“A Notre Dame Witness for Life”

That's the title of a stirring talk by William McGurn, a Wall Street Journal columnist and Notre Dame alumnus (from the Notre Dame Center for Ethics and Culture and also the Notre Dame Fund to Protect Human Life).

So tonight our hearts carry a great sadness. But we do not come here this evening to rally against a speaker. We come to affirm the sacredness of life. And we come with a great hope: That a university founded under the patronage of Our Lady might be as consistent in the defense of her principles as the President of the United States has been for advancing his. In a nation wounded by Roe ... in a society that sets mothers against the children they carry in their wombs ... we come here tonight because however much our hearts ache, they tell us this: Our church, our country, and our culture long for the life witness of Notre Dame.

UPDATE: 4/27/09: Former Vatican ambassador Mary Ann Glendon, respected pro-life advocate and Harvard law professor, has declined the University of Notre Dame's Laetare Medal because of the concurrent honors being given to President Obama despite his extreme anti-life policies. Here's commentary from Hugh McNichol at Pewsitter.com.

While the Laetare Medal is indeed a great honor to receive, Glendon appropriately holds Catholic teachings on the sanctity of human life as more important. Her refusal of the award illustrates, very strongly and clearly, the larger problem, which is the secular infiltration of our Catholic educational facilities. Mary Ann Glendon should receive a papal honor from Benedict XVI for her upholding of Catholic moral and ethical principles.

Additionally, the declination of this award by Ambassador Glendon should send a message to all members of the Catholic educational establishment, namely: Catholics are no longer going to tolerate secular interpretations of our most sacred Catholic principles. Either you are Catholic in your beliefs, or you are not. There can be no middle ground.

The American Bishops should also applaud Mrs. Glendon’s refusal of the Laetare Medal. Perhaps her courageous initiative in refusing this award will inspire more American Bishops to speak out and condemn Notre Dame’s invite to President Obama.

It's time to stop trying so hard to be "reasonable" by the standards of society's conventional wisdom and stand up and fight for the most reasonable proposition of all, that all human lives at every stage and condition are deserving of protection. This issue is much bigger than Note Dame and will only become more intense in the near future.