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Cavaliere
That is not my point at all. My point is, the same people who are condemning Jenkins for continuing to hold those people responsible for their actions are unwilling to do the very thing they are asking of Fr. Jenkins – forgive. They are hypocrites.

So Francis, forgiveness of others is dependant on their forgiving us first? As far as John Paul, attempted murder is a bit different from trespassing.

Cavaliere
Pope John Paul II forgave, but the gunman still faced the legal consequences for his actions. It seems to me that forgiveness goes both ways, and I see many who are completely unwilling to consider the possibility that Jenkins went to the March for Life with a sincere heart. Here’s this guy that the “pro-life” movement villified, and he shows up at their main event, and those same people are reluctant to forgive him.

Greta
So, the “Catholic” thing to do is to publicly harrass and heckle someone who sees things differently than you? And then those who try to protect Jenkins, even though they disagreed with him, (CT’s post below) in a mob of people are condemned as less than Catholic? And then, according to your thinking, God is getting them back by cursing their football team…
Thanks for the theology lesson!

Pope John Paul forgives his assassin, Pope Benedict forgives the woman who knocked him down at Mass and the Vatican refuses to press charges. But poor Fr. Jenkin’s ego is so hurt that he refuses to drop the charges against the trespassers. Funny but isn’t there a line in the Our Father, forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us?

jenkins does not care what anyone thinks about his position. He did not care what the Bishops thought of him or his actions. All of this is clear. In addition, the board at ND obviously did not care about what the Bishops thought either as they renewed jenkins contract. To have some people whining about the way he was treated when he finally showed up at the national pro life rally further goes to the fact that many are lost to Catholic teaching. Also the fact that many students at ND obviously voted for and support the most pro death president of all time speaks volumes about ND and how they are teaching the Catholic faith to there students under jenkins leadership. ND is not a Catholic school in any way. Yes, there are some strong Catholic who attend there, but it is not a place to send your kid if you want him to come out a Catholic educated in what the Church really teaches. So now when their vaunted football team continues to struggle under the watchful eye of Jesus mother, I see justice for those lost souls. If it had not been for football, it would have been a little campus in a little rural town in Indiana. It seems only fitting our lady would show how she felt by taking it away.

I have to agree with CT and Johnny Domer. The Notre Dame 88 unfairly (with the help of Life Site News, EWTN and, it seems, AmericanPapist) used the March for Life to further their own cause. The lack of respect that this group showed to the faithful members of the Notre Dame family (who were harrassed throughout the March–I had a family member in attendance) and to the rest of the pro-life community remains appalling. Dividing the pro-life movement on the one day a year that we make a point to show the country our solidarity with the unborn was a careless decision.

I agree with those who say that Fr. Jenkins needs to do a lot more to repair the scandal that was created by honoring Obama. This is not a Jenkins-apology.

But, I must say, thanks to the “circus” created by some during the commencement last May, media attention was diverted from the dedicated and courageous faculty, students and alumni who objected to the honoring of Obama. Those courageous members of the Notre Dame family deserved to be the face of the opposition to the administration. They had the blessings of Bishop John D’Arcy, who you may recalls urged people to stay away from “unseemly and unhelpful demonstrations,” and the clear thinking to know what actions would be considered respectful by others and had the best chance to change hearts and minds. However, the gall and pride of some members of the Notre Dame 88 fractured the response to Fr. Jenkins on Commencement Day and took away any chance that those courageous faculty, alumni and students would be given the attention that they deserved.

CT
Thank you for a first hand account of the situation. It gives us a context which is missing from Tom Peters’ original post and from the article Peters quoted.

I have to agree with Johnny Domer. As a Notre Dame Alum who was also at the march, I commend Father Jenkins for coming. I was (and am) furious with his decision to honor President Obama in defiance of the bishops and all pretense at common sense. I am withholding my donations from the school for the tenure of his presidency. So I am no fan of Father Jenkins. I also believe that he’s doing damage control b/c if his motives were absolutely pure, he would have been there long before this. Having said that, I was VERY put off by all the anti-Jenkins signs. The Notre Dame family – students, faculty, and alumni were there to stand up for life and despite his recent failings, it was a GOOD thing that Father Jenkins was there (regardless of his motivations). I don’t doubt that he completely shut down in the face of people coming up to him (I was approached by the anti-Jenkins people and told to basically keep harassing him throughout the day, which I refused to do). I would have been nervous to be there if I were him. At first he was standing in our group and no one was really talking to him and then slowly people began to approach him and he started to loosen up. I myself had a conversation with him and I found him very pleasant (and yes I told him how disappointed I was with what happened). The anti-Jenkins people. though few, were ALL along the parade route and kept trying to approach the group and ask us to point out Father Jenkins to them. I started to feel protective of him as I didn’t think this was at ALL appropriate. They wanted a confrontation and it was entirely the wrong time and place.

