A spokeswoman with the Baptist General Convention of Oklahoma, said the event can not be held because the state Capitol building will not be open on Wednesday due to a predicted snowstorm.

Rose Day draws hundreds of the faithful to the state Capitol each year as they seek to discuss sanctity-of-life issues and legislation with their state legislators. They present red roses, which symbolize the sanctity of the unborn, to their legislators.

This year’s featured speaker was to be Abby Johnson, a former Planned Parenthood director whose new book “Unplanned” was just released.

No word yet if Rose Day activities will be scheduled for a later date.

(File Photo by Jaconna Aguirre, The Oklahoman: Brenda Arambula with St. James Catholic School prepares to deliver roses to legislators during the 2008 Rose Day activities at the state Capitol. )

Carla Hinton

Religion Editor

The ad continues to cause talk as football fans await the game between the New Orleans Saints and the Indianapolis Colts.

I’ve seen lots of opinions on the issue being bandied about  on the Internet in the days since I last posted a blog on this issue. I just got a news release today that says an anti-abortion group called Wisconsin Right to Life has produced a Tim Tebow mask that people can wear on Sunday to show their support for Tebow and his mother Pam. For those who haven’t heard about the ad yet (it’s possible, I guess), CBS has agreed to air a Focus on the Family ad featuring Tebow’s mother, who will share her decision against abortion when she was pregnant with the young college football star. Some pro-choice groups are upset about the ad and demanding that CBS refuse to air it, while anti-abortion groups are rallying in its favor.

Back on the masks, Barbara Lyons, executive director of Wisconsin Right to Life, said in a news release that they are a way to have a little fund and show the public that Tim and his Mom and Dad are “an inspiration to all of us.”

Learn more about the mask at www.wisconsinrighttolife.org.

Meanwhile, I saw lots of comments concerning my last posting on this issue.

I asked what people thought about the ad, whether CBS should air it or not. Here are a few responses:

“I hate Tim Tebow, as any Sooner should, but I say run it. How one-sided are we as a country if we cannot at least allow both side to be heard?” — EJP

“I’m confused by this reaction. Isn’t the pro-choice movement in support of choice? Why is it wrong for this mother to say she chose to have her child? — Cara

“Absolutely not. I will boycott not only the game but all the sponsors if they don’t retract this.” — Carolyn

Stay tuned for more on the issue …

Carla Hinton

Religion Editor    

In these days leading up to the game, a “pro-life” ad featuring Florida quarterback Tim Tebow’s mother Pam (pictured at right with Tim in a 2009 AP photo) continues to provoke some folks who are angry with CBS for agreeing to give it some air time on Sunday.

That’s right, it hasn’t aired yet but it’s causing a stir.

Several news releases on the topic are being sent out via the Christian Newswire every day. The New York Times has written an opinion piece on the issue and today I learned that  the NFL is being pressured by some “pro-choice” advocacy groups to demand that CBS drop the ad.

Apparently the ad in question is sponsored by the Christian organization Focus on the Family. It reportedly features Pam Tebow telling about her decision not to follow a doctor’s advice to terminate her pregnancy when she was pregnant with son Tim. The doc reportedly gave this advice because of  her difficult pregnancy and illness.

The National Organization for Women is one of the ”pro-choice” group that is incensed that CBS still plans to run the ad.

“Make no mistake about this ad: it’s offensive to women. Yes, it features Heisman trophy winner Tim Tebow and his mother, who had been advised to have an abortion after a serious illness. Standing alone, it sends the message that all women who give birth are heroes; it sends a message that abortion is always a mistake; and it is insulting to the one in three women in this country who have abortions,” Erin Matson, NOW Action vice president, wrote in a posting on the organization’s Say It Sister blog.

Matson said CBS is accomodating Focus on the Family after previously denying ads from the United Church of Christ which depicted “a welcome environment for same sex couples.”

Meanwhile, several pro-life or anti-abortion organizations, are trying to counter opposition to the ad.

Catholic Families for America has started a petition in favor of the Tebow ad.

“It doesn’t take long for the pro-abortion crowd to mobilized their members so those of us on the pro-life side need to be sure we do the same,” Kevin Roberts, executive director of the Catholic grassroots advocacy group, said in a news release.

What are your thoughts? Should CBS run the ad?

