Whether Notre Dame should host President Obama as its commencement speaker and honor him with a conferred degree is more straightforward than much recent discussion would suggest.

The president is a public advocate of abortion rights, including late-term and federally funded abortions. But abortion is against the long-standing fundamental moral principles of the Catholic Church. The Church in fact considers abortion a mortal sin and an “unspeakable crime,” incurring the Church’s gravest penalty of excommunication; she considers support of abortion morally equivalent to support of infanticide, both being heresies. Therefore by honoring President Obama and giving him this special platform, Notre Dame violates the 2004 injunction of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, which stated: “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.” Q.E.D.

The issues of whether there should be “dialogue” about the Church’s stance on abortion, or whether indeed the Church’s stance is the correct one, are beside the point. The fact is that this is the Church’s stance.

If President Obama were an invited speaker of, say, Notre Dame’s College Democrats, there would be no issue: He would be part of the “marketplace of ideas,” which all universities, including Catholic universities, should protect and encourage; he would be receiving no special platform or honor from the university suggesting its support for his policies.

But Notre Dame proposes instead to give him this special platform and to honor him with a conferred degree. Thus Notre Dame seems to have this choice: Either rescind its invitation to President Obama (without prejudice, wishing him well and praying for him), or reconsider the extent to which it is indeed a Catholic institution.

– James R. Otteson is professor of philosophy and economics at Yeshiva University, visiting professor of government at Georgetown University, and a member of the 1990 class of Notre Dame.