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.]

What's going on with UD?

Read the speaker description below and then ask yourself what University you'd think would issue her an invitation to speak:

A self-described "Yankee Jewish feminist who teaches in a predominantly Protestant divinity school in the buckle of the Bible Belt," [the professor] combines historical-critical rigor, literary-critical sensitivity, and a frequent dash of humor with a commitment to eliminating anti-Jewish, sexist, and homophobic theologies.

I bet one of the universities you didn't consider is the Catholic University of Dallas, which is quite excited to have her.

("Her" being Dr. Amy-Jill Levine of Vanderbilt U.)

This isn't the first head-scratching speaker move made by UD in recent memory, either. Last year they invited radical anti-war activist Cindy Seehan (to speak to their economics department?!).

UD also apparently wasted a bundle of money in an ill-conceived plan to compete with SMU for the George W. Bush Library (why would a Catholic school want that?) and now the UD student newspaper details how the UD faculty have been taking "pay cuts and reduced contributions to their retirement fund" since 2003-04, which as one might imagine is causing significant stress:

.... Dr. Richard Dougherty of the politics department went into detail about the strain faculty members are under without adequate compensation. Older faculty can't afford to retire, younger faculty are working two jobs to make ends meet, and some professors have been forced to buy clothing for their children at thrift stores, Dougherty said.

Another person interviewed described faculty morale as being "at a breaking point."

With problems like this on campus, one would hope UD might take some time off from eliminating anti-Jewish, sexist, and homophobic theologies and instead try eliminating the poverty of its professors.

Update: "Online Beauty Pageant for Nuns" story faked?

Earlier today I covered a story that was getting wide press: "Priest to hold "online" nun beauty pageant".

AmP reader Gregor responded:

It would seem the BBC is a bit behind. This was widely reported in the German press a few days ago. Today, the [Austrian] newspaper "Der Standard" is reporting that Fr Rungi has called off the "contest", because he has been "deliberately misunderstood". His only aim had been, he says, to show the beatuy of the life of religious sister. Cf. http://derstandard.at/?url=/?id=1219581718477

At least one other Internet commenter supports this clarification independently:

Italian priest Antonio Rungi has scrapped his initiative for a beauty contest for nuns. He said his proposal was misunderstood, and that his main intention was to show the beauty of life in a monastic order.

The priest blames the media, which he said focussed exclusively on the beauty aspect of his action. The priest received a number of threats as a result of the media attention for his initiative, including that he would burn in hell. (source - #18)

I'm reserving final judgement, but it wouldn't surprise me if this priest had a more innocent original intention (or had just this foolish idea) and the press ran with it, beyond his control.

You can stow the pitchforks and straw, and go back to your homes. I think this little story is over.

Related: Nuns Have Fun in the Sun

Catholic newspaper's investigative reporting puts to shame local press

From a tip:

I can't think of many diocesan Catholic papers that do significant investigation and reporting but our own Catholic Key, under new leadership for the past year (Jack Smith, editor) is making some waves. Blasting the Star all the way for its silence, he's turning up all sorts of questions on the "Bodies Revealed" exhibit at Union station in an ongoing blog.

The CNS blog, to it's credit, has picked up on the above-linked reporting.

It's a wonderful but often-neglected truth that Catholic journalism can fill in the gap left by ideologically-driven secular reporting, and this appears to be a good example of that fact. Keep it up.