Carla Hinton

Religion Editor 

The faith-based organization said 50 percent of Catholic politicians serving in Congress have accepted large donations from ”pro-abortion” lobby groups “while reinforcing their support for abortion rights legislation.”

OneNationUnderGod.org is inviting people to join its prayer campaign for conversion of Catholic politicians “who hold great influence over the lives of the innocent.”

People involved in the campaign are asked to adopt a Catholic member of Congress and pledge a daily spiritual devotion for their enlightenment and for the continued inspiration of their bishop.

The campaign was launched June 22, the feast day of St. Thomas More, whom Pople John Paul II procliamed the patron saint of statesmen and politicians.

For more information about the campaign, go online to www.OneNationUnderGod.org.

Carla Hinton

Religion Editor    

Probably the most extreme comment I’ve read thus far is the one reportedly made by the Rev. Wiley Drake, a Southern Baptist pastor in Buena Park, Calif.

“I’m glad George Tiller is dead,” Drake was quoted in an Associated Baptist Press story today.

According to the story, Drake, a former Southern Baptist Convention second vice president,  made the comments Monday on his Crusade Radio broadcast.

“There may be a lot who would say,  ‘Oh that is mean. You shouldn’t be that way,” Drake said. “Well, no, it’s an answer to prayer.”

Tiller, who attended Reformation Lutheran Church in Wichita, Kan., was well-known as an abortion provider, particularly of partial-birth abortions.  

Among the leaders of faith groups and anti-abortion  organizations around the country sharing their comments is an Oklahoma Roman Catholic leader, the Most Rev. Edward Slattery, bishop of the Tulsa Diocese. Slattery, like many of the leaders, condemned Tiller’s slaying.

“Dr. Tiller was one of three doctors in America who was willing to perform late-term abortions. The news of his murder saddens all the members of the pro-life movement in America since it is just such violence that we deplore,” Slattery said.

“For this reason, I want to be among the many in the pro-life movement to publicly condemn this violent action against life,” he wrote in a prepared statement.

“Such violence does nothing to further the cause of life. Rather, it sullies our effort and allows others to dismiss us as terrorists.”

Here are a few other comments from leaders across the country:

Richard Land, president of the Southern Baptist Convention’s Ethics & Religious Liberties Commission: “Murdering someone is a grotesque and bizarre way to emphasize one’s commitment to the sanctity of human life. People who truly believe in the sanctity of human life believe in the sanctity of the lives of abortion providers as well as the unborn babies who are aborted. … Clearly the killing of abortion profiders is unbiblical, unchristian and un-American. Such callous disregard for human beings brutalizes everyone.” 

Melinda Delahoyde, president of Care Net, which runs a network of more than 1,100 pregnancy centers providing help and support to those facing unplanned pregnancies: “Care Net strongly condemns the brutal act of violence that ended the life of Dr.  George Tiller on Sunday. It is never consistent with the pro-life ethic to take the life of another human being made in the image of God.” 

Rick Scarborough, president of Vision America, part of the “Values Voter” movement: Our hearts go out to his family and friends. May they find comfort in their hour of grief. We condemn this heinous crime in the strongest possible terms and hope the person responsible for Dr. Tiller’s death is brought to justice speedily.”

Andrea Lafferty, executive director of the Traditional Values Coalition: “The pro-life movement is non-violent and does not encouage vigilante justice against abortionists. We seek to bring an end to abortion through peaceful and legal means. As evil as Tiller was in killing late-term babies for profit, he did not deserve to be executived by a vigilante.” 

The Rev. Galen Guengerich, board chairman of the Interfaith Alliance, a group which celebrates religious freedom by championing individual rights: “The abortion issue evokes deep passion from people on all sides, but resorting to murder should never be an option. The fact that it happened at a church is all the more distressing.”  

The Rev. Frank Pavone, national director of Priests for Life: “I am saddened to hear of the killing of George Tiller this morning. … Whatever the motives, we at Priests for Life continue to insist on a culture in which violence is never seen as the solution to any problem. Every life has to be protected, without regard to their age or views or actions.” 

Shaun Kenney, executive director of the American Life League: “Leaders within the pro-life movement often discuss justice in connection with our mission to end the tragedy of abortion. Today, Dr. George Tiller’s life ended in an act defying those principles.”

(AP PHOTO above: Kip Bloss, of Wichita, Kan., prays outside Women’s Health Care Services in Wichita, Kan., today. Bloss, an anti-abortion demonstrator, was making his regular weekly appearance at the clinic which was owned by Dr. George Tiller who was gunned down during church services Sunday. )

Carla Hinton

Religion Editor

The White House Office of the Press Secretary sent a copy of his address to the news media.

