Notre Dame Scholars Begin Lining Up Behind Efforts to Re-Catholicize Notre Dame

Notre Dame Scholars Begin Lining Up Behind Efforts to Re-Catholicize Notre Dame: Author and Prof. Ralph McInerny Calls Sycamore Trust a Model of the Restoration Efforts

8/24/2008 10:37:00 AM
By William H. Dempsey (ND Class of 1952) -Sycamore Trust

Alma mater, By Ralph McInerny
The University of Notre Dame has always been blessed by loyal and generous alumni. This has never been truer than in the case of Project Sycamore, whose president is Bill Dempsey '52, retired after a most distinguished legal career that began with a clerkship under Chief Justice Earl Warren. Dempsey has rallied fellow alumni to address current campus outrages, and thousands of alumni have subscribed to the Sycamore website (www.sycamoretrust.org). The extremes of alumni sentiment might be called unquestioning, on the one hand, and carping, on the other. Project Sycamore, as evidenced by Dempsey's letters to ND president Father John Jenkins and his analyses of university proposals, is a model of calm and reasonable yet unrelenting friendly questioning of recent events on the South Bend campus.

The trigger for the Project was the incredible waffling of Father Jenkins about, and ultimate allowing of, campus presentations of the infamous and pornographic play The Vagina Monologues. The very title is an affront. Imagine Penis Ponderings, Malice Aforeskin or Anal Analyses. That such a patent effort to corrupt the young and to trash common morality, to say nothing of the enforcement and enlargement of that morality by Catholic moral teaching, should not require five minutes of reflection before being dismissed. Yet the unthinkable has happened, again and again. If only Father Jenkins had simply sought his mother's advice, none of this would have happened.

A meeting of bishops, scheduled to be held at Notre Dame, was moved because the prelates were given no assurance that the Monologues would not be shown again. Bishop John D'Arcy had previously, and publicly, expressed his dismay to Father Jenkins, in firm but gentle pastoral terms. Jenkins' latest compromise has been to meet the Monologues with -- dialogue; that is, to schedule discussions of this monstrosity after it is enacted. The problem is that those who had not fled gagging beforehand did not stay around for the "academic" discussion that followed.

The controversy brought to the surface the disturbing fact that a significant number of Notre Dame faculty are pleased as punch at the showing of the Monologues and characterize objections to it as an assault on - you guessed it - academic freedom. This led Project Sycamore to examine the alarming drop in the percentage of Catholics on the faculty, now hovering around 50 percent. To its credit, the administration too is concerned about this - a concern that would have been quickened by Pope Benedict XVI's remarks during his recent visit to the United States. The plan to remedy this that was proposed by the university revealed, upon analysis by Project Sycamore, that, far from meeting the problem, it would exacerbate it; the analysis is a model of the incisive comments one has learned to expect from Project Sycamore.

The administration would be less than human if they did not wish that Project Sycamore would just go away. What can one do with a group that does not accuse you of malice but rather exhibits the naivete and ineffectiveness of your actions? I doubt very much that Project Sycamore will become deciduous soon. They love Notre Dame too much for that. They are not trying to score points against Father Jenkins. They are appealing to his undoubted intelligence and good will. In the end, it is, in its way, a lovers' quarrel.

A few issues ago, The New Criterion ran a symposium on the parlous state of higher education. All of its exempla horribilia took place on secular campuses. Alas, many of them are what Notre Dame has come to refer to as peer institutions, a designation which is perhaps more wishful than factual. The New Criterion was only one of hundreds of lamentations about our colleges and universities that have appeared over the last decade or so, some of them written by former presidents of as well as by professors in those institutions.

Notre Dame is not a secular university. It is a Catholic university, as indeed were all the original universities. Universities arose, as John Paul II pointed out, ex corde ecclesiae. What the times require is not for Catholic universities to become more like their chaotic secular counterparts, but to recover and celebrate the great tradition in which they stand. The future of Catholic universities could be even more golden than their past, but only if they set aside an indecent respect for the opinions of mankind and celebrate the complementarity of faith and reason.

