Boston College -- a Catholic institution of higher learning -- has received much criticism lately for choosing Irish Prime Minister Enda Kenny to deliver its commencement address and to receive an honorary degree on May 20, because Kenny's government has introduced legislation that may soon legalize abortion in Ireland.
Cardinal Sean O'Malley, the archbishop of the Boston Archdiocese, said he will boycott Boston College's commencement, since he is opposed to BC having a speaker who supports abortion. By tradition, the Boston archbishop delivers the final benediction at BC's commencement each year.
O'Malley said that Catholic bishops in the United States have urged Catholic institutions of higher learning not to honor government officials whose views on abortion are inconsistent with the teachings of the Catholic Church.
By choosing Kenny as its graduation speaker, BC has disobeyed this directive of Cardinal O'Malley; therefore, we agree that BC is wrong to have a speaker who supports abortion.
Although BC argues that its invitation to Kenny as its commencement speaker is "independent" of the abortion bill currently being considered in Ireland, such an argument is invalid, because one cannot ignore Kenny's support of the abortion bill.
One would think that BC should know better than to have a pro-abortion commencement speaker -- especially since BC is a Catholic institution of higher learning, and the Catholic Church is adamantly opposed to abortion.
In fact, the Catholic Church views abortion as the murder of an innocent human life. But BC does not seem to care about that, nor does it care about violating a critical doctrine of the Roman Catholic Church.
All in all, for a Catholic university to convey such a sacrilegious attitude sends a sad message to all Christians -- a message that says, in effect, "Boston College has the right to do as it pleases, even if its decision contradicts Catholic doctrine and the teachings of Christ."
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