By Marianys Marte
Fordham announced that His Eminence Óscar Andrés Rodríguez Maradiaga, S.D.B., archbishop of Tegucigalpa, Honduras will be addressing the Class of 2017 during the University’s 172nd commencement (Courtesy of Twitter).
Fordham announced Tuesday that His Eminence Óscar Andrés Rodríguez Maradiaga, S.D.B., archbishop of Tegucigalpa, Honduras will be addressing the Class of 2017 during the University’s 172nd commencement ceremony.
A graduate of Pontifical Lateran University in Rome, Cardinal Rodríguez Maradiaga is a key adviser to Pope Francis. He is also known for advocating for the poor throughout his career, which began in 1970 with his ordination into the Salesian priesthood. He was appointed archbishop of Tegucigalpa in 1993 and then became the first Honduran elevated to cardinal in 2001.
At the request of Pope Francis, Rodríguez Maradiaga was made a coordinator for the group of cardinals who advise the Pope in the government of the universal Church and study a plan for revising the Apostolic Constitution on the Roman Curia.
This will not be His Eminence’s first appearance on campus. He was on a panel discussing climate change for a Fordham’s Center on Religion and Culture sponsored event, “Our Planet’s Keeper? The Environment, the Poor, and the Struggle for Justice,” in November 2015.
“When I tell students upon graduation to go forth and “set the world afire,” there are few people better than the Cardinal to look to for inspiration. We were fortunate to hear him speak on the subject of climate change in 2015, and are honored to welcome him back to Fordham,” said Rev. Joseph M. McShane, S.J., president of the university.
The Cardinal also served as a Vatican spokesman to the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank. Through his advocating for the poor and calling attention to the disproportionate impact climate change has on the world’s poor, the University of Dayton awarded him its Oscar Romero Human Rights Award in 2015.
Some students said Maradiaga is a good choice to inspire graduating seniors.
“Cardinal Rodríguez Maradiaga is a great person to lead seniors into the next chapters of their lives, to inspire us as seniors to offer all that we can to others through our actions and thus enacting progress within our community,” said Giselle Espinal, FCRH ‘17.
Other students said they fear his views might isolate some students. The Cardinal commented on the topic of gay marriage during a talk on “the Meaning of Mercy” at Santa Clara University. He cited the bible in determining marriage as a union between one man and one woman.
“And so, this is why it is never going to be approved, a marriage between persons of the same sex. This is not the plan of God. We read it clearly from the first pages of Genesis, marriage is the union of a man and a woman,” he said in the talk.
During the Q&A portion, he said “this doesn’t mean that we are going to be excluding persons who live their faith and would like to be parts of the Church. One thing is defining marriage, another thing is pastoral care.”
Gabrielle McGovern, FCHR ’17, said that while the Cardinal fits in with some of Fordham’s values, she would like a more universal speaker.
“I am concerned that he does not represent Fordham’s values nor the student body’s. While he stands with Fordham’s belief to be men and women for others, I would have liked to have seen a speaker who appeals to all sexual orientations and religions,” said McGovern.
Lindsey Garibaldi, FCRH ’17, said she feels that a Cardinal speaking at Fordham may polarize some.
“Fordham has a diverse group of students of different faiths and political opinions and a lot of his viewpoints could offend a lot of people. I think the commencement speaker should be someone students can relate to and a Cardinal seems like a polarizing choice,” said Lindsey Garibaldi, FCRH ‘17.
Six others will be receiving honorary doctorates from the University as well: Anne Anderson, Ireland’s ambassador to the United States; longtime faculty member Joseph Cammarosano, FCRH ’47, GSAS ’56; Anthony P. Carter, former vice president for global diversity and inclusion and chief diversity officer for Johnson & Johnson; Michael Dowling, the president and CEO of Northwell Health; Sr. Jane Iannucelli, S.C., president of the order of the Sisters of Charity and Gregory Long, CEO and the William C. Steere Sr., president of the New York Botanical Garden.
Attorney General of New York State, Eric T. Schneiderman, will also receive an honorary doctorate of laws.
Cardinal Rodríguez Maradiaga joins the ranks of previous commencement speakers Smithsonian Secretary David Skorton, M.D. and First Lady of Ghana Nana Lordina Dramani Mahama.
The commencement ceremony will take place on the Rose Hill campus on May 20.
