of ordinary people who in the past have always adjudged Abortion — and the Infanticide and Black Genocide it engenders in America — to surely be intrinsically evil. However, as a result of such scandalization, their consciences have been corrupted to the point where they now wrongly conclude "such practices could not truly be evil." Why? Because, they reason, if individuals seeking to firmly ensconce radically pro-Abortion and anti-God ideologies in the moral fabric of our Nation were evil, surely Georgetown, Notre Dame and others would not cover icons, remove Crucifixes, and take other steps in deference to or to bestow honors on them."
Do you suppose that — when or if Obama visits there — Notre Dame will cover statues of our Blessed Mother with plastic bags?
Thou shalt not kill! — Deuteronomy 5:17
Since conscience is the very foundation of spirituality, the desecration of the consciences of untold numbers of souls that occurs when leaders of prestigious Catholic institutions willfully give scandal to others are obviously, and in their own right, grievously despicable, heartlessly cruel moral transgressions. But the accumulative evil wrought by Abortion-related scandal is not limited to the degradation of the moral well-being of individuals alone.
No, as the number of citizens and legislators with wounded consciences grows large enough, even more pernicious rights to unrestricted Abortion will be voted for and enacted. That means even more innocent human lives will be lost to Abortion. And because the number of so called "Botched Abortions" scale with the number of "Good Abortions" performed, then the number of post-Abortion but born-alive babies who die despite efforts to save them, the number of post-Abortion but born-alive babies simply left to die (Infanticide), and the number of Botched Abortion survivors left with life-long afflictions and suffering — all will also increase.
What this means is that those giving Abortion-related scandal are responsible for risking, and in most cases the high-likelihood and probability, of being directly responsible for increasing the number of Abortions — procedures which in one way or another stop beating human hearts. Procedures that kill babies. Acts that violate the Fifth Commandment!
Knowing this, how can anyone seriously assert that fostering "academic freedom at a university," Government funding, tax breaks, honoring heads-of-state, or other similar worldly goals take precedence over or justify the hideous evils of willfully perverting people's consciences, of willingly risking or actually taking precious, innocent human lives, or willingly exposing innocent Abortion survivors to lifetimes of suffering from the insidious side-effects of Abortion procedures that don't accomplish their horrific purpose.
Among people whose consciences do not succumb to "If Notre Dame and Georgetown condone it, it can't be wrong" notions, are those who become so incensed by the evil, deadly danger giving such bad example wields that they choose to show their condemnation and disgust by ceasing to be contributors to Catholic institutions. The very institutions whose business they believe should be to include apprising people of their obligation to do their best to eradicate Abortion and all its evil consequences — not tolerating, supporting or condoning it.
Thus, people like Obama with assertively pro-Abortion, pro-Infanticide and Pro-Black Genocide agendas, smile, shake your hand and are delighted to accept speaking engagements and honors precisely because they see the resulting controversies as "win-win" opportunities. That is, by perverting consciences they swell the ranks of voters and legislators supporting future pro-Death quests, and, in addition, they gain allies to help destroy or neutralize what had been Catholic or other religious institutions that at one time were their most potent and ardent pro-Life foes.
Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do — Luke 23:34
Having just completed the Lenten season, one is apt to recall Scripture and see the frightening comparison between your betrayal and denial actions, and Peter and Judas' betrayal and denial of Jesus during his Passion.
Judas thought of Jesus as a Messiah who came to establish a "worldly" kingdom and free Jews living under the oppression of the Romans and other foes. Many charitable people who want to think the best of Judas, feel what motivated his betrayal of Jesus, was not that he wanted to see Him dead, but rather that he hoped that by turning Him over to the those who wanted to kill Him, Jesus' would be forced to show His hand, take action and garner and lead his followers to free the Jews from the cruel bonds of slavery — once and for all.
Judas mistakenly judged temporal goods superior to spiritual blessings that lead to eternal life and salvation. As noted but worth repeating, you and your contemporaries have similarly deluded yourselves into believing the pursuit of academic freedom, financial prosperity, funding, political power, norms of protocol or other secular goals to be more important factors than corrupting the moral judgment and sanctity of literally millions of souls and other acts aiding and abetting the pursuit of unrestricted Abortion rights — a development that will surely maintain or increase the number beating human hearts killed each year from its current 1.3 million level.
