Posted on 05/23/2003 7:08:11 AM PDT by marshmallow
BOSTON (AP) Worcester Bishop Daniel P. Reilly announced Wednesday that he would not attend commencement at the College of the Holy Cross, which planned to bestow an honorary degree on TV talk show host Chris Matthews, who supports abortion rights.
Reilly said in a statement that he made the decision ''with a heavy heart,'' as he wanted to personally offer his congratulations to the class of 2003 on Friday.
But he said he could not attend because of the Worcester school's plan to honor ''a Catholic person who publicly espouses the view that, in some cases, people have a right to terminate a life in the womb'' an apparent reference to the Catholic college's plan to confer an honorary degree on TV talk show host Chris Matthews. The school will also honor philanthropist Iris Cantor.
''I cannot let my presence imply support for anything less than the protection of all life at all its stages,'' Reilly said in a statement.
C. J. Doyle, executive director of the Catholic Action League of Massachusetts, had urged Reilly to boycott the ceremony because Matthews supports abortion rights, and because Cantor has funded women's health care centers that perform abortions and distribute birth control.
''We applaud the bishop's decision,'' Doyle said. ''We think that it's an act of courage and fidelity which speaks to the irreconcilable incompatibility between the Catholic faith and any philosophy which permits the deliberate destruction of innocent human life.''
Holy Cross spokeswoman Kathy McNamara said Reilly, who attends the ceremony every year and closes the commencement with a blessing, would be missed.
''Bishop Reilly is a devoted friend of the college, and we're sorry he won't attend our commencement this year,'' she said.
She also praised Matthews, saying he has a ''probing intellect'' and sympathy for the poor and marginalized. She also said Matthews doesn't depart from the church's views on the morality of abortion, only on the government's role in regulating reproductive rights.
''We're proud of him, and we'll honor him on Friday,'' she said.
Reilly also skipped the 1999 commencement at Worcester's Assumption College, which honored then-Lt. Gov. Jane M. Swift, despite her support for legal abortion.
The Catholic Action League has also criticized Stonehill College for inviting White House Chief of Staff Andrew Card as commencement speaker, saying he also supported legal abortion while a member of the state Legislature.
I know nothing of Reilly but he appears to be a good man. I was under the impression that the north-east was essentially a liberal wasteland. Maybe not.
Holy Cross spokeswoman Kathy McNamara said Reilly, who attends the ceremony every year and closes the commencement with a blessing, would be missed.
He should have accepted he invitation and rebuked the evil-doers in the commencement blessing. That would have taken more courage than running for the shadows.
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