Patheos blog
May 1, 2019
By Kate O’Hare
On May 3, the documentary Hesburgh begins hitting select theaters, telling the story of larger-than-life Father Theodore “Ted” Hesburgh, who was president of the University of Notre Dame for 35 years, from 1952 to 1987.
It’s strange, then, that, outside of the admittedly large Notre Dame community, Hesburgh’s association with major issues of our time has faded from view. This film aims to change that.
Ticket and other information on Hesburgh can be found at the official site, HesburghFilm.com.
Born in Syracuse, N.Y., in 1917, into a German/Irish Catholic family, Hesburgh became a priest with the Congregation of Holy Cross in 1943, after an education that included stints at the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome, Holy Cross College (part of Notre Dame in South Bend, Indiana) and the Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C.
During his tenure at Notre Dame, Hesburgh was also involved with the U.S. Civil Rights Commission, the National Science Board and an immigration-reform commission, among many other national and international groups, under presidents from Lyndon Johnson to Jimmy Carter and beyond. He was also close friends with Pope Paul VI.
Hesburgh rubbed shoulders with such luminaries as the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., and a variety of world leaders. He died in 2015 at the age of 97, having influenced many generations of politicians, activists and students. Among those attending and/or speaking at his funeral were President Carter, former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, legendary Notre Dame football coach Lou Holtz, and a variety of U.S. elected officials, including former Senator Alan K. Simpson, who appears in the documentary (as does the current Speaker of the House, Rep. Nancy Pelosi).
Adamantly pro-choice President Barack Obama, whose 2009 invitation to speak and be honored at Notre Dame was supported by the then-retired Hesburgh, made a video announcement at the event. Ironically, also at the funeral was Cardinal Roger Mahony, whose involvement with the investigation of the sex-abuse scandals in the Archdiocese of Los Angeles left a permanent mark on his reputation; and now-defrocked Theodore McCarrick, who lost his red cardinal’s hat and later his priesthood for his own, more personal involvement in the molestation of minors and seminarians.
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