I write tonight with a heavy heart.  As I read about today's events at a place I used to affectionately refer to as "the holy land," the knot in my stomach tightens.  Mark this down as officially one of the saddest days of my life.

Last week, the Vatican's "chief justice," Archbishop Raymond Burke, asked the question to Notre Dame, "Is it Catholic or isn't it?"  He asked Notre Dame to "come clean." 

Well, in dramatic fashion, today the University of Notre Dame did just that.



Here's our answer.  While Notre Dame still claims to be Catholic, actions speak louder than words.  It would be hard to imagine what this man could do to become more anti-Catholic, but it seems he's just getting started.  Yet, here we are with this picture.  This picture from a place that used to be my favorite on earth.  This picture that drives a knife into the hearts of Catholics across the nation.  A picture that further cements the confusion about abortion and significantly weakens the Church.  A picture I will forever see blurred by tears.

Reading all the desperate quotations of Church documents and Scripture by today's cast of characters, a couple quotes from St. Paul come to mind:

"The aim of this instruction is love from a pure heart, a good conscience, and a sincere faith.  Some people have deviated from these and turned to meaningless talk, wanting to be teachers of the law, but without understanding either what they are saying or what they assert with such assurance."
1 Timothy 1: 5-7

"...for those who seek a pretext for being regarded as we are in the mission of which they boast.  For such people are false apostles, deceitful workers, who masquerade as apostles of Christ... Their end will correspond to their deeds."
2 Corinthians 11:12-15

Translation:  there is only one thing worse than spreading poison - spreading poison in the name of Christ. 

In my letter to Fr. Jenkins I recalled the stories of Catholics in Germany during the 1940s.  Pastors would exhort their congregations to "sing a little louder" in order to drown out the wailing voices of dehumanized Jews packed in trains outside the churches.  Sound familiar?  Catholics have joined Americans in drowning out the wailing voices of children in the womb for over 36 years.

The singing just got louder today thanks (disgracefully) to a university dedicated to the Mother of God.  Adding the words of the Notre Dame Our Mother Alma Mater to this evil cover-up song is simply unbearable.