Archbishop Hughes of New Orleans Weighs In

This one is particularly interesting. ND sent a good bit of aid to New Orleans in the aftermath of Katrina. Even faced with something of an incentive to give Jenkins & Co. a break, Archbishop Hughes has decided to speak out anyway. This is probably the most balanced argument we've heard from anyone thus far. He starts out by acknowledging Pres. Obama's talents and expressing his own desire for this administration's success. However:

But dignity and equality belong also to our unborn brothers and sisters. We cannot compromise our Church's clear and unflagging opposition to abortion and embryonic stem cell research by providing honors and a platform for those who deny the humanity and dignity of the most frail creatures in our midst. Nor can we accept the denial of conscience protection in the delivery of health or social services. I respect the office of the President . . . I pray for him. As Catholics we need to enter into civil debate with him on the fundamental issues on which we disagree. . . But we do not supply a platform or grant an honor to someone who not only is so wrong on such a fundamental issue but is aggressively pursuing policies which exclude the human rights of the unborn.

Simply wonderful. He does take a pretty sharp dig towards the end:

The University of Notre Dame used to be the flagship Catholic university in the United States. I regret that we are not experiencing that leadership and integrity.

And such is the reality. Jenkins has forfeited ND's right to such a claim. I don't know to whom this torch has been passed, but I am very sad about it.