 |
| Linda Hogan |
The Holy See yesterday dismissed as “nonsense” weekend Irish media reports that Pope Francis might nominate two Irish women as cardinals. Responding to reports in Irish and Irish-American media that Pope Francis might name both TCD ecumenics Prof Linda Hogan and former president Mary McAleese as cardinals at a future conclave, senior Vatican spokesman Fr Federico Lombardi said: “This is just nonsense . . . It is simply not a realistic possibility that Pope Francis will name women cardinals for the February consistory. “Theologically and theoretically, it is possible,” he added. “Being a cardinal is one of those roles in the church for which, theoretically, you do not have to be ordained but to move from there to suggesting the pope will name women cardinals for the next consistory is not remotely realistic.”
In 1984, while serving as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Nepal, Carol Clark, then twenty-two years old, was
The Fine Gael
leader, who was awarded an Honorary Doctorate in law, proved a
particular hit among the graduates' parents, who delivered cheers of
support and laughter throughout. But it was his reference to a "strong Boston"
that garnered the loudest applause. Later in the day, two survivors of
the Boston marathon bombings, Brittany Loring and Liza Cherney, had
recovered enough to receive their postgraduate diplomas from the Carroll
School of Business.Despite the positive response from the crowd, Mr Kenny was initially welcomed by more than 40 pro-life protestors at the entrance of Boston College. Pro-life activists joined Boston Cardinal Sean O'Malley in boycotting the event due to Mr Kenny's stance on the Protection of Life During Pregnancy Bill 2013.
"I'm absolutely shocked that a top Jesuit college would invite a man that is supporting the abortion bill. (He) shouldn't be let inside the door here."
Enda Kenny outlined his vision for a very different Ireland during a Dáil Éireann speech in July 2011 when responding to the publication of the Cloyne Report. Like earlier reports—Murphy, Ryan, and Ferns—Cloyne echoed the well established narrative of clerical child sex abuse and confirmed the Catholic hierarchy’s failure to report such abuse to the civic authorities. The Bishop in question observed the dictates of the Vatican rather than the law of the land.But Cloyne was of a different order too. It detailed how the Vatican deliberately organized to frustrate an Irish State-commissioned inquiry into clerical child sex abuse as recently as 2009. In an unprecedented move, Mr. Kenny, a devout Catholic, entered the Dáil chamber, the seat of political power in Ireland, and called the Vatican to account. And, he declared the primacy of the State’s standards, not those of the Catholic Church, in all matters related to the protection of Ireland’s children.The “Cloyne speech” represents a watershed moment because it encapsulates a new vision for the nation: This is the Republic of Ireland 2011. A republic of laws, of rights and responsibilities; of proper civic order; where the delinquency and arrogance of a particular version, of a particular kind of ‘morality,’ will no longer be tolerated or ignored.That “version … of morality” for too long masked a history of collective abdication of responsibility for Ireland’s most vulnerable citizens. It fed the open secret of abuse, abandonment and neglect in Irish society as nation and State looked the other way and chose not to see what we all knew happened in our midst. Mr. Kenny drew a line under that history.
 |
| Cardinal O'Malley At Edward Kennedy's Funeral |
First, a commencement address and a funeral liturgy are canonically very different things. Anyone wishing to compare them must show first of all how an academic exercise is sufficiently like a sacramental of the Church to support any arguments resting on their alleged comparableness.
Ireland's prime minister Edna Kenny isn't the first abortion-rights proponent to
be honored by the college. In Scott Brown,
delivered the commencement address at the Boston College School of Law.
In 2007, the law school invited Edward Markey—a Massachusetts
Congressman with a 100% abortion rights voting record in Congress—to
speak at its commencement. In 2006, Mr. Markey joined 54 other Catholic Democrats in the House in signing a "Catholic Statement of Principles,"
reserving the right to disagree with the Catholic Church on important
issues like abortion. Mr. Markey is now running for John Kerry's vacated
Senate seat. There has been an uneasy relationship
between the church and the wider Boston College campus community as
well. In 2009, when college administrators placed 40 crucifixes on
classroom walls throughout the Boston campus, a number of faculty
members were furious. In interviews with the Boston Herald
and InsideHigherED.com, one professor described the display of
crucifixes as offensive, while another found it "insensitive" and
"indicative of a bias toward one way of thinking, elevating one set of ideals above others, honoring one group of people in preference to the rest." Complaining about the crucifixes, Boston College Chemistry professor Amir Hoyveda wrote a letter to the editor of the Boston Herald, saying that he could "hardly imagine a more effective way to denigrate the faculty of an educational institution."
