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This from Tom Roeser, on the eve Feast of St. Ignatius

From the throttled throat of spurned academic non-freedom…Loyola University of Chicago…comes the report that Karl Rove has been denied permission to speak on the campus because he will imperil the university’s 501© (3) tax free status, said the University spokesperson Kimberley A. Moore, director of student affairs, struggling not manfully but person-fully to stifle a sardonic laugh. Reason, said Moore, is that the sacred non-political precincts of the university must retain…get this…it’s “impartiality” and utter pristine non-involvement in political affairs this campaign season.

Loyola said, after a long academic discussion, that it would allow Rove to come after the political season where he cannot pollute the celestial, non-participative university with his horrid political ideas. Of course Howard Dean, former governor of Vermont, ex-Democratic presidential candidate and Democratic National Chairman was allowed to speak at Loyola on September 1, 2004, a presidential election year—but as Dean is also a physician his speech could be expected to be categorized in the scientific, biological and health area. A couple of weeks later, Ralph Nader, a 3rd party presidential candidate, was welcomed on campus but, er, ah, ahem, he could be expected to address consumer protection issues apart from politics.

Rove, of course, is not involved in any campaigns. He is an author and commentator for Fox News Network that hated outlet of information to academic liberals. He was chief strategist for President George W. Bush the name of whom causes denizens of the faculty lounges to rush for the toilets.
Demonstrating how dedicated the institution is to keeping its virginity intact rather than lose it promiscuously to entertain political speakers, here is a rundown on its august Board of Trustees.

The chairman is Patrick Arbor, former president of the Chicago Board of Trade and heavy contributor to the campaigns of Mayor Richard M. Daley. Not that there’s anything political about that!

Another trustee is Shirley Madigan, wife of the Democratic Speaker of the Illinois House who is also state Democratic party chairman of Illinois…and mother of the Illinois Attorney General, Lisa and longtime chairwoman of the Illinois Arts Council, named to the post by a succession of governors, Republican and Democrat. Now who would dare allege there’s anything political about her? She’s just a housewife.

Still another is William A. Brandt, Jr. president and CEO of Development Specialists, Inc., a corporate turnaround expert, one of the national Democratic party’s major donors who hosted Obama and earlier Bill Clinton at lavish fundraisers held at his North Shore home; named chairman of the Illinois Finance Authority by Gov. Rod Blagojevich. There you go again, thinking that he would allow politics to flavor his judgment as a Loyola trustee! Shame on you!

Now we come to Joseph A. Power, Jr. named the number one personal injury lawyer in Chicago, the lawyer who sued former Gov. George Ryan for the deaths of six kids by an illegal immigrant trucker who had obtained his commercial drivers’ license fraudulently and hardly knew English, which resulted in his failing to heed warnings from drivers than a pipe was becoming dislodged from his truck, the pipe hitting the highway and striking the car behind leading to the kids being burned alive. Heavy Democratic fund-raiser with great influence in the party. Joe Power? Do you think he’d object to a civics speech by Karl Rove at the University where he sits as trustee? You’re getting paranoid you know!

**

Tom Roeser is the Chairman of the Editorial Board of the Chicago Daily Observer

Oh well, Peter wasn’t made the pope for his fishing skills, either.

Photo: AP Photo/L’Osservatore Romano

Let me begin this observation with some important points: 

• I believe our current immigration system is broken and that the federal government has a responsibility to fix it.
• I believe the majority of immigrants are industrious individuals who strengthen our economy and country.
• I believe there should be a reasonable path to citizenship established for the estimated twelve million people who are in this country illegally. Mass deportation is simply unfeasible.
• I believe law enforcement has every right to check the citizenship status and even deport those who, having broken the law coming into this country illegally, commit a serious crime in our country subsequently. 

That said, why oh why has the USCCB Migration Chairman Bishop John Wester of Salt Lake City praised the laughably-bad court decision that was handed down two days ago by Judge Susan Bolton?

“It is the right decision,” Bishop Wester said.  “Any law that provides legal cover to profiling affects all members of our communities, including legal residents and citizens.  It is a very slippery slope. What is needed now is for Congress and the Administration to live up to their responsibilities and address this issue by passing immigration reform.”

I agree with the last part – that the federal government needs to work on immigration reform legislation. But I simply cannot agree with the bishop’s first claim that this was the “right decision”! It’s a travesty of judicial activism. A faulty interpretation of a law which had to be enacted in the first place because the federal government is failing it its responsibilities. Consider Rich Lowry’s column today:

Taking her cues from the Obama administration’s suit against the law, Judge Bolton worried that too many legal aliens would be caught up in Arizona’s dragnet. Of course, these aliens are already required by federal law to carry proof of their legal status. But let’s put that aside (as Judge Bolton does). She claims that too many legal aliens without ready access to documents proving their lawful entry into the U.S. will be put at risk, including visitors from visa-waiver countries.

