Domer Stuff

A reader writes:

As a Catholic Notre Dame grad student (and, incidentally, a long-time fan of yours), I am appalled at the ND administration’s behavior recently. Yesterday the Cardinal Newman Society sent me the following regarding their “Notre Dame Scandal” petition:

“At 7:00 a.m. Monday morning we are going to print the first wave of petitions, and what a statement it would make if Father Jenkins and the bishops (including some of our friends in Rome) saw that we had 300,000, 350,000 or even 400,000 Catholics demanding that Notre Dame live up to its Holy mission!

“As much as pro-abortion Catholics want to make this a partisan issue, you and I know that at its core this scandal is about Catholics and Catholic institutions standing up as a witness for life and for our Holy, catholic and apostolic faith at this moment in history when it is under constant attack.”

If you think recovering ND’s Catholic identity–or simply preventing the Culture of Death from having another platform to speak–is a worthwhile endeavor, would you please post this plea on your blog? Folks can sign the petition here.
Incidentally, the petition already has over 300,000 signers now, so others have been busy! Please help those of us who are loyal Catholics at UND–and the unborn.

So that’s one thing. The other is that somebody writes to ask:

With all the concern about Obama at Notre Dame, I have an ethical question: Would it be wrong to enroll at Notre Dame as a graduate student?

Everyone seems to bash the school as if it’s Satan’s seminary, but it seems that there aren’t any “more devout” universities that can compare at an academic level. For instance, their philosophy department is one of the best in the country, especially in regard to philosophy of religion. In addition, it has some very good faculty.

Would pursuing a PhD at ND be a bad thing for a faithful Catholic (assuming that professional training is primarily what said Catholic is interested in)?

Nope. There’s nothing wrong with it at all (though, of course, all the normal cautions apply in terms of making sure that you find sustenance for your faith, and aren’t going in order to lose your sobriety, faith and virginity and so forth). Since you are manifestly aware of these dangers and are just looking for a good education in your field, if Notre Dame offers one, take it. A well-formed lay Catholic is not called to be afraid, but to transform his world.