From the cross Jesus pled with His Father to forgive those who crucified Him because they "knew not what they did." In this case, with all the brouhaha concerning Father Jenkins' invitation to Obama to be the principal speaker and recipient of an honorary doctor of laws degree at the University's 164th Commencement Ceremony, "claiming ignorance" of the egregious risk that scandal-driven harm can cause, is quite simply "un-forgivably" disingenuous.
And as for the support you received from the American Association of University Presidents, and the Notre Dame Faculty Senate, to most people those professors appear to be acting like shady Philadelphia lawyers who see no moral transgression in attempting to get a client known to be guilty, set free on the basis of finding loop-holes in imperfect Laws. No need to be concerned about morality.
If those groups truly champion academic freedom and advocate taking all views and opinions into account, given the notoriety of the Abortion-centered controversy, one would have expected them to at least address the moral probity of alternative actions. Emulating the Philadelphia Lawyer caricature, however, they tellingly remained silent about that burning issue.
Go ye into the whole world and preach the gospel to every creature — Mark 16:15
Based on all of the above, I would like to add my prayers to God to those of throngs of others that before it is too late you work together to take whatever action necessary to rescind the invitation to Obama to be the principal speaker and recipient of an honorary doctor of laws degree at the Notre Dame's 164th Commencement Ceremony.
For reasons outlined below, canceling the invitation affords a prodigious opportunity to reduce, rather than increase the number of lives lost and suffering caused by Abortion, and to make progress in eliminating the judicial basis for making a women's choice to terminate human life in their wombs an inalienable right.
Father Jenkins, when you extended your invitation to Obama, you may not have envisioned the mortal damage that can, and in part, has already occurred. After their mistaken betrayals and denials, Judas in despair hung himself, while Peter wept bitterly, repented and devoted the rest of his life and martyrdom trying to make reparation for what he did. If I remember my Catechism lessons properly, it is not enough to simply be sorry for endangering or harming others, we must whenever possible make reparation. In this case the perfect reparation is simply canceling the invitation.
Precisely because of the sensational impact canceling at this late date will have, rescinding the invitation will pave the way for an opportunity for the Catholic Church to evangelize — "to go forth into the whole world and preach the Gospel" — on a scale never before possible in the history of Christianity.
What will bring this about is the media firestorm that the announcement will provoke. Such extraordinary and dramatic action is sure to be the item that dominates virtually every newspaper, news and talk-show broadcast and Internet blog posting for weeks. If you and other Church representatives are prepared, you will have an unprecedented opportunity to correct the errors in the way some Catholics view their need to oppose Abortion, and to deliver a Culture of Life message to all Americans, and to everyone around the world tracking the controversy.
To those that love God all things work together unto good — Romans 8:28
More than compensating for actual or possible damage, I truly believe that this chance to bring the horrific evil of Abortion to the "Front Page," could portend a crucial turning point in the battle to gradually but steadily curtail the barbaric practice of Abortion worldwide. Knowing that God has the power to cause good to come from the evil acts of men, perhaps this an occasion where we will see that happen — that the evil consequences of inviting and promising to honor Obama will be to a great extent ameliorated.
To capitalize on and accomplish the maximum pro-life advantage of such an opportunity the Catholic Church must be prepared to speak with "one voice" of our respect for human life; otherwise, it would continue to project confusion and uncertainty on this most basic of issues. To do this, the Church must be able to unequivocally cite a resounding endorsement of the rescinding action from as many American Cardinals, Archbishops, Bishops, priests and pro-life Catholic and religious lay people as possible.
Unfortunately, to date, only about 60 Catholic bishops in the U.S. have publicly castigated Notre Dame for extending its offer to Obama and recommended its revocation. With 197 Dioceses in the United States and perhaps 430 or so Bishops total, there are still many in the hierarchy to hear from.
While it may not be possible for all Bishops to issue personal statements, they should all be willing to express their support by taking the time to log in at the Cardinal Newman Society's, Project Sycamore's or other websites — perhaps set up specifically for use by the hierarchy — and sign petitions to rescind Obama's invitation.