Here is it in its entirety:

Remarks of President Barack Obama

Notre Dame Commencement

Sunday, May 17, 2009

Notre Dame, Indiana

Thank you, Father Jenkins for that generous introduction.  You are doing an outstanding job as president of this fine institution, and your continued and courageous commitment to honest, thoughtful dialogue is an inspiration to us all.   

Good afternoon Father Hesburgh, Notre Dame trustees, faculty, family, friends, and the class of 2009.  I am honored to be here today, and grateful to all of you for allowing me to be part of your graduation. 

I want to thank you for this honorary degree.  I know it has not been without controversy.  I don’t know if you’re aware of this, but these honorary degrees are apparently pretty hard to come by.  So far I’m only 1 for 2 as President.  Father Hesburgh is 150 for 150.  I guess that’s better.  Father Ted, after the ceremony, maybe you can give me some pointers on how to boost my average. 

I also want to congratulate the class of 2009 for all your accomplishments.  And since this is Notre Dame, I mean both in the classroom and in the competitive arena.  We all know about this university’s proud and storied football team, but I also hear that Notre Dame holds the largest outdoor 5-on-5 basketball tournament in the world – Bookstore Basketball. 

Now this excites me.  I want to congratulate the winners of this year’s tournament, a team by the name of “Hallelujah Holla Back.”  Well done.  Though I have to say, I am personally disappointed that the “Barack O’Ballers” didn’t pull it out.  Next year, if you need a 6’2” forward with a decent jumper, you know where I live. 

Every one of you should be proud of what you have achieved at this institution.  One hundred and sixty three classes of Notre Dame graduates have sat where you are today.  Some were here during years that simply rolled into the next without much notice or fanfare – periods of relative peace and prosperity that required little by way of sacrifice or struggle. 

You, however, are not getting off that easy.  Your class has come of age at a moment of great consequence for our nation and the world – a rare inflection point in history where the size and scope of the challenges before us require that we remake our world to renew its promise; that we align our deepest values and commitments to the demands of a new age.  It is a privilege and a responsibility afforded to few generations – and a task that you are now called to fulfill.

This is the generation that must find a path back to prosperity and decide how we respond to a global economy that left millions behind even before this crisis hit – an economy where greed and short-term thinking were too often rewarded at the expense of fairness, and diligence, and an honest day’s work. 

We must decide how to save God’s creation from a changing climate that threatens to destroy it.  We must seek peace at a time when there are those who will stop at nothing to do us harm, and when weapons in the hands of a few can destroy the many.  And we must find a way to reconcile our ever-shrinking world with its ever-growing diversity – diversity of thought, of culture, and of belief. 

In short, we must find a way to live together as one human family. 

It is this last challenge that I’d like to talk about today.  For the major threats we face in the 21^st century – whether it’s global recession or violent extremism; the spread of nuclear weapons or pandemic disease – do not discriminate.  They do not recognize borders.  They do not see color.  They do not target specific ethnic groups. 

Moreover, no one person, or religion, or nation can meet these challenges alone.  Our very survival has never required greater cooperation and understanding among all people from all places than at this moment in history. 

Unfortunately, finding that common ground – recognizing that our fates are tied up, as Dr. King said, in a “single garment of destiny” – is not easy.  Part of the problem, of course, lies in the imperfections of man – our selfishness, our pride, our stubbornness, our acquisitiveness, our insecurities, our egos; all the cruelties large and small that those of us in the Christian tradition understand to be rooted in original sin.  We too often seek advantage over others.  We cling to outworn prejudice and fear those who are unfamiliar.  Too many of us view life only through the lens of immediate self-interest and crass materialism; in which the world is necessarily a zero-sum game.  The strong too often dominate the weak, and too many of those with wealth and with power find all manner of justification for their own privilege in the face of poverty and injustice.  And so, for all our technology and scientific advances, we see around the globe violence and want and strife that would seem sadly familiar to those in ancient times.

We know these things; and hopefully one of the benefits of the wonderful education you have received is that you have had time to consider these wrongs in the world, and grown determined, each in your own way, to right them.  And yet, one of the vexing things for those of us interested in promoting greater understanding and cooperation among people is the discovery that even bringing together persons of good will, men and women of principle and purpose, can be difficult. 

