WASHINGTON (DC)
Inside Higher Ed
September 5, 2018
By Emma Whitford
Roman Catholic colleges are rescinding honorary degrees and renaming buildings in response to grand jury investigation into sex abuse and cover-ups. Marquette’s former president asks that building honoring him be renamed.
The Pennsylvania grand jury investigation into sex abuse in the Roman Catholic church is damning: more than 300 Catholic priests in Pennsylvania were found to have abused children over a period of 70 years. The report identified 1,000 victims and noted that there were probably thousands more. The report also documented that many of these cases of abuse were known about for years by church authorities, who in many cases took little or no action.
In the wake of the report’s release last month, Catholic colleges in Pennsylvania and across the country have responded. Many have rescinded honors — degrees, medals and building names — that recognized leaders of the church who sexually abused children or helped orchestrate a cover-up of the abuse.
Siena College in New York State was the first to act. The board unanimously decided on Aug. 8 to rescind an honorary degree from Cardinal Theodore McCarrick, who was found to have sexually abused minors and adults. Pope Francis accepted Cardinal McCarrick’s resignation on July 28 after the abuse allegations surfaced, two weeks before the grand jury’s report was released.
The University of Scranton rescinded honorary degrees from Scranton bishops Reverend Jerome Hannan and Reverend J. Carroll McCormick, now deceased, and Reverend James Timlin, who were all found to have assisted in hiding the abuse. The university will also rename campus buildings currently named for the bishops. McCormick Hall will be renamed MacKillop Hall in honor of Saint Mary of the Cross MacKillop, an Australian nun who helped uncover sex abuse in the church. The name of Timlin House will be removed and the larger complex it’s located in will be renamed Romero Plaza in honor of the late Oscar Romero, archbishop of San Salvador. Hannan Hall will be renamed Giblin-Kelly Hall after notable alumni Brendan Giblin and William Kelly Jr.
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