Similarly, the evangelization and pro-life impact of rescinding Obama's invitation would be enormously enhanced if the majority of some 40,000 US priests were also to take the time to sign one of the petitions. Lastly, if we really want to capitalize on this extraordinary life-saving and evangelization opportunity, the Church should mount a full court press to get as many of the 19.8 million Catholics who voted in the 2008 Election to also show their support.
Father Jenkins, it seems clear to me that if you rescind the invitation to Obama, Mary Ann Glendon would again gladly accept Notre Dame's Lactare Medal and with joy show up to deliver her acceptance speech on Graduation Day. It also seems clear that you will have no problem in replacing Obama with another distinguished speaker. If necessary, you could even deliver the principal graduation speech yourself. I am confident that all in attendance would bring down the rafters with applause to be honored to hear the words of such a righteous man who dared to do the right thing under the most trying of circumstances
May I profusely thank you and implore God to bless you should you take this bold step! It could be the finest example in history of why it is a man's actions, more than his words, that are ultimately the most effective way to spread the Gospel to the whole world.
Peace and Prayers,
Joseph A. Pecar
Note: Additional details and references to materials used in this letter can be found at the renewamerica Internet site.
© Joseph Pecar
May 12, 2009
Georgetown University President Dr. John J. DeGioia
Notre Dame President Reverend John I. Jenkins
Dear Father Jenkins and Dr. DeGioia,
Dr. DeGioia, your Georgetown University Internet site biography reads in part, "As the first lay president of a Jesuit university, Dr. DeGioia places special emphasis on sustaining and strengthening Georgetown's Catholic and Jesuit identity."
I was astonished, therefore, to learn that in preparation for President Obama's speech at Georgetown that you ordered the very symbol of the Society of Jesus, IHS — which is the monogram of the name of Jesus — to be covered so that it would not be visible to the audience, or appear in videos or photographs. How in God's name can that action in any way be consistent with your stated emphasis to "sustain and strengthen Georgetown's Catholic and Jesuit identity"? It does just the opposite, it hides or denies Georgetown's Catholicity, its identity with the Jesuit Order, and hence, even the University's identity with Jesus Christ.
But being inexplicably contradictory is incidental to the wicked immorality and harm that the "cover up" has wreaked. Would you have covered "IHS" if the Pope was the one speaking — if anyone known to be pro-Life was speaking? The answer is clearly no. The only people visiting and speaking that you would have covered IHS for are those who support and promote a Culture of Death, like Obama, who since being elected President has become the most well-known, and now the most powerful, radically pro-Abortion person in the world.
Alas, your "cover-up" has little to do with "who" in particular is visiting Georgetown but instead is blatant evidence of Georgetown's inveterate deference to and tolerance of the beliefs, policies, and actions themselves that promote and support the scourge of unrestricted Abortion — and of the Infanticide and Black Genocide that Abortion gives rise to. Jesus has great compassion for people who, even as St. Paul, commit grievous transgressions. But clearly He never shows deference to or tolerates sinful acts themselves. Regrettably, you do exactly the opposite.
And whosoever shall scandalize one of these little ones that believe in me; it were better for him that a millstone were hanged around his neck, and he were cast into the sea — Mark 9:42
Dr. DeGioia, your cover up is just one example of the shameless scandal being given by supposedly highly educated people — often in the name of heretofore highly esteemed Catholic institutions — that is now taking place at an alarming rate.
There are millions of ordinary people who in the past have always adjudged Abortion — and the Infanticide and Black Genocide it engenders in America — to surely be intrinsically evil. However, as a result of such scandalization, their consciences have been corrupted to the point where they now wrongly conclude "such practices could not truly be evil." Why? Because, they reason, if individuals seeking to firmly ensconce radically pro-Abortion and anti-God ideologies in the moral fabric of our Nation were evil, surely Georgetown, Notre Dame and others would not cover icons, remove Crucifixes, and take other steps in deference to or to bestow honors on them."
Do you suppose that — when or if Obama visits there — Notre Dame will cover statues of our Blessed Mother with plastic bags?
Thou shalt not kill! — Deuteronomy 5:17
Since conscience is the very foundation of spirituality, the desecration of the consciences of untold numbers of souls that occurs when leaders of prestigious Catholic institutions willfully give scandal to others are obviously, and in their own right, grievously despicable, heartlessly cruel moral transgressions. But the accumulative evil wrought by Abortion-related scandal is not limited to the degradation of the moral well-being of individuals alone.