In a sense the professors and students are continuing the tradition of the longtime proponent of abortion rights, the late Rev. Robert Drinan, who was dean of Boston College Law School for 14 years (1956-70) before serving in the U.S. House of Representatives. While a congressman, Drinan could be counted on to vote for increased access to abortion, just as earlier, while a dean, he had helped counsel Catholic politicians on how to accept and promote abortion with a clear conscience. In 2011, the Boston College Law School held a symposium to honor Drinan.
There are 79 private colleges with endowments of more than $250
million that charge low-income students We
found 17—about eight percent of four-year Catholic colleges in the
U.S.—that had endowments larger than $250 million in FY 2010. Not
one of the 17 appears on Burd’s lists of most charitable colleges for
low-income students, measured by percent of students receiving federal
Pell Grants and the average cost of attendance (net price) for each
low-income student in the 2010-2011 academic year an average net price over
$10,000; 51 that charge over $15,000; and 26 that charge over $20,000. That prompted The Cardinal Newman Society to look specifically at Catholic colleges..The Jesuits’ Saint Louis University had an even larger endowment—more than $700 million in FY 2010—and yet charged low-income students an average of $23,842. And Boston College, with one of the nation’s largest endowments of nearly $1.5 billion,still charged needy students an average of $13,128.
A Boston College spokesman has been forced to defend and justify their selection of Irish Prime Minister Enda Kenny as the commencement speaker after hearing criticism from Catholic groups over his stance on Ireland abortion law reform debate. Kenny has become a target for Catholics after expressing his support for legislation that would allow abortions if the circumstances pose a real and substantive threat to the mother’s life. The Boston Globe has reported that the Catholic Action League have expressed and encouraged others to express their outrage for the Jesuit school’s decision.Boston College defended their choice in saying the selection was made to celebrate the great relationship Ireland and the university share. Spokesman Jack Dunn explained “Boston College invited Prime Minister Kenny a year ago to speak at our commencement in light of our longstanding connection with Ireland and our desire to recognize and celebrate our heritage. Our invitation is independent of the proposed bill that will be debated in the Irish Parliament this summer.”
 |
| Mary Walz President of Planned Parenthood League of Massachusetts |
Marty Walz, the President and CEO of the Planned Parenthood League of Massachusetts, called the Irish Prime Minister Enda Kenny an “appropriate commencement speaker.” Walz went on to say that “It is disappointing that a measure to provide health care to a woman whose life is in danger would draw protest in Massachusetts.”
On Monday, May 20th, Students for Life of America (SFLA) and other
local and national pro-life notatbc.com/?page_id=172)
outside the Boston College graduation ceremony to protest Ireland's 1st
pro-abortion Prime Minister giving the commencement address and
receiving an honorary degree at the Catholic institution. SFLA will
gather together to stand up for women, show the value and worth of
children in the womb, and voice support for keeping Ireland
abortion-free. Organizations will host a prayer vigil and
public witness 
Cardinal Sean O’Malley’s public statement denouncing Boston College
for honoring Irish prime minister Enda Kenny was a violation of an
informal agreement with the Irish government leader and the Jesuit
university, according to an Irish columnist. Niall O’Dowd charges that Cardinal O’Malley reneged on an agreement when
he engaged in open criticism of the plan by Boston College to award
Kenny an honorary degree. O’Dowd writes: According to my sources O’Malley had indicated agreement with a plan that would see him absent on the day at Boston College but with a plausible reason not directly related to Kenny for not attending.
 |
| Lizzie Jekanowski posing in a Halloween costume |
“We … partner with the Planned Parenthood at the Babcock stop on the B Line; they give us a lot of condoms, information, free swag,” said student group Chairwoman Lizzie Jekanowski in an email to The College Fix. In addition to Planned Parenthood, Boston College Students for Sexual Health receives free condoms from a female condom company called FC2 and also the American Condom Campaign, run by Trojan, which gives 1,000 to 1,500 condoms a semester to the group.
Because the Gospel of Life is the centerpiece of the Church’s social
doctrine and because we consider abortion a crime against humanity, the
Catholic Bishops of the United States have asked that Catholic
institutions not honor government officials or politicians who promote
abortion with their laws and policies. Recently I learned that the Prime Minister of Ireland, the Hon. Mr.
