Laetare Medal

Richard A. Sokerka

Since 1883, the University of Notre Dame in Indiana has awarded its prestigious Laetare Medal annually to an American Catholic “in recognition of outstanding service to the Church and society.”

However, the selection of Vice President Joseph Biden as one of this year’s recipients of the award, has drawn objections from the local ordinary, faculty, students and alumni.

The award is scheduled to be presented to Biden and former Speaker of the House John Boehner during the university’s May 15 commencement ceremony.

Bishop Kevin Rhoades of Fort Wayne-South Bend, Ind., has spoken out against the selection of Biden, stating that his “gravely irresponsible” rejection of Catholic teaching on abortion and traditional marriage should disqualify him from receiving the Laetare Medal.

“We should seek to honor those who act to protect human life and dignity from conception to natural death, who respect true marriage and the family, who promote peace, justice, religious freedom, solidarity, the integral development of the poor, the just treatment of immigrants, and care for creation,” the bishop said.

“I believe it is wrong for Notre Dame to honor any ‘pro-choice’ public official with the Laetare Medal,” he said, “since direct abortion is gravely contrary to the natural law and violates a very fundamental principle of Catholic moral and social teaching: the inalienable right to life of every innocent human being from the moment of conception. I also question the propriety of honoring a public official who was a major spokesman for the redefinition of marriage.”

In a resolution unanimously passed April 1, University Faculty for Life’s Notre Dame Chapter said it agrees with Bishop Rhoades, calling the awarding of the Laetare Medal to Biden “a scandalous violation of the university’s moral responsibility never to honor those who act in defiance of fundamental moral principles about the sanctity of life. In the resolution, the faculty asks Notre Dame to rescind the award.

In a letter to The Observer, Notre Dame’s student newspaper, 89 students criticized the award of the Laetare Medal to Biden. “The university has made a mistake, one that devalues the Laetare Medal and reflects poorly on the judgment of the university’s leaders. We are disappointed Notre Dame has failed in this instance to live up to its Catholic mission. We deserve to see the Laetare Medal given to an American Catholic who merits it by having served as an outstanding example for Catholics and having performed real service to the Church in this country,” the students wrote.

As an alumnus with a deep affection for Our Lady’s University, the awarding of the Laetare Medal to Biden will be as much of a black eye on my beloved university’s Catholic identity as was its conferral of an honorary degree on President Obama in 2009.