South Bend, Ind., Mar 7, 2013 / 00:08 am
Cardinal Timothy M. Dolan of New York will deliver the commencement address and receive an honorary degree at the University of Notre Dame's graduation ceremony on May 19.
Cardinal Dolan is "a man of great intelligence and personal warmth, and a dedicated shepherd of the Church," said Notre Dame president Father John I. Jenkins, C.S.C.
He explained in a March 6 statement that the university is "grateful" that the cardinal has accepted its invitation to celebrate the students' graduation and to "provide them with words of wisdom as they set out into the world."
The invitation to Cardinal Dolan comes four years after the university's intensely controversial invitation to President Barack Obama to deliver the commencement address and receive an honorary degree at the May 2009 commencement.