For those who are interested in the pastor’s position regarding President Obama’s visit to Notre Dame, the following is a copy of the letter he sent to the White House last week. Dear Mr. President: I write to thank you for accepting the invitation to speak at Notre Dame’s Spring Commencement. I trust that you will share wise words with the graduates, their faculty, family, and friends. I hope you will also take the opportunity to listen while you are there, to see the vital witness of a Catholic university in action, engaging in dialogue, in the pursuit of truth and living action. The sharp and, at times, embittering reaction of some to your invitation, may not represent all Catholics. But I think there is a unanimity of concern by Catholics and others of good will, at the possibility that your administration might broaden access to abortions, ease legal and legitimate restrictions, and compel cooperation by health workers and professional doctors, physician assistants, and nurses in performing abortions. I hope you will not try to lead our country in such directions. I certainly will not follow, nor will the vast majority of Catholics. Like is a gift from God, to be valued and protected from conception to natural death. It is in defense of human dignity and worth that we oppose abortion and the death penalty. Life is a seamless garment, not to be ripped asunder or economically apportioned out to high bidders. Please re-enter the dialogue with people who oppose abortion, and especially at Notre Dame with the Catholic Church, so that renewed witness may re-shape your priorities and policies. Just as the hope for stem-cell research can be realized in moral ways, so the desire to help pregnant women facing difficult decisions can be accomplished without taking baby’s innocent life. As St. Paul argues in the Letter to the Romans (Rm 13: 1), since all authority comes ultimately from God, may you deserve the respect and honor (Rm 13: 7) we give you as our president: “he whom you serve is the Lord” (Rm 12: 11). Peace, Rev. John D. Gillespie Pastor Director of the Catholic Student Center Fr. Gillespie believes strongly in the importance of dialogue as called for by Pope Paul VI in his encyclical Ecclesiam suam. At the heart of a university is respectful dialogue.