No one could imagine that Father Jenkins would take exception to this ideal. Only a churl would imagine that there is some plan to secularize Notre Dame. Our president is a good and holy priest, although a philosopher. Project Sycamore and Father Jenkins are children of the same mother, the lady atop the golden dome. She will bring them together in her historic roles as Advocata nostra and Sedes sapientiae.

#####

Notre Dame professor Ralph McInerny gave the inaugural Schall Lecture,"There was a man! On learning to be free" , at Georgetown University on April 10.

The pope and the universities

Published: Friday, May 23, 2008
The pope and the universities

Pope Benedict XVI had barely left the Catholic University of America on April 17 when the Catholic higher education establishment's spin machine shifted into high gear.

One university president said that what most impressed him about the papal address to Catholic educators was what it was not: a dressing-down. Still another president cooed that she felt "affirmed." An administrator at yet another institution said that, as the pope hadn't cited Ex Corde Ecclesia, John Paul II's concerns about Catholic identity were clearly old hat.

One got the distinct impression from the spin that a lot of people thought they'd dodged a bullet --- and were grateful they weren't going home to face irate alums and dubious donors. The "Benedict loves what we're doing" blah-blah has continued ever since.

The facts, to put it gently, suggest something rather more complicated. Consider these excerpts from the Holy Father's address:

"A university's or school's Catholic identity ... is a question of conviction --- do we really believe that only in the mystery of the Word made flesh does the mystery of man truly become clear? Are we ready to commit our entire self --- intellect and will, mind and heart --- to God? Do we accept the truth Christ reveals?"

[What percentage of this year's Catholic college and university graduates could honestly answer those questions with a convinced "Yes?" What percentage would even understand the first question?]

"While we have sought diligently to engage the intellect of our young, perhaps we have neglected the will. Subsequently we observe, with distress, the notion of freedom being distorted. Freedom is not an opting out. Freedom is an opting in --- a participation in Being itself. Hence authentic freedom can never be obtained by turning away from God."

[Might these sentences be printed, framed, and posted in co-ed dormitories on Catholic campuses?]

"We observe today a timidity in the face of the category of the good ... an assumption that every experience is of equal worth and a reluctance to admit imperfection and mistakes. And particularly disturbing is the reduction of the precious and delicate area of education in sexuality to management of 'risk,' bereft of any reference to the beauty of conjugal love."

[How many freshman orientation programs and student life offices on Catholic campuses would have to examine consciences here?]

"....I wish to affirm the great value of academic freedom.... Yet ... any appeal to the principle of academic freedom in order to justify positions that contradict the faith and the teaching of the Church would obstruct or even betray the university's identity and mission; a mission at the heart of the Church's [teaching mission] and not somehow ... independent of it."

[Will the theologians at prestige Catholic universities who affirm Humanae Vitae's teaching on the morally appropriate means of regulating fertility, the Catechism's teaching on the disordered character of homosexual acts, and the teaching of Ordinatio Sacerdotalis on the inadmissability of women to Holy Orders please raise their hands?]

The spin machine notwithstanding, Benedict XVI put serious challenges before the nation's leading Catholic educators. To resolve any doubts that the pope has a different idea of what befits a Catholic college or university than a lot of the Catholic higher education establishment, however, I propose a simple test.

Whether or not to produce Eve Ensler's "Vagina Monologues" --- a "play" that mocks the settled teaching of the Catholic Church --- has become a tedious annual ritual on many Catholic campuses. Prominent among them is Notre Dame: to the public mind, the flagship among U.S. Catholic institutions of higher education. There, the university's president, Father John Jenkins, CSC, has allowed Ensler's "play" on campus, acquiescing to the demands of some Notre Dame faculty while rejecting the counsel of other distinguished faculty members and the arguments of the local bishop.

In the patristic period, disputes within and among local churches were submitted to the Bishop of Rome for adjudication. So here's my proposal and my test-case: let Father Jenkins send Pope Benedict XVI a copy of Ensler's "play," asking the pope whether he considers this material appropriate for production or useful for discussion on a Catholic campus.

The answer, I predict, will not please the spin machine.

George Weigel is a senior fellow of the Ethics and Public Policy Center in Washington, D.C.

Campus Alcoholics Clubs to be Established at Catholic Colleges

Should Drinking Clubs be Allowed on Catholic College Campuses?

