Thursday, April 30, 2009

Rejoicing in Principle over Prestige

Harvard Law professor and former US Ambassador the the Vatican Mary Ann Glendon announced this week that she would turn down Notre Dame University's prestigious Laetare medal.


The Laetare Medal is the highest honor conferred on Catholics in the United States. For a Catholic, it has greater prestige than a Nobel Prize for a scientist or an Academy Award for an actor, as the award is given for career-long achievement, for "staying the course" in the words of St. Paul. It doesn't just showcase a single discovery or film role.

To renounce it, therefore, is not the lightest of matters.

Laetare, translated from Latin, means 'rejoice'. As in the Catholic community rejoices in your good example.

I am inspired, yet not surprised, that a woman who has dedicated her life to defending Truth concluded that she could not in good conscience accept this year's award.
God Bless you, Professor Glendon.


And thank you God, for the grace of her good example.



No comments:

Post a Comment