The soldier and the lawyer may both love this country with equal passion, and yet reach very different conclusions on the specific steps needed to protect us from harm.  The gay activist and the evangelical pastor may both deplore the ravages of HIV/AIDS, but find themselves unable to bridge the cultural divide that might unite their efforts.  Those who speak out against stem cell research may be rooted in admirable conviction about the sacredness of life, but so are the parents of a child with juvenile diabetes who are convinced that their son’s or daughter’s hardships can be relieved. 

The question, then, is how do we work through these conflicts?  Is it possible for us to join hands in common effort?  As citizens of a vibrant and varied democracy, how do we engage in vigorous debate?  How does each of us remain firm in our principles, and fight for what we consider right, without demonizing those with just as strongly held convictions on the other side?

Nowhere do these questions come up more powerfully than on the issue of abortion.

As I considered the controversy surrounding my visit here, I was reminded of an encounter I had during my Senate campaign, one that I describe in a book I wrote called The Audacity of Hope.  A few days after I won the Democratic nomination, I received an email from a doctor who told me that while he voted for me in the primary, he had a serious concern that might prevent him from voting for me in the general election.  He described himself as a Christian who was strongly pro-life, but that’s not what was preventing him from voting for me.

What bothered the doctor was an entry that my campaign staff had posted on my website – an entry that said I would fight “right-wing ideologues who want to take away a woman’s right to choose.”  The doctor said that he had assumed I was a reasonable person, but that if I truly believed that every pro-life individual was simply an ideologue who wanted to inflict suffering on women, then I was not very reasonable.  He wrote, “I do not ask at this point that you oppose abortion, only that you speak about this issue in fair-minded words.”

Fair-minded words. 

After I read the doctor’s letter, I wrote back to him and thanked him.  I didn’t change my position, but I did tell my staff to change the words on my website.  And I said a prayer that night that I might extend the same presumption of good faith to others that the doctor had extended to me.  Because when we do that – when we open our hearts and our minds to those who may not think like we do or believe what we do – that’s when we discover at least the possibility of common ground. 

That’s when we begin to say, “Maybe we won’t agree on abortion, but we can still agree that this is a heart-wrenching decision for any woman to make, with both moral and spiritual dimensions.  

So let’s work together to reduce the number of women seeking abortions by reducing unintended pregnancies, and making adoption more available, and providing care and support for women who do carry their child to term.  Let’s honor the conscience of those who disagree with abortion, and draft a sensible conscience clause, and make sure that all of our health care policies are grounded in clear ethics and sound science, as well as respect for the equality of women.” 

Understand – I do not suggest that the debate surrounding abortion can or should go away.  No matter how much we may want to fudge it – indeed, while we know that the views of most Americans on the subject are complex and even contradictory – the fact is that at some level, the views of the two camps are irreconcilable.  Each side will continue to make its case to the public with passion and conviction.  But surely we can do so without reducing those with differing views to caricature.  

Open hearts.  Open minds.  Fair-minded words. 

It’s a way of life that has always been the Notre Dame tradition.  Father Hesburgh has long spoken of this institution as both a lighthouse and a crossroads.  The lighthouse that stands apart, shining with the wisdom of the Catholic tradition, while the crossroads is where “…differences of culture and religion and conviction can co-exist with friendship, civility, hospitality, and especially love.”  And I want to join him and Father Jenkins in saying how inspired I am by the maturity and responsibility with which this class has approached the debate surrounding today’s ceremony. 

This tradition of cooperation and understanding is one that I learned in my own life many years ago – also with the help of the Catholic Church. 

I was not raised in a particularly religious household, but my mother instilled in me a sense of service and empathy that eventually led me to become a community organizer after I graduated college.  A group of Catholic churches in Chicago helped fund an organization known as the Developing Communities Project, and we worked to lift up South Side neighborhoods that had been devastated when the local steel plant closed. 

It was quite an eclectic crew.  Catholic and Protestant churches.  Jewish and African-American organizers.  Working-class black and white and Hispanic residents.  All of us with different experiences.  All of us with different beliefs.  But all of us learned to work side by side because all of us saw in these neighborhoods other human beings who needed our help – to find jobs and improve schools.  We were bound together in the service of others. 