A new national group - College Drinkers/Drunk Very Drunk (CD/DVD) recently announced their intention to establish Campus Alcoholics chapters on leading Catholic college campuses. And with that, Campus Alcoholics was formed.

"We think it's time that drunks come out of the closet and fully participate in Catholic higher education," stated the group's founder. "For too long drunks have been looked down upon by other non-drinking members of the college community. At CA meeting you'll meet other drunks in a completely non-judgemental environment."

Immediately, large well-known Catholic colleges jumped on board. One in Washington D.C. at first resisted but under pressure from on-campus drunks announced the full funding of a center for alcoholics. "I never realized how many drunks we already had here!" said the college president. "There may be something about our college that attracts a lot of drunks." The facility will be built using a donation from a foreign prince.

A Catholic college president in the Midwest at first stated that drunkenness is "incompatible with Catholic teaching" but later said the group could operate on campus as long as they "get faculty sponsorship and have a panel discussion" after they get drunk. Another Midwestern College immediately established a chair for alcoholic studies. Finding an alcoholic professor was not a problem.

The smaller Catholic colleges immediately established chapters not wanting to be left behind or considered anachronistic.

A right-wing Catholic group protested that alcoholism is unhealthy, leads to loss of employment, breakup of families, depression, disease, higher suicide rates and early death. They also pointed out that many Catholic priests had problems with alcohol, problems that Bishops covered up, sometimes causing scandal.

"Nonsense" said the group's founder. "That's just old-fashioned anti-drunk intolerance and we're going to fight the haters all the way."

Another Catholic organization suggested that it would be better to treat drunks with compassion and to help them avoid alcohol and bring them to Christ through active ministry. They indicated that it would be un-Catholic to encourage drinking in any way and that establishing clubs on campus could lead to behavior contrary to the Catholic Church's values.

"Another outdated form of bigotry!" claimed the head of Campus Alcoholics. "But not to worry, we have plenty of allies on our side."

Note: There are plenty of organizations, religious and secular, that will help people with alcoholism to get off alcohol and lead healthy and productive lives. Alcoholics need to be treated with compassion but also with the truth about their physical, psychological and spiritual condition.

Next week we'll have a guest columnist from the Fat-Thin Alliance write about wiping out teasing in American high schools.

HLI Calls for Ouster of Notre Dame President

FRONT ROYAL, VA (MARCH 13, 2008) - The Rev. Thomas J. Euteneuer, STL, president of Human Life International, (HLI) today called for the firing of University of Notre Dame President Father John Jenkins, C.S.C., for his approval of the presentation of the play The Vagina Monologues on campus. Father Euteneuer is a Notre Dame alumnus, Class of '84.

Euteneuer said today, "This is really getting tiresome. For forty years Catholic university presidents have been intimidated and afraid of 'offending' ideological feminists and others who have undisguised contempt for the Catholic Church. These groups have been welcomed to Catholic campuses and have been spitting in the eye of the Church ever since. They cannot be pleased or placated."

Euteneuer continued, "Father Jenkins has been given several chances to take a truly Catholic position on this heinous piece of ideological propaganda and has consistently voted against the pleas and well-reasoned arguments of students, faculty and alumni alike. He needs to step down from his position or the ND Board of Directors needs to dismiss him. A Catholic priest just does not endorse this screed."

In the March 10 statement, Father Jenkins said: "Notre Dame's policy on controversial events rests on the conviction that truth will emerge from reasoned consideration of issues in dialogue with faith.... [I]t is, in my judgment, the action that best serves the distinctive mission of Notre Dame."

Father Euteneuer responded, "The distinctive mission of Notre Dame is to communicate the Catholic Faith. There is nothing inherently truth-producing about 'dialogue' or controversy, especially on immoral issues. "Catholics deserve better from a university named for Our Lady."

Contact:
Human Life International
http://www.hli.org
OK, US
John Mallon - PR Director,
johnmallon@cox.net
405 - 720-2575

Statement by Bishop John M. D'Arcy Regarding Dirty Play at Notre Dame

Note: After reading this and realizing that Fr. Jenkins rebuffed the good bishop, one can only conclude that Jenkins is a man with a heart hardened against all natural reason. He is so committed in his sin he cannot move off his position. He has fixed himself in opposition to the institution that ordained him and placed him in a position of authority over young people. The bishop has few arrows in his quiver. He does not want to declare the preeminent Catholic university in the US "not Catholic". But he has no other authority over it.