No, as the number of citizens and legislators with wounded consciences grows large enough, even more pernicious rights to unrestricted Abortion will be voted for and enacted. That means even more innocent human lives will be lost to Abortion. And because the number of so called "Botched Abortions" scale with the number of "Good Abortions" performed, then the number of post-Abortion but born-alive babies who die despite efforts to save them, the number of post-Abortion but born-alive babies simply left to die (Infanticide), and the number of Botched Abortion survivors left with life-long afflictions and suffering — all will also increase.
What this means is that those giving Abortion-related scandal are responsible for risking, and in most cases the high-likelihood and probability, of being directly responsible for increasing the number of Abortions — procedures which in one way or another stop beating human hearts. Procedures that kill babies. Acts that violate the Fifth Commandment!
Knowing this, how can anyone seriously assert that fostering "academic freedom at a university," Government funding, tax breaks, honoring heads-of-state, or other similar worldly goals take precedence over or justify the hideous evils of willfully perverting people's consciences, of willingly risking or actually taking precious, innocent human lives, or willingly exposing innocent Abortion survivors to lifetimes of suffering from the insidious side-effects of Abortion procedures that don't accomplish their horrific purpose.
Among people whose consciences do not succumb to "If Notre Dame and Georgetown condone it, it can't be wrong" notions, are those who become so incensed by the evil, deadly danger giving such bad example wields that they choose to show their condemnation and disgust by ceasing to be contributors to Catholic institutions. The very institutions whose business they believe should be to include apprising people of their obligation to do their best to eradicate Abortion and all its evil consequences — not tolerating, supporting or condoning it.
Thus, people like Obama with assertively pro-Abortion, pro-Infanticide and Pro-Black Genocide agendas, smile, shake your hand and are delighted to accept speaking engagements and honors precisely because they see the resulting controversies as "win-win" opportunities. That is, by perverting consciences they swell the ranks of voters and legislators supporting future pro-Death quests, and, in addition, they gain allies to help destroy or neutralize what had been Catholic or other religious institutions that at one time were their most potent and ardent pro-Life foes.
Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do — Luke 23:34
Having just completed the Lenten season, one is apt to recall Scripture and see the frightening comparison between your betrayal and denial actions, and Peter and Judas' betrayal and denial of Jesus during his Passion.
Judas thought of Jesus as a Messiah who came to establish a "worldly" kingdom and free Jews living under the oppression of the Romans and other foes. Many charitable people who want to think the best of Judas, feel what motivated his betrayal of Jesus, was not that he wanted to see Him dead, but rather that he hoped that by turning Him over to the those who wanted to kill Him, Jesus' would be forced to show His hand, take action and garner and lead his followers to free the Jews from the cruel bonds of slavery — once and for all.
Judas mistakenly judged temporal goods superior to spiritual blessings that lead to eternal life and salvation. As noted but worth repeating, you and your contemporaries have similarly deluded yourselves into believing the pursuit of academic freedom, financial prosperity, funding, political power, norms of protocol or other secular goals to be more important factors than corrupting the moral judgment and sanctity of literally millions of souls and other acts aiding and abetting the pursuit of unrestricted Abortion rights — a development that will surely maintain or increase the number beating human hearts killed each year from its current 1.3 million level.
From the cross Jesus pled with His Father to forgive those who crucified Him because they "knew not what they did." In this case, with all the brouhaha concerning Father Jenkins' invitation to Obama to be the principal speaker and recipient of an honorary doctor of laws degree at the University's 164th Commencement Ceremony, "claiming ignorance" of the egregious risk that scandal-driven harm can cause, is quite simply "un-forgivably" disingenuous.
And as for the support you received from the American Association of University Presidents, and the Notre Dame Faculty Senate, to most people those professors appear to be acting like shady Philadelphia lawyers who see no moral transgression in attempting to get a client known to be guilty, set free on the basis of finding loop-holes in imperfect Laws. No need to be concerned about morality.
If those groups truly champion academic freedom and advocate taking all views and opinions into account, given the notoriety of the Abortion-centered controversy, one would have expected them to at least address the moral probity of alternative actions. Emulating the Philadelphia Lawyer caricature, however, they tellingly remained silent about that burning issue.
