January 27, 2011 9:25 AM
Catholic U's new pres: Garvey at March for Life
Still catching up on news, but my focus remains Pro-Life more than State-of-the-Union. And still more on the personal side.Maddy and I were fortunate to sit right behind Catholic University's new president (inaugurated Tuesday) John Garvey. When we exchanged the peace, Maddy introduced herself as an incoming student (yay, Maddy!) and after Mass he commented on her voice.
Dr. Garvey said he came from a family of 8 and his lovely wife, beaming, on learning that Maddy and I were converts, said she was also a convert - and that what attracted her to Catholicism was her husband's faithful Catholic family.
Since so much of the character of a university rests on the leader, I was thrilled to hear this news:
Jan. 24, 2011
CUA President Joins Students at March For Life
Jeanne Garvey, President John Garvey, and Bishop David M. O'Connell, C.M., at the March for Life.
View photo gallery.
On the day before his inauguration as Catholic University's 15th president, John Garvey addressed CUA students in Caldwell Hall Auditorium before they left campus to participate in the 38th Annual March for Life, calling on them to "be the kind, loving face of Catholic University, the Catholic Church, and the pro-life cause" when they come face to face with those on the opposite side of the cause.
In brief remarks, Garvey reflected that his favorite chapel in the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception is Our Lady of Guadalupe, who is pregnant.
"What if she had been alive today in America, faced with exhortations to 'live your own life, be yourself, do your own thing'?" He continued, "What about those 50 million children who have been the victims of abortion since Roe. v. Wade? What could they have become?"
Garvey stressed that the march was exemplary of the cardinal virtue of justice. "Right now in America, the unborn are looked at as not being people, as [African American] slaves were at one time. Today," he said, "we stand for justice."
President Garvey and his wife, Jeanne, then joined CUA students participating in the march in downtown Washington, D.C. The number of student marchers has risen annually from 200 in 2005 to 510 in 2011.
Students pray in Caldwell Hall Auditorium before the march. View photo gallery. More than 200 CUA students also served as volunteer hosts for about 1,300 teens from out of town who spent the night in the Raymond A. DuFour Athletic Center on the eve of the march.
The annual March for Life, which marks the anniversary of the Supreme Court's Roe v. Wade decision legalizing abortion, begins at the National Mall and winds around the U.S. Capitol to the Supreme Court building. Each year it draws hundreds of thousands of people to downtown Washington.
Posted in 2011 Choose Life, Catholicism, Pro-Life Issues | Permalink
Comments
Hallelujah!! A seriously pro-life Catholic university president! Notre Dame should take notes.
Posted by: Rachél C. | January 28, 2011 12:28 PM