The decision to allow performances of 'The Vagina Monologues' at the University of Notre Dame

March 2008

Reverend John Jenkins, CSC, and I have been in communication about his decision to allow performances of "The Vagina Monologues" at Notre Dame. I am grateful to Father Jenkins for the extensive time he has put into our conversation and correspondence on these matters over the last two months, and I have taken care in this statement to present his position accurately in order to make a fair response. Father Jenkins has informed me that, while he thinks that this play is a bad play, he believes that permitting its performance under certain conditions, namely, in an academic building without fundraising and with a panel discussion afterwards in which the Catholic perspective is represented, is consistent with the identity of a Catholic university. In particular, Father Jenkins believes that reading the works of authors such as Nietzsche, Gibbon, Luther and Joyce, who in various ways espouse ideas that are contrary to Catholic teaching, in classes at Notre Dame, is comparable to permitting performances of "The Vagina Monologues" under the conditions specified.

As bishop of this historic diocese, entrusted with the spiritual welfare of all those who live within its borders, including the students at our beloved Notre Dame, I believe that, once again, I must publicly and respectfully disagree with Father Jenkins' decision. I am convinced that permitting performances of "The Vagina Monologues" is not consistent with the identity of a Catholic university and not comparable to the long accepted academic tradition through which a wide variety of authors are read and discussed in classes at Notre Dame and in all institutions of higher learning.

In the first place, the difference between the works of authors such as Nietzsche, Gibbon, Luther and Joyce, and "The Vagina Monologues" is a difference, not of degree, but of kind. The former have written serious philosophical, theological and literary works, which have influenced Western thought. As such, their work has academic merit and is worthy of serious discussion and critique in a classroom setting. Father Jenkins believes that Eve Ensler's play was written to shock and offend. How can one put such a play, which many consider pornographic, on the level of serious works such as the writings of Gibbon and Luther?

Even if one could make a case that this play has academic merit, it could be read in class. When a book or play is read in class, the student expects it to be discussed and critiqued; indeed, this is an essential part of the classroom experience. This is not so when one attends the performance of a play. One generally goes to a play and leaves; staying afterwards to listen to a panel discussion about the play is not inherent in the activity of attending a play. No one who comes to the play is required to stay for the panel discussion, and Father Jenkins' attempt to give the performances of this play an academic quality seems deficient.

In addition, unlike reading the play as a classroom assignment, the performances are themselves an endorsement of the international V-Day campaign, even if this is done without fundraising. Is this not the motivation of the departments that have asked to sponsor the play and the young women who will be acting in it? Did they not propose to have multiple performances of the play again this year because they believe it conveys an important message, and they want as many people to see it as possible? In short, people push to have this play performed year after year because they endorse the message it conveys, and they want to be part of the international campaign to promote this message. In allowing performances of the play on campus again this year, whether or not they are officially considered part of the V-Day campaign, Notre Dame continues to cooperate in advancing the campaign's agenda, an agenda which, as I have repeatedly reflected in my several statements over the years, is directly opposed to the dignity of the human person and is antithetical to Catholic teaching.

According to their Web site, the international V-Day campaign has extended the time when this play can be performed to March 30. But if this play is performed on the dates scheduled, it will be held during Easter week, the holiest time of the church year. Notre Dame has a long and blessed tradition of liturgical excellence, a tradition both theoretical and practical and eminently pastoral and prayerful. Easter week is liturgically considered as Easter Day. Surely Notre Dame will not prefer or even seem to prefer the requirements of the V-Day campaign to the proper observance of Easter.