Go ye into the whole world and preach the gospel to every creature — Mark 16:15
Based on all of the above, I would like to add my prayers to God to those of throngs of others that before it is too late you work together to take whatever action necessary to rescind the invitation to Obama to be the principal speaker and recipient of an honorary doctor of laws degree at the Notre Dame's 164th Commencement Ceremony.
For reasons outlined below, canceling the invitation affords a prodigious opportunity to reduce, rather than increase the number of lives lost and suffering caused by Abortion, and to make progress in eliminating the judicial basis for making a women's choice to terminate human life in their wombs an inalienable right.
Father Jenkins, when you extended your invitation to Obama, you may not have envisioned the mortal damage that can, and in part, has already occurred. After their mistaken betrayals and denials, Judas in despair hung himself, while Peter wept bitterly, repented and devoted the rest of his life and martyrdom trying to make reparation for what he did. If I remember my Catechism lessons properly, it is not enough to simply be sorry for endangering or harming others, we must whenever possible make reparation. In this case the perfect reparation is simply canceling the invitation.
Precisely because of the sensational impact canceling at this late date will have, rescinding the invitation will pave the way for an opportunity for the Catholic Church to evangelize — "to go forth into the whole world and preach the Gospel" — on a scale never before possible in the history of Christianity.
What will bring this about is the media firestorm that the announcement will provoke. Such extraordinary and dramatic action is sure to be the item that dominates virtually every newspaper, news and talk-show broadcast and Internet blog posting for weeks. If you and other Church representatives are prepared, you will have an unprecedented opportunity to correct the errors in the way some Catholics view their need to oppose Abortion, and to deliver a Culture of Life message to all Americans, and to everyone around the world tracking the controversy.
To those that love God all things work together unto good — Romans 8:28
More than compensating for actual or possible damage, I truly believe that this chance to bring the horrific evil of Abortion to the "Front Page," could portend a crucial turning point in the battle to gradually but steadily curtail the barbaric practice of Abortion worldwide. Knowing that God has the power to cause good to come from the evil acts of men, perhaps this an occasion where we will see that happen — that the evil consequences of inviting and promising to honor Obama will be to a great extent ameliorated.
To capitalize on and accomplish the maximum pro-life advantage of such an opportunity the Catholic Church must be prepared to speak with "one voice" of our respect for human life; otherwise, it would continue to project confusion and uncertainty on this most basic of issues. To do this, the Church must be able to unequivocally cite a resounding endorsement of the rescinding action from as many American Cardinals, Archbishops, Bishops, priests and pro-life Catholic and religious lay people as possible.
Unfortunately, to date, only about 60 Catholic bishops in the U.S. have publicly castigated Notre Dame for extending its offer to Obama and recommended its revocation. With 197 Dioceses in the United States and perhaps 430 or so Bishops total, there are still many in the hierarchy to hear from.
While it may not be possible for all Bishops to issue personal statements, they should all be willing to express their support by taking the time to log in at the Cardinal Newman Society's, Project Sycamore's or other websites — perhaps set up specifically for use by the hierarchy — and sign petitions to rescind Obama's invitation.
Similarly, the evangelization and pro-life impact of rescinding Obama's invitation would be enormously enhanced if the majority of some 40,000 US priests were also to take the time to sign one of the petitions. Lastly, if we really want to capitalize on this extraordinary life-saving and evangelization opportunity, the Church should mount a full court press to get as many of the 19.8 million Catholics who voted in the 2008 Election to also show their support.
Father Jenkins, it seems clear to me that if you rescind the invitation to Obama, Mary Ann Glendon would again gladly accept Notre Dame's Lactare Medal and with joy show up to deliver her acceptance speech on Graduation Day. It also seems clear that you will have no problem in replacing Obama with another distinguished speaker. If necessary, you could even deliver the principal graduation speech yourself. I am confident that all in attendance would bring down the rafters with applause to be honored to hear the words of such a righteous man who dared to do the right thing under the most trying of circumstances
May I profusely thank you and implore God to bless you should you take this bold step! It could be the finest example in history of why it is a man's actions, more than his words, that are ultimately the most effective way to spread the Gospel to the whole world.
Peace and Prayers,
Joseph A. Pecar
Note: Additional details and references to materials used in this letter can be found at the renewamerica Internet site.
© Joseph Pecar
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