And something else happened during the time I spent in those neighborhoods.  Perhaps because the church folks I worked with were so welcoming and understanding; perhaps because they invited me to their services and sang with me from their hymnals; perhaps because I witnessed all of the good works their faith inspired them to perform, I found myself drawn – not just to work with the church, but to be in the church.  It was through this service that I was brought to Christ. 

At the time, Cardinal Joseph Bernardin was the Archbishop of Chicago.  For those of you too young to have known him, he was a kind and good and wise man.  A saintly man.  I can still remember him speaking at one of the first organizing meetings I attended on the South Side.  He stood as both a lighthouse and a crossroads – unafraid to speak his mind on moral issues ranging from poverty, AIDS, and abortion to the death penalty and nuclear war.  And yet, he was congenial and gentle in his persuasion, always trying to bring people together; always trying to find common ground.  Just before he died, a reporter asked Cardinal Bernardin about this approach to his ministry.  And he said, “You can’t really get on with preaching the Gospel until you’ve touched minds and hearts.”

My heart and mind were touched by the words and deeds of the men and women I worked alongside with in Chicago.  And I’d like to think that we touched the hearts and minds of the neighborhood families whose lives we helped change.  For this, I believe, is our highest calling.  

You are about to enter the next phase of your life at a time of great uncertainty.  You will be called upon to help restore a free market that is also fair to all who are willing to work; to seek new sources of energy that can save our planet; to give future generations the same chance that you had to receive an extraordinary education.  And whether as a person drawn to public service, or someone who simply insists on being an active citizen, you will be exposed to more opinions and ideas broadcast through more means of communications than have ever existed before.  You will hear talking heads scream on cable, read blogs that claim definitive knowledge, and watch politicians pretend to know what they’re talking about.  Occasionally, you may also have the great fortune of seeing important issues debated by well-intentioned, brilliant minds.  In fact, I suspect that many of you will be among those bright stars.   

In this world of competing claims about what is right and what is true, have confidence in the values with which you’ve been raised and educated.  Be unafraid to speak your mind when those values are at stake.  Hold firm to your faith and allow it to guide you on your journey.  Stand as a lighthouse.  

But remember too that the ultimate irony of faith is that it necessarily admits doubt.  It is the belief in things not seen.  It is beyond our capacity as human beings to know with certainty what God has planned for us or what He asks of us, and those of us who believe must trust that His wisdom is greater than our own.

This doubt should not push us away from our faith.  But it should humble us.  It should temper our passions, and cause us to be wary of self-righteousness.  It should compel us to remain open, and curious, and eager to continue the moral and spiritual debate that began for so many of you within the walls of Notre Dame.  And within our vast democracy, this doubt should remind us to persuade through reason, through an appeal whenever we can to universal rather than parochial principles, and most of all through an abiding example of good works, charity, kindness, and service that moves hearts and minds. 

For if there is one law that we can be most certain of, it is the law that binds people of all faiths and no faith together.  It is no coincidence that it exists in Christianity and Judaism; in Islam and Hinduism; in Buddhism and humanism.  It is, of course, the Golden Rule – the call to treat one another as we wish to be treated.  The call to love.  To serve.  To do what we can to make a difference in the lives of those with whom we share the same brief moment on this Earth. 

So many of you at Notre Dame – by the last count, upwards of 80% — have lived this law of love through the service you’ve performed at schools and hospitals; international relief agencies and local charities.  That is incredibly impressive, and a powerful testament to this institution.  Now you must carry the tradition forward.  Make it a way of life.  Because when you serve, it doesn’t just improve your community, it makes you a part of your community.  It breaks down walls.  It fosters cooperation.  And when that happens – when people set aside their differences to work in common effort toward a common good; when they struggle together, and sacrifice together, and learn from one another – all things are possible. 

After all, I stand here today, as President and as an African-American, on the 55^th anniversary of the day that the Supreme Court handed down the decision in Brown v. the Board of Education.  Brown was of course the first major step in dismantling the “separate but equal” doctrine, but it would take a number of years and a nationwide movement to fully realize the dream of civil rights for all of God’s children.  There were freedom rides and lunch counters and Billy clubs, and there was also a Civil Rights Commission appointed by President Eisenhower.  It was the twelve resolutions recommended by this commission that would ultimately become law in the Civil Rights Act of 1964. 