Perhaps an analogy might illustrate how critical the context is when making decisions about what is appropriate to allow. Suppose that Notre Dame was a Catholic University in Nazi Germany in 1938, and a portion of the faculty and student body were Nazi sympathizers. Suppose further that there was a national movement to show a prominent Nazi propaganda film on college campuses. Would not the showing of such a film at Notre Dame involve the university in providing a platform for Nazi propaganda and entail some level of cooperation with the evil of Nazism? Would providing a panel in which the Catholic attitude towards Nazism was included as one among several viewpoints, in any way mitigate the evil involved in showing such a film? Would not the university bear moral responsibility for the fact that some students who viewed the film on campus might be persuaded by the propaganda and became Nazi supporters?

I chose this analogy because Father Jenkins, in our correspondence, made mention of a series of documentary films shown recently on campus concerning the early days of Nazism, which he believes would also have to be banned if "The Vagina Monologues" were banned. But there is an enormous difference between showing a Nazi propaganda film in 2008 and showing it in 1938. One is a matter of historic and scholarly interest in a long-past event, and the other constitutes active cooperation in promoting a current and threatening evil ideology.

I am convinced that, in the current cultural context, allowing performances of "The Vagina Monologues" at Notre Dame is analogous to the situation described above. The play is little more than a propaganda piece for the sexual revolution and secular feminism. While claiming to deplore violence against women, the play at the same time violates the standards of decency and morality that safeguard a woman's dignity and protect her, body and soul, from sexual predators. The human community has generally refrained from exposing and discussing the hidden parts of a woman's body, preferring to consider them private and even sacred. Most importantly, the sexual sin, which the play depicts in several scenes, desecrates women just as much as, if not more deeply than, sexual violence does. The play depicts, exalts, and endorses female masturbation, which is a sin. It depicts, exalts, and endorses a sexual relationship between an adult woman and a child, a minor, which is a sin and also a crime. It depicts and exalts the most base form of sexual relationship between a man and a woman. These illicit sexual actions are portrayed as paths to healing, and the implication is that the historic, positive understanding of heterosexual marriage as the norm is what we must recover from.

Father Jenkins has informed me that after each evening performance there will be a panel discussion, which will include someone who will give an informed and sympathetic presentation of Catholic teaching. In so doing, he notes that Notre Dame "has taken stronger steps than many other Catholic institutions to put limits on the performance of this play." While this may well be true, there are a growing number of Catholic institutions of higher learning that have permanently banned the play.

The overriding issue here is moral. The play is an affront to human dignity, as Catholic teaching understands it. If it is performed, it should be denounced. Otherwise, the university appears to endorse it as in some way good and the impression is given that Catholic teaching is one option competing among many. This method places faith in a defensive position and on the margin and is unacceptable at a Catholic university.

"A faith that places itself on the margin of what is human, of what is therefore culture, would be a faith unfaithful to the fullness of what the Word of God manifests and reveals, a decapitated faith, worse still, a faith in the process of self-annihilation." - John Paul II, Address to Intellectuals, to Students and to University Personnel at Medellin, Columbia, 5 July, 1986. Cited in "Ex Corde Ecclesiae" 44.

Some claim that a performance of the play followed by a panel will "engage the culture" and that out of such a discussion the "truth will emerge." Sadly, "Ex Corde Ecclesiae" is even cited in defense of this position. But what makes a Catholic university distinctive is the conviction that in the search for truth, we do not start from scratch; we start from the truth that has been revealed to us in the Word of God, the person of Jesus Christ, and the teaching of his church. The notion that truth will emerge from a discussion in which many points of view are represented both disrespects revealed truth and separates the search for truth from the certainty of faith; instead, as Pope John Paul II stated in "Ex Corde Ecclesiae": "A Catholic university's privileged task is 'to unite existentially by intellectual effort two orders of reality that too frequently tend to be placed in opposition as though they were antithetical: the search for truth, and the certainty of already knowing the fount of truth.'" - John Paul II, Discourse to the Institut Catholique de Paris, June, 1, 1980, cited in "Ex Corde Ecclesiae," 1.

For these reasons, I believe that the performing of this play, even with one or more persons willing to present Catholic teaching, is in direct opposition to both the spirit and letter of "Ex Corde Ecclesiae." Also, because it depicts and endorses sinful sexual acts in direct opposition to church teaching, I believe its performance to be pornographic and spiritually harmful. This judgment is made after prayer, reflection and dialogue and after preparing several statements over many years.

