"I believe you are at the beginning of something brilliant here at Ave Maria," Noonan said, addressing her remarks to the graduating class. "I believe you are at the beginning of what will be known as the great Catholic university of the 21st century in America."
Peggy Noonan, bestselling author and columnist for The Wall Street Journal, delivered the commencement address at Ave Maria University's third commencement ceremony May 12, 2007.
The day before the commencement ceremony, Fr. Richard John Neuhaus, editor-in-chief of First Things, presided over the university's Baccalaureate Mass and was also given the honorary degree, doctor of humane letters, honoris causa.
Wow! I didn't realize Peggy Noonan gave the commencement speech at AMU. She gave the school a huge plug. That's really great for AMU!
ReplyDeleteIf you're really looking to be the shining new hope of the Republican party....I was hoping the school would be a place to form Catholics, not footsoldiers for the American conservative right. Too many American Catholics are already Republican first, Catholic second.
ReplyDeleteAgree emphatically with your last two points, Kate. However, having read many of her columns over the past few years, I think Peggy is Catholic first--or well on her way.
ReplyDeleteCatholics embrace "The American Conservative Right" because they are the only political force that enshrines in its platform (and often in its actions, such as the SCOTUS appointments of Roberts, Alito, Scalia and Thomas, the partial-birth abortion ban, and Bush's veto of federal funding for the killing of embryoes to harvest their stem cells) the protection of unborn persons in the womb.
ReplyDeleteThis daily slaughter of tens of thousands of innocent harmless persons around the globe is a moral issue of paramount importance.
Many of us are "Catholic, Pro-life, Republican, in that order", to paraphrase the Christian Congressman Mike Pence (who is sadly a former Catholic, but a politician of great Christian virtue).
When the slaughter ends, I will gladly consider other options for my political support.