Notre Dame President Apologizes for Lou Holtz, Embarrasses University

Fr. Jenkins thinks his position as Notre Dame’s president means people are dying to hear from him. Truthfully, we aren’t. Not if he’s going to sound like an excuse-making infanticide cheerleader.

By Deion A. Kathawa • August 30, 2020

University of Notre Dame President Fr. John I. Jenkins once again has revealed his moral obtuseness. I’m no stranger to criticizing Notre Dame’s “leader,” and, frankly, it should be done by others much more frequently than it has been. Evidently, harsh feedback is the only way faithful, orthodox Catholics can communicate to him that they detest his mealy-mouthed spinelessness.

During the third day of the Republican National Convention last week, legendary Notre Dame football coach Lou Holtz blasted Joe Biden, the Democratic Party’s nominee for president, as a “Catholic in name only” because of his (and vice presidential nominee Kamala Harris’) truly radical support for abortion. They “abandon innocent lives,” Holtz said.

This is straightforward and true. For Catholics, abortion is a grave, mortal sin against innocent, defenseless human life. And the Biden-Harris ticket, not to mention the Democratic Party more generally, backs taxpayer-funded “legal abortion on demand, past fetal viability, until the moment of birth, with no restrictions, and to the exclusion of any pro-life laws in a single state.” 

Biden, a baptized Catholic, is what we would charitably call a “cafeteria Catholic”—one who picks and chooses from a “menu” of dogmas, doctrines, and teachings of the Church what he will believe, based on convenience and what aligns with his own (poorly formed) “conscience.”  

Naturally, Fr. Jenkins—slick, Oxford-educated “philosopher” that he is—decided the world needed even more of his banal, heterodox, totally-bereft-of-common-sense platitudes; so, he opened his mouth, confirming for everyone that he is a fool:...........To Read More...........

French Stonemason From Notre Dame Gives Shocking Account Of The Muslims Who Worked There

(TeaParty.org) April 23, 2019 Politics

 

As the world reels from the news that nearly 300 people were killed in an Easter Sunday attack on hotels and churches across Sri Lanka, it’s hard not to consider that just a week ago, historic Catholic cathedral Notre Dame suddenly and mysteriously went up in flames.
The French government claims so far that the incident was an accident, but many have questioned this.

Recently, Jihad Watch founder Robert Spencer received a very interesting email which gives an account of what was going on with the construction on Notre Dame before the fire...........

Benjamin Mouton, who served as Chief Architect of Historic Monuments in France and oversaw restoration work of Notre Dame until 2013, says its extremely unlikely an electrical short circuit took place, and that it would take a huge effort to ignite the ancient oak of the cathedral..........

“So, you’re telling us that this type of timber doesn’t burn like that?”  ...........“Oak that is 800-years-old is very hard – try to burn it,”...... “Old oak, it is not easy at all. You would need a lot of kindling to succeed… It stupefies me.”............

“In the Nineties, we updated all the electrical wiring of Notre Dame,” Mouton said. “So there is no possibility of a short circuit. We updated to conform with the contemporary norms, even going very far – all the detection and protection systems against fire in the cathedral.”...........To Read More....

Why Were Authorities so Quick to Rule out Arson in the Notre Dame Conflagration?

By Roger Kimball April 17, 2019

I feel I must hand it to those stalwart souls investigating the devastating conflagration at the Cathedral of Notre Dame.............The flames were not quenched at the 12th-century masterpiece of Gothic architecture when the authorities announced that they had ruled out arson as the cause of the blaze..............That was an extraordinary...........piece of forensic prognostication. Not only were the flames still lapping at the timbers of the cathedral when this conclusion was announced, but also think about the context...........The fire broke out on Monday of Holy Week, the apex of the Christian religious calendar...........

Over the past month, in fact, there have been at least twelve reported acts of vandalism against French churches: statues smashed or beheaded, altars desecrated,  human excrement smeared on church walls in the shape of a cross and decorated with communion hosts. France, like many countries in Western Europe, is swaddled in a nervous silence about the inroads made into their society by militant Islam............. terrified of being accused of “Islamophobia.”  Yet the Ministry of the Interior reported that in 2018 there were recorded 541 anti-Semitic acts, 100 anti-Muslim acts, and 1063 anti-Christian acts.............Here they have not one, not two or three, but twelve acts of violent desecration in the past month, including an arsonist attack against the second largest church in Paris. Then Notre Dame catches fire—and what a fire it was—on Monday of Holy Week. Even before the fire was brought under control, the authorities ruled out arson. Has the world ever seen a more potent demonstration of investigative prowess?..............To Read More..... 

France’s Failure

by Paul Kengor April 16, 2019

The image of the Cathedral of Notre Dame engulfed in flames will remain seared in memories. I was made aware of it when a student burst into my office shouting that the magnificent church was on fire. I was about to head into my Major European Governments course, where we read George Weigel’s prescient work, The Cube and the Cathedral. The Cathedral in the book is Notre Dame.

As the ensuing minutes proceeded, the conflagration only worsened, captured by the cataclysmic moment when the towering spire collapsed. It took me back to watching the collapse of the World Trade Center tower on 9/11, though that was worse because you knew you were witnessing not just the death of a structure but a significant number of human beings..........To Read More...

Muslims celebrate as blaze destroys Notre Dame

Many believe catastrophe bears witness to truth of Islam

Social-media users with Muslim names are celebrating the catastrophic fire at the Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris on Monday.The American Mirror blog provided a sampling of the names of Facebook users who responded to a video of the fire with a laughing emoji.

The names included Yusuf Mohammedzai, Mohamed Hiadi, Mohamed Bensalem and Abdelhakim Noui Oua.  Twitter user Damien Rieu posted examples of Muslims cheering the cathedral’s demise.
“Allah est grand,” commented Mohamed.

Jihad Watch Director Robert Spencer pointed out many Muslims “believe that the ruins and destruction of non-Muslim structures testifies to the truth of Islam.” The Quran, wrote Spencer, “suggests that the destroyed remnants of ancient non-Muslim civilizations are a sign of Allah’s punishment of those who rejected his truth............. To Read More....

Abortion and the Catholic Surrender to Politics

By William Dodd

This past week, Father John I. Jenkins, president of the University of Notre Dame, released a statement expressing their disdain for the Reproductive Health Act ("RHA"), just signed into law by Governor Andrew Cuomo.  Father Jenkins's statement is titled "Who is Next?," a rhetorical question for abortion advocates asking: if medical care is not required for babies surviving abortion in New York, what group is next to be denied medical care?

The commentary from Father Jenkins is surprising from several perspectives.  The influential Notre Dame platform has in recent decades been used by Jenkins and other university officials to advocate mostly liberal views on social matters — views that have in some cases conflicted with traditional Catholic teachings.  

In this article, Father presents a surprisingly conservative perspective.  Coming from him, it has diluted credibility.  After all, it was Father Jenkins who in 2009 invited President Obama, the most pro-abortion president in our country's history, to be his and Father Hesburgh's honored guest and speaker at the university's graduation ceremony.  Obama's speech from that platform gave the impression to the world that Catholic Notre Dame may consider abortion a subject for debate or dialogue rather than a doctrinal matter.............  To Read More