Because of this pastoral finding, of which I am convinced, and keeping in mind primarily the spiritual welfare of our young students, the good name of Notre Dame and her well-earned position of academic and Catholic leadership, and the blessed Easter week - I remain hopeful that Father Jenkins will reconsider his decision for this year and future years. A decision not to sponsor the play is not only consistent with academic freedom but is a right use of such freedom for it shows respect for the truth, for the common good and the rights of others. (ef. "Ex Corde Ecclesiae," 12)

Bishop of Fort Wayne: Notre Dame President is Wrong to Allow Vagina Monologues

Note: The Bishop presents a detailed argument against the play, one that is rooted in both faith and reason as opposed to the weak defense offered by Jenkins based on emotion and pressure from groups opposed to the Church's mission. Jenkins clearly argues from a fixed position that cannot fathom the possibility that he is just plain wrong. His decision abandons young people to the evils of the age. Jenkins has abdicated his responsibility and failed in his mission as an educator and Catholic priest. As I stated before, he should resign or be removed and laicized.

"I believe its performance to be pornographic and spiritually harmful" and "If it is performed, it should be denounced."

By John Jalsevac

FORT WAYNE, March 12, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) - The bishop of Fort Wayne, Bishop John D'Arcy, has released a public statement berating the president of Notre Dame University, Fr. John Jenkins, for deciding to allow a performance of The Vagina Monologues at the university.

LifeSiteNews.com reported yesterday that Fr. Jenkins released a statement on Mar. 10 in which he announced his decision to allow the performance of the play to go ahead on Mar. 24-26. "My decision on this matter," wrote the president, "arises from a conviction that it is an indispensable part of the mission of a Catholic university to provide a forum in which multiple viewpoints are debated in reasoned and respectful exchange - always in dialogue with faith and the Catholic tradition - even around highly controversial topics."

Jenkins also said, "It is particularly painful for me that Bishop John D'Arcy - for whom I have great respect and affection - disapproves of my decision."

Bishop D'Arcy begins his statement, released today, by thanking Fr. Jenkins for engaging in an ongoing dialogue with the bishop about the advisability of allowing the scheduled performance of the play to continue. Immediately after, however, the bishop launches into a detailed critique of Fr. Jenkins' position, taking taking him to task for his belief that allowing The Vagina Monologues is in any way comparable to reading in class the works of anti-Christian and anti-Catholic authors such as Nietzsche, Gibbon and Luther, saying that between such works and the play, there is a "difference, not of degree, but of kind."

Nietzsche, Gibbon and Luther, writes the Bishop "have written serious philosophical, theological and literary works, which have influenced Western thought. As such, their work has academic merit and is worthy of serious discussion and critique in a classroom setting. Father Jenkins believes that Eve Ensler's play was written to shock and offend. How can one put such a play, which many consider pornographic, on the level of serious works such as the writings of Gibbon and Luther?"

D'Arcy also points out that it is clear that the students and teachers who are pushing to have the play performed at the university, are doing so not simply for the purpose of an academic discussion, but rather because they passionately believe in the message of the play, which promotes sexual license and immorality in a way that deeply contravenes Catholic teaching. "Is this not the motivation of the departments that have asked to sponsor the play and the young women who will be acting in it?" asks the bishop rhetorically. "Did they not propose to have multiple performances of the play again this year because they believe it conveys an important message, and they want as many people to see it as possible? In short, people push to have this play performed year after year because they endorse the message it conveys, and they want to be part of the international campaign to promote this message. In allowing performances of the play on campus again this year, whether or not they are officially considered part of the V-Day campaign, Notre Dame continues to cooperate in advancing the campaign's agenda, an agenda which, as I have repeatedly reflected in my several statements over the years, is directly opposed to the dignity of the human person and is antithetical to Catholic teaching.

"The play is an affront to human dignity, as Catholic teaching understands it. If it is performed, it should be denounced. Otherwise, the university appears to endorse it as in some way good and the impression is given that Catholic teaching is one option competing among many. This method places faith in a defensive position and on the margin and is unacceptable at a Catholic university."

