That other speech at Notre Dame<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"It was hard to ignore the papal bull condemning the slave trade, which was read to American Catholic leaders gathered in Baltimore in 1839. Pope Gregory\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/tmatt\/2009\/01\/that-other-speech-at-notre-dame\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"That other speech at Notre Dame\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"It was hard to ignore the papal bull condemning the slave trade, which was read to American Catholic leaders gathered in Baltimore in 1839. 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{"id":1621,"date":"2009-01-01T06:10:30","date_gmt":"2009-01-01T10:10:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.tmatt.net\/?p=1621"},"modified":"2009-01-01T06:10:30","modified_gmt":"2009-01-01T10:10:30","slug":"that-other-speech-at-notre-dame","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/tmatt\/2009\/01\/that-other-speech-at-notre-dame\/","title":{"rendered":"That other speech at Notre Dame"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

It was hard to ignore the papal bull condemning the slave trade, which was read to American Catholic leaders gathered in Baltimore in 1839.<\/p>\n

Pope Gregory XVI proclaimed that \u201cno one in the future dare to vex anyone, despoil him of his possessions, reduce to servitude, or lend aid and favor to those who give themselves up to these practices, or exercise that inhuman traffic by which the Blacks, as if they were not men but rather animals, having been brought into servitude, in no matter what way, are, without any distinction, in contempt of the rights of justice and humanity, bought, sold and devoted sometimes to the hardest labor.\u201d<\/p>\n

Nevertheless, the first bishop of Charleston, S.C., attempted to soften the blow. Quoting scripture and Catholic doctrine, Bishop John England wrote a series of letters arguing that the pope didn\u2019t mean to attack those \u2014 including Catholics \u2014 who already owned slaves. <\/p>\n

\u201cBishop England was not a bad man. He was not personally in favor of slavery, nor was he a racist,\u201d noted Father John Raphael of New Orleans, at a rally organized as an alternative<\/a> to the University of Notre Dame\u2019s graduation rites.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn fact, Bishop England exercised a cherished and personal ministry to black Catholics,\u201d he added. \u201cBut in the face of strong, anti-Catholic sentiment and prejudice, he simply wanted to show his fellow antebellum Southerners that Catholics could be just as American as everybody else and that tolerance of their cherished institution \u2014 slavery \u2014 was not in any way opposed by the Catholic church.\u201d<\/p>\n

It was wrong for Catholics of that era to seek any compromise on slavery, stressed Raphael, who serves as principal of St. Augustine High School, one of Louisiana\u2019s most prominent African-American institutions. It is just as wrong, today, for Catholic leaders to compromise on abortion. At least the slaves were allowed to live, to be baptized and to receive the sacraments, he said.<\/p>\n

The symbolism was obvious, since the priest is a prominent African-American graduate of Notre Dame. <\/p>\n

The symbolism was more than obvious, since he was speaking at a rally protesting Notre Dame\u2019s decision to grant President Barack Obama an honorary doctor of laws degree, clashing with a U.S. Catholic bishops policy that states: \u201cCatholic institutions should not honor those who act in defiance of our fundamental moral principles. They should not be given awards, honors or platforms which would suggest support for their actions.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Mass and rally on Notre Dame\u2019s south quad followed hours of prayers in the university\u2019s Alumni Hall and famous Marian grotto. These solemn, peaceful events received little media attention, even though they drew several hundred or several thousand participants, depending on who did the counting, as well as 25 Notre Dame faculty members, 26 graduating seniors and Bishop John D\u2019Arcy of the Catholic Diocese of Ft. Wayne-South Bend. A louder standoff between police and 100 off-campus activists \u2014 led by anti-abortion leader Randall Terry \u2014 received most of the news coverage.<\/p>\n

During the actual commencement address, a few protesters yelled, \u201cStop killing our children.\u201d Most of the graduates booed the protesters, then chanted, \u201cYes we can,\u201d Obama\u2019s campaign slogan, and \u201cWe are ND\u201d as they were removed.<\/p>\n

Notre Dame President John Jenkins stressed that Obama accepted Notre Dame\u2019s invitation knowing that \u201cwe are fully supportive of church teaching on the sanctity of human life and we oppose his policies on abortion and embryonic stem cell research.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cPresident Obama is not someone who stops talking to those who differ with him,\u201d stressed Father Jenkins. Then he added, \u201cMr. President, this is a principle we share.\u201d<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, many of the speakers at the \u201cNotre Dame Rally for Life\u201d openly criticized Obama\u2019s policies, but consistently focused their harshest words on the actions of the current Notre Dame administration. <\/p>\n

\u201cFaith without works is dead, words without actions are meaningless,\u201d said Father Raphael. \u201cIf, as we have been told, a dialogue is actually taking place \u2026 between the presidents of Notre Dame and the United States, between the university and the nation, then, for the university at least, that dialogue must be shaped by truth and charity, and protecting the sanctity of all human life, as the church understands life, must be its goal. \u2026<\/p>\n

\u201cActively building a culture of life at Notre Dame must become central to the university\u2019s witness and mission to the nation and to the world.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"