Commencement Craze
Day 68
March 28, 2009
"The problem is in that you have a Catholic university — the flagship Catholic university — do something that brought extreme embarrassment to many, many people who are Catholic. So whatever else is clear, it is clear that Notre Dame didn't understand what it means to be Catholic when they issued this invitation."
—Cardinal Francis George, the archbishop of Chicago, blasting the University of Notre Dame's decision to invite President Obama as a commencement speaker
Any college would want a new, popular President of the United States to speak at its graduation ceremonies, right? Well, some might have second thoughts after the controversy that erupts over Notre Dame's invitation to Obama. An influential Chicago cardinal takes up the call of some right-wing activists by making noise about the Catholic university having the President speak, despite Obama's views on embryonic-stem-cell research and abortion. Notre Dame's president says there is no plans to rescind the invitation, but surprisingly, this isn't the only dustup Obama will have with a university at which he plans to speak.
Meanwhile, Obama puts the focus on climate change, announcing that he'll convene a major economies forum on energy and climate, with the first meeting in Washington in April, followed by a summit in Italy in July.