The bishop concluded, saying, "I believe that the performing of this play, even with one or more persons willing to present Catholic teaching, is in direct opposition to both the spirit and letter of 'Ex Corde Ecclesiae.' Also, because it depicts and endorses sinful sexual acts in direct opposition to church teaching, I believe its performance to be pornographic and spiritually harmful. This judgment is made after prayer, reflection and dialogue and after preparing several statements over many years."

If Notre Dame goes ahead and allows the performance of the play on campus, it will be the sixth year in a row that it has done so.

To contact Fr. Jenkins:

University of Notre Dame President
Fr. John Jenkins, C.S.C.,
jenkins.1@nd.edu

Priest President of Notre Dame Approves Pornographic Homosexual Play on Campus

Note: Other activists struggle to define what this issue is all about so I changed the headline. In the age of homosexual abuse by priests that cost the faithful Catholics half a billion dollars, we here have a priest running a nominally Catholic college openly supporting a play that glorifies homosexuality in the most pornographic terms. He's not only unfit to be a Catholic college president, he should be laicized from the priesthood as well as a real and present danger to the souls of the young people in his charge. How can a formed conscience allow this type of news to come out during the season of Lent and just prior to the arrival of the Holy Father? Fr. Jenkins has lost both his mind and his soul. Let's pray he doesn't take many with him.

Notre Dame President Approves Vagina Monologues

University of Notre Dame President, Father John Jenkins, C.S.C., announced yesterday, March 10, that he has approved campus performances of the lurid play The Vagina Monologues on March 24-26. It will be the sixth year since 2002 that Notre Dame has hosted the play.

The Vagina Monologues is a sexually explicit and offensive play that favorably describes lesbian activity, group masturbation, and the reduction of sexuality to selfish pleasure. In one scene, the lesbian seduction of a teenage girl is described as the girl's "salvation" that "raised her into a kind of heaven."

"The announcement comes as a grave disappointment given the status Notre Dame holds as America's most prominent Catholic university-albeit not the most consistent in its Catholic identity," said Patrick Reilly, President of The Cardinal Newman Society. "This play is a scandal in every sense of the term."

For seven years, The Cardinal Newman Society and its more than 20,000 members have urged Catholic colleges to ban The Vagina Monologues, resulting in a significant decline from 32 Catholic campus performances in 2003 to just 19 this year.

Father Jenkins released the statement only weeks prior to the much-anticipated visit of Pope Benedict XVI to the United States, including an address to the presidents of America's 213 Catholic colleges and universities on April 17. The statement also comes after the U.S. bishops' doctrine committee snubbed Notre Dame by moving a February 11 meeting off campus, because Father Jenkins would not assure Bishop John D'Arcy of Fort Wayne-South Bend that plans for The Vagina Monologues would be canceled.

"By approving performances of the Monologues, Notre Dame is in blatant defiance of Catholic morals and basic civility," Reilly said. "Given the imminent arrival of Pope Benedict next month, the refusal of the U.S. bishops' doctrine committee to meet at Notre Dame, and Bishop D'Arcy's repeated condemnation of this play at a Catholic institution, this decision amounts to a public thumbing of the nose to our Catholic leaders."

A Notre Dame policy, "The Common Proposal of the Chairs of Arts and Letters and Fr. Jenkins," makes allowances for almost any event on campus, so long as "a knowledgeable presentation of Catholic teaching is included."

In the March 10 statement, Father Jenkins said: "Notre Dame's policy on controversial events rests on the conviction that truth will emerge from reasoned consideration of issues in dialogue with faith. ...[I]t is, in my judgment, the action that best serves the distinctive mission of Notre Dame."

Reilly countered: "Reasonable consideration of issues-even of perversity-can hardly mean that a Catholic university should put perversity on display and scandalize its students. Catholics have been discussing and lamenting this play for seven years. It's time to move on to both a new discussion and much better campus entertainment."

Seminar moved because of Anti-Catholic Play at Notre Dame

Note: It is absolutely pathetic that this weak college president can't admit the obvious error and apostasy of his decision not to ban this gross and disgusting anti-Catholic activity. He should be removed by the decent and pius alumni and trustees and replaced with a Catholic who cares enough about young women and the entire student body to present decent activities that edify rtather than poison their faith. If you go to Notre Dame and are expecting a Catholic education you should know that Jenkins is trying to prevent that. He's an imposter.