For the sake of argument, let’s assume that visitors from countries like Norway and Australia are flooding into the border areas of Arizona. And let’s assume they engage in recklessly illegal conduct, daring cops to stop and arrest them. And let’s assume they exhibit all the behaviors associated with illegal immigrants. How could such a visitor escape the dreaded fate awaiting him when an officer asks about his legal status? Perhaps by producing a passport stamped with the duration of his stay, possessed by every visitor from a visa-waiver country?

Lowry’s entire column, point-by-point, establishes that Judge Bolton’s ruling is absurd, both within the framework of current laws, and according to the simple dictates of prudence and reason. Judge Bolton has taken a situation of lawlessness and injected an ideological and personal rational to further erode the rule of law. And in a misguided effort to see that illegal immigrants are treated fairly, Bishop Wester has decided to support a decision that only creates more drastic inequalities in our society.

Update: Francis Cardinal George has a very balanced reflection on the immigration debate which was published last week. I can’t see him praising a decision that vitiates our laws further.

Washington insider website Politico with an article describing pro-abortion groups being caught off-guard by the latest skirmish over abortion funding in the new high-risk health care pools:

Anti-abortion groups leapt into action last month when the National Right to Life Committee warned that elective abortions would be covered under a Pennsylvania insurance program created by the health care reform law.

The Susan B. Anthony List and the Family Research Council blasted the news to the media and supporters. NRLC began scouring other state plans for similar provisions. Top congressional Republicans sent a letter of protest to Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius.

And within a day, the anti-abortion groups got what they wanted: a nationwide ban on coverage for most elective abortions in the so-called high-risk insurance pools, a position reaffirmed in a Health and Human Services regulation released on Thursday.

Abortion rights advocates were caught completely off-guard. 

People said at the election of Barack Obama that pro-lifers would become discouraged. People said after the passage of the health care legislation that we had lost. The unflappable energy of the pro-life movement, however, tells a very different story – a hopeful one. May we all continue to work tirelessly on behalf of the unborn!

This was sent in to me by a reader this week and it seemed too fantastic not to be true:

My father was in a private audience with Pope Pius XII. He asked where my father was from (New York City) and the Holy Father then asked: “how are the Yankees doing?”

I don’t know, but it looks like the Holy Father’s (holy) hands could throw a mean slider!

Papist baseball fans will also appreciate this (verified) story:

“During a USO tour by a number of players in 1944, [Baseball Hall of Famer Joe] Medwick was among several individuals given an audience by Pope Pius XII. Upon being asked by the Pope what his vocation was, Medwick replied, “Your Holiness, I’m Joe Medwick. I, too, used to be a Cardinal.” (source)

On July 28th, U.S. District Court Judge Susan Bolton made a ruling on the Arizona Immigration controversy, blocking the most contentious aspects of the law. The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops has commended the judges’ ruling.

During an interfaith prayer service after the ruling, Bishop Eduardo Nevares stated, “We need to remember our Christian principles, the values of Jesus Christ.” Emphasizing that immigrants enrich the American society, Bishop Nevares said, “Our movement is about achieving human dignity for everyone on our shores. So let us not become the oppressors, but instead put on the fruits of the Holy Spirit.”

Below is a snippet from the Catholic News Service article on the issue:

Opponents of the Arizona Immigration Law Protesting | Source: NY Daily News

Bolton blocked provisions in the law that would have: required law enforcement officers to verify the immigration status of anyone stopped; made it a crime for immigrants not to carry proof of their immigration status at all times; allowed police to make warrantless arrests over suspicion of someone being in the country illegally; and criminalized the act of looking for work without the proper paperwork or hiring someone who lacks a work permit.

Bolton’s injunction is preliminary, pending further judicial review of legal challenges, primarily that of the U.S. Department of Justice. A full course of legal challenges could take years.

Other provisions were allowed to take effect, including one permitting lawsuits against individuals, state agencies and political subdivisions for “adopting a policy of restricting enforcement of federal immigration laws to less than the full extent permitted by federal law.” (CNS)

As the debate continues, let us continue to pray that our elected officials can come together to fix an immigration system that is clearly broken and that they continue to be mindful of the rights and dignity of all individuals.

Hot off the press…. (underlining mine):

An instructor at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign — dismissed after a student called his explanation of Roman Catholic teaching on homosexuality “hate speech” — is being offered his teaching job back, the university said today.

Kenneth Howell was barred last month from teaching two courses in the university’s Religion Department after explaining during class and in an e-mail why the church believes homosexual behavior violates natural moral law.