Enda Kenny was slated to receive an honorary degree at Boston College’s
graduation this year. I am sure that the invitation was made in good
faith, long before it came to the attention of the leadership of Boston
College that Mr. Kenny is aggressively promoting abortion legislation. The Irish Bishops have responded to that development by affirming the Church’s teaching that “the deliberate decision to deprive an innocent human being of life is always morally wrong” and expressed serious concern that the proposed legislation “represents a dramatic and morally unacceptable change to Irish law.”
 |
| Bradley Schaeffer, SJ, rector of the Blessed Peter Faber Community; B.C. president William Leahy, SJ; Cardinal Seàn Patrick O'Malley, OFM Cap, Archbishop of Boston; Steven Dillard, SJ, secretary for formation for the US Assistancy; Thomas Smolich, SJ, president of the Jesuit Conference |
Mr Kenny is due to speak at a commencement, or graduation, ceremony at the college on May 20th and will also receive an honorary Doctor of Law degree from college president Rev William Leahy, S.J.
Cardinal Sean P. O’Malley, the archbishop of the Boston Archdiocese, said today he would not attend Boston College’s commencement because the scheduled speaker, Irish Prime Minister Enda Kenny, supports controversial abortion-rights legislation in his country. In a statement released this afternoon, O’Malley said the Catholic Bishops of the United States have urged Catholic institutions not to honor government officials whose views on the issue are inconsistent with the teachings of the Catholic church. The Irish legislation would permit abortions if there is a real and substantial threat to the mother’s life, including from suicide. “Since the university has not withdrawn the invitation and because the Taoiseach [prime minister] has not seen fit to decline, I shall not attend the graduation,’’ O’Malley said in a statement. “It is my ardent hope that Boston College will work to redress the confusion, disappointment and harm caused by not adhering to the Bishops’ directives.’’He added, “although I shall not be present to impart the final benediction, I assure the graduates that they are in my prayers on this important day in their lives, and I pray that their studies will prepare them to be heralds of the Church’s Social Gospel and ‘men and women for others,’ especially for the most vulnerable in our midst.’’ By tradition, the Boston archbishop delivers the final benediction at BC’s commencement each spring. The college is scheduled to award Kenny an honorary Doctor of Laws degree at the ceremony, which will be held May 20 at Alumni Stadium.
While Ireland’s Catholic bishops and the pro-life movement are
fighting desperately to keep the government
the head of the same government. Irish pro-life leaders say they are
incredulous at the news. Niamh Uí Bhriain of Ireland's Life Institute
told LifeSiteNews that the Jesuit college should withdraw its
invitation.
The Catholic Action League of Massachusetts also condemned the college
for selecting Republic of Ireland Taoiseach (Prime Minisster) Enda Kenny
as its 2013 Commencement Speaker. The university will also confer an
honorary Doctor of Laws degree on Kenny during commencement exercises on
May 20th. On April 30th, Kenny's coalition government introduced legislation
with the Orwellian title "The Protection of Life during Pregnancy Bill
2013," which would legalise abortion in Ireland under the guise of
preventing the suicide of pregnant women. As there is no gestational age limit to the measure, criticis say it would mean abortion on demand, under threat of suicide, through all nine months of pregnancy.
Catholic universities across the United States say they would tell
student groups distributing condoms onAt BC, officials sent a letter to a student group that organized condom pickup spots on campus, citing the university’s mission as a Catholic institution and demanding that they cease or face possible discipline. The letter provoked angry reaction from some students and the local chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union, which said it might pursue legal action.
I am simply watching him and trying to learn what I can understand. I watched him give his sermon in Italian to the cardinals Thursday in the Sistine Chapel. I understood him to say that nothing we do means anything if we don't do it as a disciple of Christ, in the name of Christ crucified. I resonated there with his Jesuit vocation.
 |
H. John McDargh |
As John McDargh explained, "There is no one in the chain of command in the Catholic Church who can have anything to say about what happens at Boston College," according to John McDargh, BC assistant professor of theology at the school. The president and Board of Trustees, however, are priests or active members of the laity. In addition, devout Catholic alumni and Boston Archbishop Cardinal O’Malley influence BC’s interpretation of doctrine. This has resulted in controversies such as the decision not to renew the teaching contract last year of Father John Shea, who has argued for the ordination of women.
