Disappointed over the honorary doctorates that Loyola will give to the Landrieu family at the School of Law commencement ceremony, Archbishop Alfred Hughes of New Orleans issued a statement today revoking his participation in any of the Loyola commencement exercises for 2005.
According to the Rev. William Maestri, S.J., spokesperson for the archdiocese, Hughes said the Landrieus have gone against the church’s fundamental moral principles.
“The entire Landrieu family has not been completely faithful to the church’s teaching,” Hughes said in a statement to the Associated Press.
Both Mary Landrieu, U.S. senator, and Mitch Landrieu, lieutenant governor, have legislative voting records that do not adhere to the church’s blanket opposition to abortion. Mary Landrieu is a supporter of the basic right to an abortion but is against late-term abortion procedures, while Mitch Landrieu has opposed several bills seeking to criminalize abortion.
Hughes said he does not want confuse the faithful by giving the “impression that it is appropriate to include in an honor anyone who dissents publicly from Church teaching” and therefore will not attend the ceremony.
According to Maestri, the Archdiocese of New Orleans did not receive a press release from Loyola containing the names of those receiving the honorary degrees until last week. However, knowledge of the commencement speakers has been made public to Loyola students, faculty and staff for nearly two months.
On March 11, The Maroon published an article, “Prejean, Landrieu to speak at graduation,” listing the immediate Landrieu family as one of the six honorary degree recipients. The article also said that Moon Landrieu would be the guest speaker at the School of Law’s commencement ceremony next Friday.
Despite Hughes’ disapproval in Loyola’s decision, the Rev. Kevin Wildes, S.J., university president, is holding his ground. “We honor [the Landrieu family] as a family for the service they have given, as a family, to those in the community who are in great need. We honor them, as a family, for lives of public service and giving back to the community, in New Orleans, La., and the United States,” Wildes wrote in his statement released late Thursday afternoon.
Frank Scully, dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, said he agrees with Wildes. Scully said he was disappointed with the Hughes’ decision to skip the commencement ceremonies.
“I think it’s sad,” Scully said. “I think that the Landrieu family has done a lot for New Orleans and I think that it is appropriate that we honor them.”
Many of the Landrieu family’s supporters pointed out that the School of Law’s commencement speaker, the Hon. Moon Landrieu, was instrumental in desegregating New Orleans while he was mayor in the late 60s and early 70s. Landrieu family friend and Loyola alumnus Chris Christianberry said that it was ironic for the Archdiocese not to attend Landrieu’s address when they fully supported his actions as mayor.
“The church certainly didn’t have a problem with Moon when he was one of five people voting in favor of legislation desegregating New Orleans,” Christianberry said.
No immediate members of the Landrieu family were available for comment as of press time, but in a statement released late Wednesday, Mitch Landrieu said that abortion is morally wrong but he does not “think it prudent to make abortion a crime in all circumstances.”
Maestri said he hopes the archbishop’s holdout will not lead to a permanent rift between Hughes and Wildes. “The archbishop and Wildes are open for dialogues,” Maestri said. However, Maestri also said the disappointment should be geared toward Loyola’s actions and that the archbishop should be applauded for following the Catholic church’s teachings.
Archbishop Alfred Hughes says he does not want confuse the faithful by giving the “impression that it is appropriate to include in an honor anyone who dissents publicly from Church teaching” and therefore will not attend Loyola commencement ceremonies.