He needs to do a LOT more over a long period of time to convince me it’s anything but show. However, it was good for Notre Dame that he was there, it was a difficult place for him to be, and I do commend him for following through on it.

Just my 2 cents on the subject.

Francis, I think you are missing the point, not me. The problem arose because Jenkins defied proper Church authority to begin with. If you want to defend a disobedient, heterodox priest fine. I believe he got what he had coming to him. He’s a weak little man and clearly shouldn’t be leading an obstensibly Catholic University. He couldn’t speak “truth to power” if his life depended on it. He’s just RIchard Rich.

TJM
That is really not the issue at this point. The post and comments are regarding the people arrested for protesting inappropriately and trespassing on private property.

Father Jenkins was dead wrong to allow President Obama to receive an honorary degree at Notre Dame. It was in direct violation of Church directives. It’s particularly scandalous knowing Obama’s history as an Illinois senator and the fact he is the most pro-abortion President we’ve ever had. I am a double-Domer and have withdrawn any support to the University so long as the Jenkins regime remains in place. I’m surprised Rome hasn’t suspended Jenkins.

The public in general has no idea what every nut case out there said or wrote to Fr. Jenkins about his decision to invite President Obama to ND. Some would use their pro-life stance as justification for all kinds of terrible behavior. So here’s Fr. Jenkins publicly participating in the March for Life, which is great, and in the process he encounters some person who wants to confront him about this situation. If I were in Fr. Jenkins’ shoes, I would be extremely cautious in that environment, knowing that many pro-lifers would not be very welcoming to him.

Domer: Totally incorrect to lump all of the ND 88 in with Randall Terry. There were many people arrested who had nothing to do with him and his organization.

The fact that Fr. Jenkins doesn’t even know who Joe Schielder is speaks volumes.

And just to jog your memories, here’s one of Jenkins best classless and tacky moments: http://www.jillstanek.com/archives/2009/05/video_of_elderl.html

Yeah, Fr. Weslin is a total “wacko.”

While I was not there at ND during that time, my understanding, from the few media reports available, was that there were quite a few people who were arrested for protesting on the motorcade route on ND property. While I do not condone Randall Terry, nor some of his tactics, attending a mass or a peaceful protest that was not televised as was the main commencment, while definately worthwile and good, does nothing to show the President, nor the American public, what is going on in the Pro-Life movement. Precisely because the President was invited to speak there and the media made such a big deal of it was the reason the “other side” (Pro-Life) had to make a bid deal out of it – hence the peaceful protests and signs. (I have been at political events where the police do not allow you to bring signs, tear them out of your hands and threaten to arrest you, even though the event had yet to start; and yes, we were just holding signs.)

The bigger issue here is Fr. Jenkins refusal to speak with Joseph Scheidler. Shame on any priest that recieves repeated requests from someone to dialogue and does not respond; then gives a brush-off when confronted face-to-face. My response, at the time might have been: are you speaking for Jesus now, for ND, or just for John Jenkins? If, in fact, the conversation came to pass as Joseph Scheidler says it did, then shame on Fr. Jenkins.

Lastly, please do not think that the public feels the kids at ND are part of the problem. We appreciate your faithfulness. Maybe that sympathetic 99% could send a letter to Fr. Jenkins, asking for him to step up on behalf of those 88 and ask that the charges be dropped.

Johnny Domer
“Classless” pretty much sums up the Randall Terry camp. Great post. Go Irish!!

As a pro-life student at ND, I’d like to speak somewhat in Fr. Jenkins’ defense. There were a number of protesters at the March for Life (of whom Joe Scheidler was one) led by the somewhat-notorious Randall Terry who brought several large, yellow banners saying “Free the Notre Dame 88.” I think they had about 10 signs and 20 people, so not a ton of folks I’d say. These people protested outside of the Mass that ND Right to Life and its supporters had at a parish in Arlington the morning before the March, which I thought was a very non-classy thing to do. Fr. Jenkins offered the Mass, something that ND Right to Life was VERY happy about, as it was part of a series of steps ND is making towards giving a stronger institutional commitment to the Pro-life cause. There were more than 400 committed, faithful pro-lifers at that Mass (Notre Dame students, faculty, and other friends of the pro-life cause), and Randall’s group chose to come and protest the one individual (Fr. Jenkins) who was doing something objectionable. It did nothing actually to advance their cause, but it made all of us pro-life kids feel very uncomfortable and less sympathetic to them than we were previously. At the rally before the March, they set up their banner right in front of and then to the side of ND Right to Life’s banner, as if they were protesting all of the ND kids, 99% of whom are sympathetic to their plight. I thought it was a classless and tacky way to go about advocating for their cause, making the ND kids feel like they were somehow part of the problem, when they absolutely are NOT.

