Statement from Father John Jenkins, president of the University of Notre Dame
"As
surprising as today's announcement is, it is apparent that Pope Benedict has
made a decision that is motivated by his deep love for the Church," Father
Jenkins said. "He has been a dedicated pastor to Catholics worldwide for the
past eight years – and even before as a cardinal, bishop and priest. As a
former university professor, he is a serious intellectual with an understanding
of education and appreciation for the life of the mind, and that has been
important to all of us in Catholic higher education. As the College of
Cardinals considers a successor to Pope Benedict, I pray God will guide their
deliberations."
Father
Jenkins exchanged greetings with the pope on Feb. 1, 2006, following a general
audience in the Vatican's Paul VI Auditorium. The pope shook hands with Father
Jenkins and called Notre Dame "a great Catholic university." The University
president thanked the pope and said, "Keep us in your prayers."
Nearly
50 Notre Dame Trustees, officers and their spouses attended the papal audience.
Father
Jenkins attended an address by Benedict on April 17, 2008, to more than 300
Catholic education leaders at The Catholic University of America in Washington,
D.C.
"It
was a warm and gracious address that emphasized the value of Catholic
education," Father Jenkins said at the time. "It was a very positive
experience. There was an expression of gratitude and appreciation for everyone
in the room involved in Catholic education. He spoke of education as being
central to the life of the Church, and, of course, that is what Notre Dame is
all about. It was a great affirmation of our central mission."
Notre
Dame's relationship with Pope Benedict goes back to the 1960s when the
University's former president,Rev. Theodore M. Hesburgh, C.S.C., offered a
faculty position to then Father Joseph Ratzinger, a German theologian.
"I
was searching around the world for an up-and-coming theologian," Father
Hesburgh said in an interview with the South Bend Tribune soon after Cardinal
Ratzinger was elected pope. He wrote a letter of invitation to the young
cleric, inviting him to join the faculty for a year or permanently.
"He
wrote back, ‘I'd love to come, but I don't think my English is good enough
yet,' " Father Hesburgh said.
Notre
Dame's most recent interaction with the Holy Father came in December when John Cavadini, professor of theology and
McGrath-Cavadini Director of the Institute for Church Life (ICL), presented him with a book titled "Explorations
in the Theology of Benedict XVI."
Edited by Cavadini and published by the University of Notre Dame Press, the
book grew from a conference sponsored by the ICL last March to mark the pope's 85th birthday. It
explores and reflects on some 60 years of Joseph Ratzinger's theological
scholarship and teaching, from his writings as a professor of theology through
his papal encyclical letters.
