On Sunday, May 3, 2009, Bishop Thomas Wenski of the Orlando, Florida, Diocese celebrated a special Holy Mass in reparation for the “sins and transgressions committed against the dignity and sacredness of human life,” at the initiative of local University of Notre Dame alumni who are “confused and upset” by Notre Dame’s decision to honor pro-abortion President Barack Obama at commencement. Bishop Wenski is one of the 68 U.S. bishops speaking out on the Notre Dame scandal.

“I pray that the graces obtained through Bishop Wenski’s reparation Mass will help to begin the healing process so desperately needed after the grave abuse of Catholic identity by Notre Dame’s president and leaders,” said Patrick J. Reilly, President of The Cardinal Newman Society, whose petition at NotreDameScandal.com has surpassed 353,000 signers.

Portions of Bishop Wenski’s homily from the reparation Mass are reprinted here:

“The hurt felt by many throughout the United States is real, for Notre-Dame’s actions, despite its protests to the contrary, seem to suggest that it wishes ‘to justify positions that contradict the faith and teachings of the church;’ to do so, as Pope Benedict reminded Catholic educators in Washington, DC last year ‘would obstruct or even betray the university’s identity and mission.’ At the very least, Notre-Dame’s actions suggest that, unlike a beauty queen from California, it lacks the courage of its convictions.

“However, our purpose here this evening is not to rail against the insensitivity or thoughtlessness exhibited by Notre-Dame’s president and board. As I told a reporter who asked me last week, why I am celebrating a Mass of Reparation, ‘I am a bishop; and so I am not going to send upset Catholics to storm Notre-Dame with pitchforks, I am going to tell them to pray.’

“The issue is that giving him an honor is understood by many to indicate approbation – and thus undermines the efforts of bishops and others who want to offer a Catholic perspective to the shaping of public policy.

“But, today, too often Catholics are being told that in order to play in America one must pay the price of surrendering one’s own convictions and principles. Catholics who want to enter public life more often than not have to pay the price ‘privatizing’ their religious faith and convictions to play roles of significance in the halls of power. You can be sure that President Obama would not consider a Catholic for the position of Supreme Court justice – unless that Catholic ‘bracketed’ his beliefs on the dignity and the rights of the unborn.

“The options before us are not just between flight and capitulation: we need not retreat into a Catholic ghetto – for Christ calls us to be in the world; nor, must we necessarily surrender to the culture around us and accept to be absorbed by and assimilated into the ascendant secularism – for Christ tells us not to be of the world. We are best for the world, when we preach and live the gospel coherently. In a world which pretends that God doesn’t matter, we must witness that life is meaningful and joyful only when we live in a way that shows that God does matter.

“As Catholics, we need not flee from the world, nor should we surrender to the world; rather we need to recover that bold conviction of Peter and the early disciples that will make it possible for us to change the world – not by imposing our beliefs but by making our proposal, informed by gospel values, about what constitutes the best conditions for human flourishing in our society.

“This is the first Sunday of May. The month of May is considered Mary’s month. Let’s us pray to Our Lady, – or as they say in French – Notre-Dame… Notre-Dame, our Mother, pray for us!”

Bishop Wenski is just one of the many U.S. bishops who have responded to Notre Dame’s scandalous choice of President Obama as commencement speaker.

Recent bishops who have expressed their concerns include Most Rev. Reymundo Pena – Bishop of Brownsville; Most Rev. Edward Cullen – Bishop of Allentown; Most Rev. Robert Hermann – Auxiliary Bishop of St. Louis; Most Rev. Robert Gries – Aux. Bishop of Cleveland; Most Rev. David Ricken – Bishop of Green Bay; Most Rev. George Thomas – Bishop of Helena; Most Rev. John Gaydos – Bishop of Jefferson City; and Most Rev. Sean Cardinal O'Malley Archbishop of Boston.

Bishop Lawrence Brandt of the Greensburg Diocese added his voice to the chorus of bishops yesterday, May 4, bringing the total number of bishops speaking out to 68.

In a letter posted on the diocesan website and provided to The Cardinal Newman Society, Bishop Brandt wrote, “It does not seem exaggerated to conclude that Notre Dame is not one with what the Catholic Church believes and teaches. Consequently, how can Father John Jenkins, President, purport to uphold and advocate for the Catholic mission of the institution?”