Notre Dame president Father John Jenkins will be participating in this year’s March for Life in Washington, D.C. This annual event will be taking place on the 36th anniversary of Roe v. Wade Supreme Court decision. As a Catholic priest, of course Father Jenkins is expected to not only be pro-life, but to also stand up for pro-life values. While he’s certainly doing that in marching with thousands of other pro-lifers, he failed the pro-life community earlier in the year when he invited President Obama, the most radical pro-abortion president we’ve ever had, to give the commencement address at Notre Dame. Whether or not it was appropriate to invite Obama should be up for debate, but apparently, for Father Jenkins it wasn’t — and still isn’t. Even as he prepares to march for the sanctity of life, he refuses to drop charges against 88 pro-lifers who peacefully protested the Obama commencement address, and found themselves arrested.

Notre Dame President John I. Jenkins announced today that he intends to join the “March for Life” this coming January as part of his commitment made last May, according to Jenkins, to bear witness to the sanctity of life. The March for Life is held each year in Washington, DC to mark the anniversary of the Supreme Court’s Roe v. Wade decision.

Apparently the irony was lost on Jenkins that while he will be preparing to protest against Roe v. Wade, the actual Roe, Norma McCorvey, will be preparing for her criminal trial for protesting at Notre Dame after she was arrested under orders from Father Jenkins who has, so far, refused to drop the charges brought against McCorvey and the rest of the “ND 88”, the dozens of pro-life protestors arrested last spring for “crimes” such as saying the rosary and wearing pro-life t-shirts.

In this announcement, Jenkins recognizes that his decision to invite the most pro-abortion president in the history of the United States to speak at the University’s 2009 Commencement and award him an honorary degree “caused some divisions in the Notre Dame community”. Gee, ya think?

Jenkins, of course, failed to mention that the decision has cost the University millions of dollars as large numbers of Notre Dame alumni have discontinued previous commitments to donate money to the school and as many as half of alumni have openly refused to make further donations to the University, citing the Obama invitation as the reason.

Jenkins expressed his hope that “we can overcome divisions to foster constructive dialogue and work together for a cause that is at the heart of Notre Dame’s mission” something which many in the Pro-Life community believe to be impossible so long as the “ND 88” are facing possible prison sentences for peacefully expressing the same point of view Father Jenkins is now prepared to support at the March for Life.

Well, to be accurate, the ND 88 weren’t arrested for praying the rosary or wearing pro-life T-shirts. They were arrested for trespassing. However, the irony was lost on Father Jenkins. These people were arrested for peacefully protesting abortion, the very same thing that Father Jenkins is about to do in Washington, and yet he refuses to drop charges against them. Meanwhile, he spouts off empty rhetoric about “overcoming divisions” and “fostering dialogue”, as if that would somehow heal the rift that he has created.

After all, it’s pretty clear that these charges have nothing to do with trespassing. Father Jenkins was embarassed by these protestors. The protests also cost him a lot of money, as Notre Dame alumni withdrew donations over the Obama dust-up. Father Jenkins was embarassed, and now he’s holding a grudge. Rather than doing the right thing, and dropping the charges, he’s proceeding with their prosecution as he meanwhile marches in Washington as if it would somehow bolster his pro-life credentials again and make everyone forget about his little grudge match against the ND 88.

The right thing for Father Jenkins to do here would be to drop the charges. Until he does, he’ll be nothing more than a pro-life hypocrite extraordinaire.

Hat Tip: Hot Air