(CNSNews.com) - The University of Notre Dame announced on Friday that it will award President Barack Obama an honorary law degree and that Obama will give the principal address at the university’s May 17th commencement ceremony.
Obama supports abortion on demand, government funding of abortion, government funding of stem cell research that kills human embryos, legally granting same-sex unions all the rights and privileges of marriage, and repealing the federal Defense of Marriage Act that protects states from being forced to recognize same-sex marriages contracted in other states as they otherwise might be compelled to under the Full Faith and Credit Clause of the Constitution.
The Catholic Church holds that abortion and same-sex unions are immoral and must be opposed.
White House Spokesman Robert Gibbs announced during his regular press briefing on Friday that Obama would be giving commencement addresses at Notre Dame, Arizona State and the U.S. Naval Academy.
“In terms of commencement, excuse me, on May the 13th, the president will give the commencement address at Arizona State University,” said Gibbs. “On May 17th, the president will give the commencement address at Notre Dame. And on May 22nd, he will speak to graduates of the U.S. Naval Academy.”
Also on Friday afternoon, Notre Dame posted a statement on its website announcing that President Obama would be granted an honorary law degree from the school and that he would be the main speaker at the school’s graduation ceremony.
“President Barack Obama will be the principal speaker and the recipient of an honorary doctor of laws degree at the University of Notre Dame’s 164th University Commencement Ceremony at 2 p.m. May 17 (Sunday) in the Joyce Center on campus,” said the statement.
The statement also noted that Obama will become the ninth U.S. president to be awarded an honorary degree from Notre Dame and the sixth to give the commencement address.
The five presidents who have so far delivered commencement addresses at Notre Dame include Dwight Eisenhower, John F. Kennedy, Jimmy Carter, George H.W. Bush, and George W. Bush. Kennedy delivered his speech at Notre Dame’s 1950 “winter commencement” when Kennedy was a U.S. senator.
Notre Dame alumnus Joe Scheidler, national director of the Pro-Life Action League, quickly responded to Notre Dame’s announcement that Obama would deliver its commencement speech by issuing a statement calling on Father John Jenkins, the president of Notre Dame, to withdraw the invitation to Obama..
“Over the first two months of his administration, Barack Obama has established himself as the most pro-abortion president in U.S. history,” said Scheidler. “My alma mater should not be providing a platform for this president.”
“Starting from his first week in office, President Obama has enacted a string of executive orders, appointments and policy decisions that contradict Catholic teaching on the sanctity of life--a teaching that Notre Dame is supposed to uphold,” said Scheidler.
“Father Jenkins cannot expect pro-life Catholics to stand back and allow the most pro-abortion president in U.S. history to make a mockery of Notre Dame's Catholic identity,” Scheidler said.
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