Notre Dame's Slide Toward Secularization and Komen Support

The secularization of Catholicism's most storied American university seems to be continuing.   Notre Dame is once again making practicing Catholics disillusioned about its commitment to the very faith on which it was founded, and purports to instill in students. 

If you recall two years ago, Notre Dame was in the line of fire for having President Obama, our nation's historically most outspoken pro-choice president, speak on campus.   For the mere invitation alone, there was collective condemnation.   But to make matters exponentially worse, Notre Dame conferred upon President Obama an honorary doctorate of laws degree.  Given the tragic 1973 Roe v. Wade Supreme Court decision that created a legal right to abortion out of whole cloth, conferring a law degree on such an advocate of Roe v. Wade was seen as a huge slap in the face to practicing Catholics working so hard to end the atrocity of abortion.  And it was yet another misguided example provided to the student body about abortion being thus plausibly acceptable, and about our moral values being relative.   Practicing Catholics around the country were appropriately outraged.

That tragic lapse in judgement followed years of the university allowing the showing of the highly controversial Vagina Monologues.   According to the Catholic News Agency, "The sexually explicit play favorably describes lesbian activity, group self-abuse, and hedonistic sexuality."  It was shown on campus from 2002 through 2007, and there are efforts to bring it back.

In 2009, Notre Dame's Student Activities Office allowed the use of student funds to send students to a national homosexual rally that promoted same-sex marriage, and other same-sex rights.

And then a few weeks ago, Notre Dame ran a commercial during the ND v. Air Force football game in support of finding a cure for breast cancer.  While fighting cancer is an admirable cause indeed, the add advertised the Susan Komen Race for the Cure over 9 separate times.  The Susan Komen Foundation has long had a close relationship with Planned Parenthood, and has donated millions of dollars  - designated by donors for cancer research - to the nation's largest abortion provider.   Komen also supports embryonic stem cell experimentation.  There are many cancer organizations in the country which have no ties to abortion, yet Notre Dame chose to publicly support the one with a long history that does.  Komen gave Planned Parenthood $569k in 2010, and $730k in 2009.  Planned parenthood does not do cancer research.

My father, a 1943 graduate, would be raising cane with the university if he were able to today.   Notre Dame has made a continuing slide away from embracing Catholicism in favor of embracing secularism.   If Notre Dame can't figure out how Catholics - especially Catholics teaching moral values to students - are supposed to live their faith, what hope do we have for the values of the Church in generations to come?  My son, a promising quarterback with dreams of playing at Notre Dame, may just need to look for a truly Catholic university.