Let me give another bit of history. Randall Terry and his 88 folks COULD have joined with the 4,000 other individuals who peacefully and respectfully protested President Obama’s presence at ND during the commencement exercises of last spring, a protest which had the blessing (and was graced with the presence) of the Bishop of Ft. Wayne-South Bend (now emeritus), John D’Arcy. They could have joined with us and not gotten arrested, and still not have sacrificed anything in giving witness to the cause of life, and of defending our university’s Catholic character. Instead they decided to behave in a fashion deliberately designed to get themselves arrested, and made all the rest of us look like idiots besides. They covered baby dolls in stage blood, and did other ridiculous stunts of that nature; the mainstream press, of course, covered the ludicrous activity of these 88 individuals MORE than they covered the respectful, prayerful, principled activity of the 4,000 people who protested on campus during commencement, and made no distinction between the “wacko” pro-lifers and the “non-wacko” ones. There was no reason for them to get arrested.

I would support the university dropping the charges against these people because I think many of them are good individuals who were misled into doing something foolish. However, let’s not act as though these people were anything other than foolish. Furthermore, Fr. Jenkins was at a large public event and doesn’t know who these people who approached him on this subject were from Adam; that is, all he knew about them were that they were pro-lifers who don’t mind going to jail for their beliefs. He was probably nervous and uncomfortable in the situation, and he said what he said in that setting. Let’s not judge him too harshly for it.

(And please don’t think I’m a regular Fr. Jenkins apologist; I’m not. I thought Obama’s speaking at ND was a catastrophe and a horrible decision on his part. He also has done several other bad things regarding Catholic identity).

Notre Dame was very tolerant of the peaceful protests that took place on the campus the day of graduation. The “imported” protesters under the leadership of Randall Terry harrassed the entire campus and the community of South Bend for months prior to the graduation. They flew banners displaying aborted fetuses over the campus as students – who had nothing to do with this decision in the first place – tried to prepare for final exams. They drove trucks around town with similar images, in full view of school buses full of grade schoolers. They walked onto campus with dolls in baby strollers, covered with fake blood. They were told they would be arrested and they came onto the campus anyway. They should be prosecuted. They broke the law and they should accept the consequences. Even the local bishop asked them to leave, but they did not respect his wishes.
I don’t blame Fr. Jenkins one bit for not wanting to engage Scheidler in “conversation”.

Even His coming to earth was an act of obedience to His Father. His life and ministry focused on the will of the Father. “That the world may know that I love the Father, and as the Father gave Me commandment, even so I do” (John 14:31).

Being a Catholic hinges upon a few things, one of the “biggies” is the virtue of obedience, whether you are the Pope or a peasant in some third world land.

Father Jenkin’s, I believe anyway, thinks in his own mind that he is in the right on this issue. OK, but what he “thinks” is not what is important here. We must strive to be obedient to our Bishops and the Pope in all things. There is an old saying, “Keep one eye on the Bishop & one eye on the Pope, if the Bishop fails you, keep both eyes on the Pope.

The number of Bishops that asked Father Jenkins to “change his mind” about having President Obama speak at the ND graduation this past year was overwhelming, but to pursue prosecution on those arrested for peacefully protesting on the campus is beyond my comprehension.

The root of the problem here, in my humble opinion, falls firming on the lack of obedience. Father Jenkins clearly does not understand his own poverty. His current position as President of one of the most prestigious Catholic Universities in the world has distorted his perception of himself and how that position falls within the hierarchy of the Church. He is not alone in that skewed mindset, many powerful men both in the church and out, seem to forget at times that we will all die. Those who have power and those you are powerless all share that common denominator. We will all face God equally, with nothing in our hands but the choices we make in the time we had on this earth. God is simply not impressed with our “resume”. The last will be first and the first will be last, our blessed Lord spoke those words to his disciples. If we meditate on them, we may look at those who are the “less fortunate” of our society in a different way. Maybe their material poverty is a blessing and not a curse?

“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Trying to “dialogue” with bishops and priests is usually a waste of energy, as Fr. Jenkins proves yet again. Nevertheless, making the effort is something everyone (especially pro-lifers) should do early on in their adult lives.
Eventually most successful Catholic activists realize that money talks, period. They choose instead to publicize the outrages in the media, so that monied people start asking questions.
Real reform will take place at ND when the money dries up. Same is true in most dioceses.