Report: What Fr. Jenkins is telling top donors and ND officers

I place strong confidence in the report of last week which claimed Fr. Jenkins came to Washington DC for pre-planned meetings with top Notre Dame donors.

I'm now finding out bits and pieces of what he was telling them during those sessions. Evidently he is frequently citing 1 Peter 2:17 ("Give honor to all, love the community, fear God, honor the king") as a biblical support for Notre Dame's decision to bestow an honorary degree on Barack Obama

Now, I'll leave it to the biblical exegetes to take a crack at that argument. I think it's baloney, myself.

Back to the reports: at this weekend's Alumni Senate gathering at Notre DAme, Fr. Jenkins, far from backing down, told the audience that they should be "on the front lines" of defending the University. An even more disturbing report from the same event:

"Apparently [Fr. Jenkins] also made light of Bishop D'Arcy's Thursday letter chiding him for not consulting the bishop ahead of time and for propagating incorrect statements on the USCCB document; [Jenkins] said that he didn't consult the bishop, but then again he doesn't consult him on most decisions regarding the university."

Remember, this is after Bishop D'Arcy wrote:

I pledge to work with Father Jenkins and all at Notre Dame to heal the terrible breach, which has taken place between Notre Dame and the church. It cannot be allowed to continue ... Notre Dame and Father Jenkins must do their part if this healing is to take place. I will do my part.

Sounds like Fr. Jenkin's isn't even trying to do his part.

Next, I'll take a look at Fr. Jenkin's co-decision makers: the Notre Dame Board of Trustees.

[photo: ND College of Arts & Letters.]