If you want to see the modern incarnation of the disgusting Jesuit casuistry that led to the fall of the ancien regime and the Reign of Terror in France, look no farther than Jesuit Thomas Reese!
Notre Dame Right to Invite Obama
THIS CATHOLIC'S VIEW
By Thomas J. Reese
"Controversy over commencement speakers at Catholic universities pops up every spring along with the tulips. This year the controversy is over President Obama speaking at Notre Dame University May 17. Some have objected that this is a violation of the bishops' statement "Catholics in Political Life." This is absurd.
According to Catholics in Political Life, "The Catholic community and Catholic institutions should not honor those who act in defiance of our fundamental moral principles. They should not be given awards, honors or platforms which would suggest support for their actions."
I would argue that having Obama as a commencement speaker and giving him an honorary degree does not violate Catholics in Political Life because:
In his personal life, Obama has never acted in defiance of the fundamental moral principle that abortion is wrong.
Publicly, Obama has never spoken out against the fundamental moral principle that abortion is wrong.
He supports legal restrictions on third trimester abortions with a health-of-the-mother exemption.
Although he does not believe that other abortions can be made illegal, he supports programs to reduce the number of abortions.
Notre Dame is not honoring Obama because of his views on abortion but because he is President of the United States, as has been made clear by the Rev. John Jenkins, Notre Dame's president.
Those wanting to read all of "Father" Reese's comments may do so at:
http://newsweek.washingtonpost.com/onfaith/georgetown/2009/03/notre_dame_right_to_invite_obama.html
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Jesuit casuistry is alive and well in America in 2009. Fr. Reese has "resurrected" (no pun intended) a variety of schewed moral logic that many thought dead.
The notion that a Roman Catholic priest of prominence, a member of a religious order founded on the principle of obedience to the Papacy!, can in a public forum engage in these moral "gymnastics" clearly points to the decrepit exercise of authority in the Roman Catholic Church.
To the extent that we "adopt" his moral logic to cloak gross immorality, that we embrace this brazen casuistry, we will suffer the same fate as those of the ancien regime who made the same mistake two hundred plus years ago.
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