Sunday, July 14, 2013

The Most Influential Roman Catholic Priest is also the Most Problematic

The Problematic Legacy of Fr. Hesburgh

He was a most influential priest. Descriptors from the article:

… “the most powerful unelected official this nation has ever seen.”

He has received 150 honorary degrees, the most ever awarded to one person, …

… and has held 16 presidential appointments involving most of the major social issues in his time—

“…the most permissive abortion laws of any Western country.”

The most significant event for the Church and the its relationship with Catholic colleges and universities occurred in 1967 …

As Father Hesburgh had envisioned, within the next few years most Catholic colleges moved to laicize their boards of trustees.

… the current secularization of our most important institutions—especially many of our Catholic colleges and universities—…

While president of Notre Dame university, Fr. Hesburgh provided then NY Governor Mario Cuomo with a platform through which he loudly and clearly articulated the “personally against abortion” language that virtually every pro-abortion-voting politician articulates today:

Father Hesburgh has always held a special place in the hearts of Catholic Democrats like Pelosi and Biden who want to be able to vote in favor of abortion rights yet still be perceived as being in the good graces of the Church. Pro-choice Catholic politicians are grateful to Father Hesburgh because for the past 40 years he has been providing them with the kind of Catholic cover they have needed to continue voting to expand abortion. Faithful Catholics have been disappointed that the courage Father Hesburgh showed in advancing the cause of civil rights for African Americans and other underrepresented groups did not seem to extend to protecting the civil rights of the unborn...

At one point, Governor Cuomo appeared to be thinking out loud when he mused: “Must I agree with everything in the bishops’ pastoral letter on peace and fight to include it in party platforms? And will I have to do the same for the forthcoming pastoral economics? And, must I, having heard the Pope renew the Church’s ban on birth control devices, veto the funding of contraceptive programs for non-Catholics or dissenting Catholics in my State? I accept the Church’s teaching on abortion. Must [I] insist you do? By law? By denying you Medicaid funding? By a constitutional amendment?” Governor Cuomo’s answer to all of these rhetorical questions was “No.”

In his written response to Governor Cuomo’s speech, Father Hesburgh seemed to agree. Describing the Cuomo speech as “a brilliant talk on religion and politics” Father Hesburgh’s response can be read online today at the Notre Dame website.

HT: Steve Hays

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