His case has been taken up by First Amendment advocates and others, and his supporters have created a Facebook page with more than 2,600 people supporting him.

The university released a statement today saying that Howell’s appointment as an adjunct instructor in the Religion Department — teaching Religion 127, Introduction to Catholicism — will be continued for the fall.

A review of whether Howell’s firing by the Religion Department violated his academic freedom  is continuing, the university said.

In making the move, the university also announced it will now pay those teaching Catholic-related courses rather than have them paid by a church group. (Chicago breaking news)

Thank you to everyone who lobbied the University on behalf of Dr. Ken after following the news here on AmP. I am awaiting a statement from Dr. Ken himself, the Diocese of Peoria and the Newman Center, which I will post once I am provided with them.

This is a victory for freedom of speech, and for the freedom of Catholics to teach what the Church teaches in our public square.

UPDATE: David at Cosmos-Liturgy-Sex sounds a warning note that all may not be well yet:

On the one hand, this is positive news. The commission of the faculty senate has put the lie to the claims by LAS that teaching about the Catholic faith in a class about Catholicism is hate speech. Nevertheless, the good fruit is laced with poison.

The offer seems to be exactly what I was afraid of. The prohibition against Dr. Howell’s association with the Newman Center is another violation of his academic freedom and it is likewise a violation of his freedom of religion. How many other adjuncts or part time faculty are prevented from working for an organization associated with their faith as a condition of employment?

The U of I appears to be making an economically untenable offer with the intent of voiding a 90+ year relationship with the Newman Center. I suspect that they are banking on the fact that since Dr. Howell cannot work for the Newman Center, which paid him a full professor’s salary, he will not be able to afford to take the position. The U of I is offering him perhaps a little more than a quarter of his Newman Center salary. 

Apparently we must remain vigilant and continue to ensure that Dr. Ken is in fact being treated fairly.

Pope Benedict uses his cleverly-disguised Kindle to catch up on some papist news.

(Yes, it could be true.)

Photo: AFP/HO

I’m happy to announce that I’ll be attending this year’s Catholic New Media Celebration in Boston, August 6-7th.

I will be hosting a section at CNMC’s new feature this year: the blogging track. Other notable presenters include Lino Rulli, Fr. Roderick Vonhogen (of European podcasting fame), Mac and Katherine Barron (Catholic in a Small Town), Lisa Hendey and well, the list goes on and on. I’m especially excited for a panel discussion I will be having along with Jimmy Akin and Mark Shea. We will also receive remarks from the Archdiocese of Boston’s Sean Cardinal O’Malley.

Registration is full but sponsorships are still available. CatholicVote is a proud sponsor of CNMC 2010. If you are unable to attend you may follow the events on the CNMC Ustream and join the live chat room here (what else would you expect from a group of web-savvy papists?). Get your twitter decks ready, too!

I look forward to seeing you in Boston!

A tragic (and probably criminal) occurance:

A shocking incident occurred in the village of Mihaileny of Rishcansky district of Moldova with a boy named Laurentiu, who was born six weeks ago in the family of 24-year-old Ludmila and Dmitry Gaydeu.

.. Approximately twenty of the closest relatives and friends came to the church at 4:30PM. Father Valentin began the baptism ceremony.

“He dipped the baby in the water without even covering the baby’s mouth with his hand to prevent him from drowning,” recalls Dmitry Gaydeu, the father of the six weeks-old Laurentiu. “He put his hand on his stomach and dipped him in the water three times.”

The Godparents saw that the boy was not well and warned father Valentine. He answered it was not the first time that he was conducting the ceremony and knew what he was doing. When they saw that the child showed no signs of life, he was immediately taken to the district hospital. (Pravda.ru)

I do not mean to take away at all from the sadness of the story, but the parents may find some small solace that this child surely died in a state of grace.

UPDATE: I’ve received a great deal of feedback and criticism for my initial wording of this post’s introduction. I did not mean to be insensitive to the traditions of the Eastern Catholic Churches (or, as some correctly pointed out, the universal tradition of the Church beginning at the earliest Apostolic times). My theology professors would be mortified to see me guilty of such imprecision.

I love and appreciate the beauty and sacramental symbolism of full immersion, and I would agree that this fatality referenced above is more the fault of the priest conducting the baptism, than the intrinsic nature of the liturgical form used.

It’s no defense, but I wrote this post in a hurried fashion at first, and while I paused before publishing it because I realized the theological issues raised with my introduction, I believed they would be passed over in the interest of the actual story. My discerning readers, of course, miss nothing! And I am grateful especially for the charitable rebukes I have received which have caused me to remove the problematic introduction. My humble apologies.