Lament for Notre Dame

by William Esser - April 13, 2009

Any good lawyer has a disclaimer, so here is mine: I love the University of Notre Dame. My wife received her undergraduate degree there and I proudly graduated from the law school. My three years at Our Lady's University were some of the most wonderful of my life. From the Grotto, to Bookstore Basketball, to the House that Rock built, I love it all.

But my favorite place is the Basilica of the Sacred Heart. I served Mass there every week, including Monday noon Mass for then University President "Monk" Malloy. On Sunday nights, I would sit in wonder as the Liturgical Choir sang Vespers in the Lady Chapel. And at the end of each Lent, I would marvel at the beauty of the Triduum celebration. The Basilica truly is the heart of the University's Catholic identity.

It is because I love Notre Dame so much that the University's recent decision to honor President Barack Obama as its 2009 commencement speaker and to award him an honorary doctor of laws degree has caused me so much pain. Don't misunderstand. This is not a political position. Rather, it is a moral one; in fact, the most important moral issue of our time, namely the dignity of life. As the U.S. Conference of Bishops said in their 2007 statement on Forming Consciences for Faithful Citizenship, the right to life is "the most basic and fundamental right" and "is not just one issue among many."

Barack Obama does not respect this fundamental right. He is unquestionably the most radical, proabortion president ever. Within the first few months of office, he has already approved federal funding for abortions on foreign soil and for research involving the destruction of human embryos. He has repeatedly supported the Freedom of Choice Act which would eliminate all state restrictions on abortion and require the use of tax dollars to kill the unborn. The list goes on and on.

It now appears certain that Washington initiated the contact with Notre Dame and asked that Barack Obama be honored - undoubtedly to advance his political agenda among Catholics. In agreeing to this request, Notre Dame has turned its back on the most innocent among us. One of the key lessons I learned at Notre Dame was the importance of the human person in the eyes of the law. The law school's mission statement addresses this by stressing a "commitment to the relationship between law and social justice." However, as Pope John Paul II said, any outcry "on behalf of human rights – for example, the right to health, to home, to work, to family, to culture – is false and illusory if the right to life . . . is not defended with maximum determination."

Notre Dame has now publicly proclaimed that honoring the president for his positions on "racial equality" is more important than standing up for the unborn. As Bishop John D'Arcy of South Bend has said, Notre Dame has thus chosen "prestige over truth". It has publicly rejected the U.S. Bishops' 2004 prohibition on Catholic institutions awarding honors to those who reject fundamental Catholic beliefs. In short, it has forsaken its Catholic identity, betrayed its students, alumni and faculty, and caused grave scandal.

Please join me in praying that the University will recognize its error and will revoke the invitation. It is not too late. "For what doth it profit a man, if he gain the whole world, and suffer the loss of his own soul?" Matthew 16:26. Thirty pieces of silver is no price for the souls of the unborn. Mary, Our Mother, tender strong and true, pray for us.

William L. Esser IV is a partner at a regional law firm based in Charlotte and a member of St. Patrick's Cathedral.