There were six members of the commission.  It included five whites and one African-American; Democrats and Republicans; two Southern governors, the dean of a Southern law school, a Midwestern university president, and your own Father Ted Hesburgh, President of Notre Dame.  They worked for two years, and at times, President Eisenhower had to intervene personally since no hotel or restaurant in the South would serve the black and white members of the commission together.  Finally, when they reached an impasse in Louisiana, Father Ted flew them all to Notre Dame’s retreat in Land O’Lakes, Wisconsin, where they eventually overcame their differences and hammered out a final deal. 

Years later, President Eisenhower asked Father Ted how on Earth he was able to broker an agreement between men of such different backgrounds and beliefs.  And Father Ted simply said that during their first dinner in Wisconsin, they discovered that they were all fishermen.  And so he quickly readied a boat for a twilight trip out on the lake.  They fished, and they talked, and they changed the course of history. 

I will not pretend that the challenges we face will be easy, or that the answers will come quickly, or that all our differences and divisions will fade happily away.  Life is not that simple.  It never has been.  

But as you leave here today, remember the lessons of Cardinal Bernardin, of Father Hesburgh, of movements for change both large and small.  Remember that each of us, endowed with the dignity possessed by all children of God, has the grace to recognize ourselves in one another; to understand that we all seek the same love of family and the same fulfillment of a life well-lived.  Remember that in the end, we are all fishermen.

If nothing else, that knowledge should give us faith that through our collective labor, and God’s providence, and our willingness to shoulder each other’s burdens, America will continue on its precious journey towards that more perfect union.  Congratulations on your graduation, may God Bless you, and may God Bless the United States of America.    

——

Look for a story that talks about where the president’s impasse with pro-life or anti-abortion advocates is headed in Saturday’s Oklahoman.

(ABOVE PHOTO: The Associated Press)

Carla Hinton

Religion Editor  

Today, Priests for Life, a national pro-life organization dedicated to ending abortion and euthanasia, issued a news release that said the Vigil for Life will feature Priests for Life director the Rev. Frank Pavone (pictured at right) as guest speaker. The vigil is set for Sunday, the day of the university’s commencement.

This is related to the controversy surrounding Pres. Barack Obama’s scheduled plans to deliver the commencement address at Notre Dame, a Catholic university in South Bend, Ind. Many Roman Catholics, particularly bishops, have expressed outrage that Obama, who is pro-choice, was asked to deliver the graduation speech.

The bishops, including the archbishop of the archdiocese of Oklahoma City and the bishop of Tulsa, said the selection of Obama flies in the face of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishop’s stance on abortion and embryonic stem cell research.

In his statement released today, Pavone said he has joined with the students groups that comprise the ND Response in calling all the faithful to pray a million rosaries in reparation for the “scandal” that has arisen with Notre Dame’s decision to honor Obama.

In response to his invitation to speak at Sunday’s vigil, Pavone said “In standing with these students, I am standing with the true spirit of Notre Dame: a pro-life spirit, in harmony with human reason and Catholic faith. The scandal that has been generated does not represent what Notre Dame is all about; it represents a radical betrayal of what Notre Dame is all about.”

Pavone also urged graduating seniors to take control of the situation by showing up at the vigil instead of their commencement.

“The seniors who do this are manifesting the real meaning of commencement: they are carrying out the witness to truth and service that their hard-earned degrees have prepared them to give in the world.”

Carla Hinton

Religion Editor 

Mary Ann Glendon, a former U.S. ambassador to the Vatican and respected bioethicist has told the University of Notre Dame that she will not accept the prestigious Laetare Medal because of President Obama’s scheduled commencement address, the Religion News Service reported today.

Glendon (pictured at right) said she had been “profoundly moved” when she was first told of the honor last December, but said Notre Dame’s decision to invite Obama and give him an honorary degree caused her to change her mind.

The university has come under withering criticism from conservatives, including nearly 50 U.S. bishops such as the bishop of the Tulsa Diocese and the archbishop of the Oklahoma City archdiocese, who say the school is ignoring the bishops’ guidelines that Catholic universities should not honor politicians who support abortion rights.

Glendon, who teaches at Harvard Law School, said she had tried to revise her planned remarks after Obama’s invitation became public, but decided she didn’t want to engage in a war of words on the commencement platform, according to the RNS.

“It is not the right place, nor is a brief acceptance speech the right vehicle, for engagement with the very serious problems raised by Notre Dame’s decision … to honor a prominent and uncompromising opponent of the Church’s position on issues involving fundamental principles of justice,” Glendon wrote to Notre Dame President John I. Jenkins.

