Schools
Cardinal Sean O'Malley Boycotts BC Graduation Ceremony
The reason: Irish prime minister, the speaker, has supported slight changes in Ireland's abortion laws in the wake of a woman's death after being denied an abortion.
Cardinal Sean O'Malley said in a statement today that he would not attend Boston College's commencement because Irish Prime Minister Enda Kenny is scheduled to speak and:
...the Catholic Bishops of the United States have asked that Catholic institutions not honor government officials or politicians who promote abortion with their laws and policies.
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The proposed Irish law would allow abortion if the mother's life is threatened. The bill was introduced after international outcry over the death of Savita Halappanavar, an Indian woman who died in an Irish hospital last year after being denied an abortion. Halapppanavar was told by a midwife at the hospital that she could not have an abortion because Ireland was "a Catholic country."
O'Malley, archbishop of the Boston Archdiocese, said in his statement that since BC has not withdrawn the invitation and because the prime minister has not seen fit to decline, he won't attend the graduation ceremony on May 20.
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