Catholic bishops seminar won't meet at Notre Dame

Seminar moved because of 'Vagina Monologues.'

By MARGARET FOSMOE and CLAUDIA BAYLISS
Tribune Staff Writers

SOUTH BEND - A theological seminar for Roman Catholic bishops that had been scheduled for the University of Notre Dame will be moved off campus because of a planned performance of the play "The Vagina Monologues."

The Catholic bishops made the decision because they disagree with the university administration's decision to allow a student performance of the controversial play.

"Because of the likelihood of the presentation of the play 'The Vagina Monologues' at Notre Dame this year, the bishops made a collective decision to move the seminar off campus," the Most Rev. John M. D'Arcy, bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Fort Wayne-South Bend, said today in a written statement. The bishop declined a request for an interview.

The seminar, which includes Notre Dame faculty speakers and is co-sponsored by the university's Institute for Church Life, had been scheduled for Monday through Wednesday on campus. Instead, it will be at the convent of the Sisters of St. Francis in Mishawaka.

Notre Dame spokesman Dennis Brown confirmed that the bishops moved the gathering off campus and that the decision was related to "The Vagina Monologues."

The university issued the following written statement:

"We understand that not all are in full agreement about the propriety of allowing performances of this play on a Catholic campus. Because of concerns about the play and its potential performance, we have worked collaboratively with the bishops to move the conference out of respect for everyone involved."

Notre Dame and the U.S. bishops have worked together constructively in the past, they are working together on this current meeting, and we are sure that our partnerships will continue in the future."

Brown said the Rev. John I. Jenkins, Notre Dame's president, is not available for an interview on this issue.

Notre Dame students are planning a March 26-28 production of "The Vagina Monologues" in a campus classroom. All such student events require an academic sponsor.

The departments of sociology and anthropology have tentatively agreed to co-sponsor the production.

The departments are awaiting a formal proposal from the student planners about academic panel discussions to coincide with the performances, said Mark Schurr, chair of the anthropology department. Once the proposal is presented and approved by the sponsoring departments, it also must be approved by the College of Arts & Letters.

The student planners could not be reached for comment."The Vagina Monologues," by playwright Eve Ensler, is a theater production that deals frankly with women's views on their bodies and sexuality. It is performed annually on hundreds of college campuses with the goal of raising awareness about sexual assault and domestic violence.

Notre Dame student productions of the play were performed annually on campus from 2002 to 2006, and an off-campus version was presented last year.

Jenkins two years ago considered banning "The Vagina Monologues" because he was troubled that the play's portrayal of sexuality opposes Catholic teachings. That prompted an extensive debate about Notre Dame's Catholic identity.

After listening to widespread campus discussion, Jenkins announced that a Catholic university has nothing to fear from engaging in topics of the wider culture.

He did not ban the play. However, performances must be in a classroom setting (not a theater), the production cannot be used to raise money for community groups and each show much include an academic panel discussion.

The Notre Dame board of trustees passed a resolution in 2006 expressing confidence in Jenkins and agreeing in principle with the policies he developed for evaluating campus events that touch on the university's Catholic identity.

D'Arcy has publicly criticized Notre Dame and Jenkins for allowing the play. In 2006, the bishop issued a nine-page pastoral response critiquing Jenkins' decision and his reasons for not banning the play.

The Committee on Doctrine has seven members: the Most Rev. William E. Lori, bishop of Bridgeport, chairman; the Most Rev. Leonard P. Blair, bishop of Toledo; the Most Rev. Jose H. Gomez, archbishop of San Antonio; the Most Rev. Robert J. McManus, bishop of Worcester; the Most Rev. Arthur J. Serratelli, bishop of Paterson, N.J.; the Most Rev. Allen H. Vigneron, bishop of Oakland, Calif.; and the Most Rev. David A. Zubik, bishop of Pittsburgh.

The committee has several consultants, including John C. Cavadini, professor and chair of Notre Dame's theology department; and Cardinal Francis George, archbishop of Chicago. Cavadini could not be reached today for comment.Staff writer Margaret Fosmoe:mfosmoe@sbtinfo.com(574) 235-6329