The RNS said Glendon’s letter was posted online by the conservative journal First Things, where she is a member of the editorial and advisory board.

Jenkins, in a statement, said the school was “disappointed” by Glendon’s decision but said “it is our intention to award the Laetare Medal to another deserving recipient, and we will make that announcement as soon as possible.”

Carla Hinton

Religion Editor

Today, thousands across the country marked the 36th anniversary of Roe v. Wade,  the Supreme Court decision to legalize abortion in America.

The anniversary, coming as it did on the week of the presidential inauguration of a pro-choice president, has produced a groundswell of protests, vigils and other activities designed to promote the sanctity of human life.

Here’s just a few examples of the types of activities that are now under way or beign planned:

– Pro-life advocates in about 118 cities across 41 states, plus four Canadian provinces and Austrailia, are preparing for simultaneous 40 Days for Life campaigns from Feb. 25 through April 5. The campaign will consist of prayer and fasting for an end to abortion, 40 days of constant, peaceful vigil outside abortion centers and Planned Parenthood offices and 40 days of pro-life community outreach. Incidentally, those dates coincide with the Christian season of Lent, a fact noted in a recent news release.

“Lent is a season of prayer, fasting, repentance and renewal,” Shawn Carney, spring campaign director said. “It’s a perfect match.”

– As part of the Birmingham Letter Project in Washington, D.C., a prayer vigil at Planned Parenthood was held on Wednesday, along with a March to the White House and the Supreme Court. Today a March for Life was held and Friday, the Rev. Alveda King, niece of slain civil rights leader, the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., will lead a prayer and memorial service in which 1,400 flowers will be laid in front of the White House to honor the 1,400 black children that die every day from abortion. On Saturday, as part of the project (named after MLK’s famous “Letter from a Birmingham Jail” and coordinated by the Christian Defense Coalition) activists plan to leave pro-life messages and artwork on Pennsylvania Avenue in front of the White House.

– Members of the Silent No More Awareness Campaign planned to give their personal abortion testimonies at the Washington, D.C. March for Life and at San Francisco’s Walk for Life West Coast on Saturday. Janet Morana, the group’s co-founder, said men and women who have suffered years of torment because of abortion will stand in front of the Supreme Court and on the streets of San Francisco to “proclaim that the time for healing has begun. To be pro-life is to be pro-woman.”

– Prolife Witness and Pro-Life Unity have joined forces to introduce Organized for Life, a new initiative aimed at taking the abortion and pro-life issues battle beyond the streets and clinics and into the homes of American families. The initiative will include outreach to discuss the abortion issue person to person, door to door, block by block and city by city.

(AP PHOTO: With one woman holding a large picture of the Virgin Mary, a group of about 200 pro-life supporters march on the grounds at the state Capitol in Hartford, Conn., today on the 36th anniversary of the controversial Roe v. Wade U.S Supreme Court decision on abortion.)

Carla Hinton

Religion Editor 

The Christian Defense Coalition has been issued a permit to conduct a pro-life vigil and display along the parade route during the event set for Jan. 20.

The group plans to display 25 large signs on Pennsylvania showing the development of life from conception until birth.

“It is critical that moments after Barack Obama takes the oath as the 44th President of the United States he drive by a visible reminder of those who will have no voice or rights in his administration,” the Rev. Patrick J. Mahoney, the coalition’s director, said in a news release.

“While millions will be celebrating along the Inaugural Parade route, we will be speaking ‘truth to power’ and calling for justice and equality for all Americans.”

Meanwhile, Mahoney participated in a prayer service today that included anointing the doorway Obama will pass through on his way to the platform to be sworn in. The Rev. Rob Schenck of Faith and Action also participated in the service.

“Anointing with oil is a rich tradition both in the bible and in the history of the U.S. Capitol,” Schenck said in a news release.

“Oil symbolizes consecration, or setting something apart for God’s use. George Washington used oil during the dedication of the U.S. Capitol. We used oil today to set apart the walkway and doors that will be the literal right (sic) of passage for Barack Obama as he ascends to the highest office in our land.”

(AP PHOTO: People walk past scaffolding used to support bleacher seats along Pennsylvania Avenue at Freedom Plaza in Washington on Jan. 3. The location is part of the parade route to be used for the inauguration of President-elect Barack Obama.) 

Carla Hinton

Religion Editor