John Jenkins, CSC:

 

Shame on you for not stating what the true meaning of academic freedom is:  "The Church...recognizes the academic freedom of scholars in each discipline in accordance with its own principles and proper methods, and within the confines of the truth and the common good." (Ex Corde Eccelsiae I, 29)  Professors cannot do whatever they want.

 

You should have banned the Monologues and banned the Queer Film Festival for these are sophisticated means of moral subversion.  If you cannot see this, or are unwilling to admit this, or are reluctant to act against these forms of subversion, you endanger the souls of those who attend the University, as well as your own soul.

 

Finally, yes the Monologues and the Queer Film Festival should have been entirely cancelled, but the greater problem remains, as it has for a very long time at Notre Dame:  the intrusion of the culture of death, with its worldly values, at all levels.  Ex Corde Ecclesiae recognizes that Catholic universities have a cultural mission (ECE II 2) which means building a culture in accordance with the truths of the Faith.  Notre Dame does not resist the dominant culture, it does not create a counter-culture that is in accordance with the Faith.  Notre Dame has become a place where young catholic men and women are socialized for entry into the destructive dominant culture.

 

End the Monologues, end the Queer Film Festival, build a community in accordance with the Roman Catholic Faith and Tradition, and require the faculty to respect the Faith.  And do all of these things now.

 

Sincerely,

 

David A. Wemhoff

Class of '79