“More than 250,000 individuals, many thousands of alumni and students, more than two dozen bishops, and now these 10 Holy Cross priests have opposed Notre Dame’s plan to honor President Obama,” said Patrick J. Reilly, president of The Cardinal Newman Society.  “As Catholics prepare for the holiest days of the year, we pray that Notre Dame’s leaders will listen to the pleas of so many of the faithful and end the scandal caused by their actions.”

The priests include Father WIlson Miscamble, C.S.C., professor of history and former rector of the Holy Cross Congregation's Moreau Seminary, who has been a critic of Notre Dame's failure to hire sufficient numbers of Catholic professors and Father Jenkins' approval of performances of the vile play "The Vagina Monologues."

Also signing the letter is Father Daniel Parrish, C.S.C., who is identified on the Notre Dame website as working in the Office of the Executive Vice President.

Other signers are Holy Cross priests Fr. Stephen Koeth, Fr. Gregory Haake, Fr. Michael Wurtz, Fr. Mark Ghyselink, Fr. Terrence Ehrman, Fr. John Herman, Fr. Ronald Wasowski, and Fr. Vincent Kuna.

The following is an excerpt from the letter, which is available in its entirety at The Observer's website:

We wish to associate ourselves with and encourage those courageous students and treasured alumni who, while deeply loving Notre Dame, vigorously oppose this sad and regrettable decision of the University administration.

It is our deep conviction that Notre Dame should lead by word and deed in upholding the Church's fundamental teaching that human life must be respected and protected from the moment of conception. In so doing the University must take seriously the 2004 instruction of the U.S. Catholic Bishops that "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."

We especially regret the fissure that the invitation to President Obama has opened between Notre Dame and its local ordinary and many of his fellow bishops. We express our deep gratitude to Bishop John D'Arcy for his leadership and moral clarity. We ask that the University give renewed consideration to Bishop D'Arcy's thoughtful counsel which always has Notre Dame's best interests at heart.

The University pursues a dangerous course when it allows itself to decide for and by itself what part of being a Catholic institution it will choose to embrace. Although undoubtedly unintended, the University administration's decision portends a distancing of Notre Dame from the Church which is its lifeblood and the source of its identity and real strength. Such a distancing puts at risk the true soul of Notre Dame.