President Fr. John Jenkins responds to critics; Bishop John M. D'Arcy: "Notre Dame must ask itself if it has chosen prestige over truth."

• Notre Dame University president Fr. John Jenkins responded to criticism regarding the announcement of President Barack Obama as the 2009 Commencement speaker:

  "The invitation of President Obama to be our Commencement speaker should in no way be taken as condoning or endorsing his positions on specific issues regarding the protection of life, such as abortion and embryonic stem cell research," Jenkins said.
  

  These "crucial differences" in positions on the protection of life are not being ignored in extending the invitation to the president, Jenkins said, but rather can be used as a catalyst for dialogue.
  

  "We are not ignoring the critical issue of the protection of life. On the contrary, we invited him because we care so much about those issues, and we hope . . . for this to be the basis of an engagement with him," Jenkins said.
  

  "You cannot change the world if you shun the people you want to persuade, and if you cannot persuade them . . . show respect for them and listen to them," he said.
  

  President Obama is "an inspiring leader who has taken leadership of the country facing many challenges: two wars, a really troubled economy, he has issues with health care, immigration, education reform, and he has addressed those with intelligence, courage and honesty," Jenkins said.

  One problem -- you're not engaging the President in "dialogue"; rather, you're a Catholic institution bestowing an honorary law degree on a man who has zealously defended Roe vs. Wade. (The blog Cosmos, Liturgy, Sex has more).
  

• From National Review, a symposium: A Moral Exemplar? - Should the University of Notre Dame honor our most anti-life president? with contributions by Rick Garnett, George Weigel, James V. Schall, SJ, Ralph McInerny, Fr. George Rutler (among others).
  

• Bishop John M. D'Arcy has issued a statement saying that he won't be attending Notre Dame's commencement exercises:

  This will be the 25th Notre Dame graduation during my time as bishop. After much prayer, I have decided not to attend the graduation. I wish no disrespect to our president, I pray for him and wish him well. I have always revered the Office of the Presidency. But a bishop must teach the Catholic faith “in season and out of season,” and he teaches not only by his words — but by his actions.
  

  My decision is not an attack on anyone, but is in defense of the truth about human life.
  

  I have in mind also the statement of the U.S. Catholic Bishops in 2004. “The Catholic community and Catholic 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.” Indeed, the measure of any Catholic institution is not only what it stands for, but also what it will not stand for.
  

  I have spoken with Professor Mary Ann Glendon, who is to receive the Laetare Medal. I have known her for many years and hold her in high esteem. We are both teachers, but in different ways. I have encouraged her to accept this award and take the opportunity such an award gives her to teach.
  

  Even as I continue to ponder in prayer these events, which many have found shocking, so must Notre Dame. Indeed, as a Catholic University, Notre Dame must ask itself, if by this decision it has chosen prestige over truth.
  

• Catholic News Service's Chaz Muth reports that despite criticism, University of Notre Dame officials were standing firm on their choice of President Barack Obama as commencement speaker.
  

• More than 100,000 individuals have signed the Cardinal Newman Society's petition opposing Notre Dame's decision.
  

• Timely reading from Fr. James V. Schall: