Loading...
Loading...
Click here if you don’t see subscription options
John M. D'Arcy | John R. QuinnAugust 31, 2009

John M. D'Arcy, bishop of Fort Wayne-South Bend, and John R. Quinn, retired archbishop of San Francisco, offer commentary on the University of Notre Dame's decision to award President Barack Obama an honorary degree at its spring commencement. Bishop D'Arcy looks at the controvery and its aftermath through the lens of his role as the local ordinary. Archbishop Quinn uses the occasion to reflect on what role the bishops should play on the national political scene.

Read "The Church and the University" by John M. D'Arcy.

Read "The Public Duty of Bishops" by John R. Quinn.

For more on President Obama's appearance at Notre Dame see our archive on the controversy.

 

Comments are automatically closed two weeks after an article's initial publication. See our comments policy for more.
15 years 6 months ago
The relationship between a Catholic University and the Catholic Church is communion, a complementary union oriented to The Word of God Made Flesh. It is the public duty of Bishops to reveal The Truth and the duty of all Catholics to Witness to The Truth.

The latest from america

a wide shot of st peters square
Despite his confinement to his hospital room, where he is being treated for double pneumonia, Pope Francis delivered two important messages on Sunday.
Gerard O’ConnellMarch 09, 2025
pilgrims make their way toward st peters basilica under a cloudy sky
Pope Francis' continued "gradual, slight improvement" is a sign that he is responding to the therapy he is receiving at Rome's Gemelli hospital, his doctors said.
Gerard O’ConnellMarch 08, 2025
Pope Francis had “a restful night and woke up shortly after 8 a.m.,” the Vatican said on Friday morning, March 7. It was his 22nd night in Rome’s Gemelli Hospital.
Gerard O’ConnellMarch 07, 2025
Just as Popes John Paul II’s and Benedict’s final days revealed their understandings of the papacy, Francis’ illness has revealed him once again as the world’s parish priest, suffering close to his people.
Colleen DulleMarch 07, 2025