Notre Dame priest towers above all

National Catholic Reporter, Oct 6, 2000 by Richard P. McBrien

Other Holy Cross notables include Fr. Nieuwland, Archbishop McGrath

The Congregation of Holy Cross is a religious institute of priests and brothers founded in 1837 by Fr. Basil Moreau in Le Mans, France. Its best-known institution is the University of Notre Dame, established in 1842.

Although a relatively new and small religious community in comparison with, let us say, the Jesuits or the Dominicans, Holy Cross has produced a few truly outstanding members, not all of whose names are instantly recognizable.

Fr. Julius Nieuwland discovered synthetic rubber in 1906. Notre Dame's science building is named after him. Br. Andre Bessette is considered the founder of the famous Oratory of St. Joseph in Montreal. Upon his death in 1937 a million mourners paid their respects. He was beatified by Pope John Paul II in 1982.

In our time, however, the name of Fr. Theodore M. Hesburgh towers above all others, not only within the Congregation of Holy Cross or even within the Catholic church in the United States, but within the entire American citizenry.

The longtime president of the University of Notre Dame (1952-87) was honored this past July by the conferral of the Congressional Gold Medal, the highest form of recognition Congress can bestow upon a civilian for distinguished achievements and contributions to the nation. (This award is not the same as the Congressional Medal of Honor, which given to war heroes.)

Fewer than 250 people have received the Gold Medal since it was initially authorized by the Continental Congress in 1776. The first recipient was George Washington, in recognition of his role in the evacuation of the British from Boston.

In its early years the medal was bestowed exclusively on military leaders, but the scope was broadened in the mid-1800s and then again in the 20th century -- to include achievement in the arts, athletics, aviation, diplomacy, entertainment, exploration, medicine, politics, religion and science.

Thus, in 1929 Major Walter Reed and 21 associates were awarded gold medals for volunteering themselves for yellow fever experiments in Cuba. A year later, 67 gold medals were Conferred on the officers and men of Rear Admiral Richard E. Byrd's expedition to Antarctica. In 1956, the four surviving veterans of the Civil War were honored.

Other recipients have included the nine African-Americans who, as young students, helped integrate Central High School in Little Rock in 1957 (the medals were conferred in 1998), Irving Berlin, Bob Hope, Walt Disney, opera singer Marian Anderson, Wilbur and Orville Wright, Charles Lindbergh, baseball star Roberto Clemente, boxing champion Joe Louis, Olympic star Jesse Owens, civil rights pioneer Rosa Parks, South Africa's Nelson Mandela, Mother Teresa, Thomas Edison, Dr. Jonas Salk, Dr. Tom Dooley (a 1948 graduate of Notre Dame), Gen. Norman Schwarzkopf and Gen. Colin Powell.

Hesburgh already holds the world record for most honorary degrees from colleges and universities: 144. In 1964, he received the Presidential Medal of Freedom from Lyndon Johnson for his work as an educator and humanitarian. These are only a few of the items on an ever-lengthening list of his honors and achievements.

At the gold medal award ceremony in the Capitol rotunda, President Clinton captured the essence of Hesburgh when, after pointing out his extraordinary contributions to his country and to world peace, he said: "The greatest honor you'll ever wear around your neck is the collar of a priest."

Hesburgh himself has often insisted that his all-sufficient epitaph would simply read: "priest." He said at the ceremony in Washington that, notwithstanding the enormity of this latest honor, the most significant day of his life was the day of his ordination to the priesthood. And what an extraordinary priest he has been.

The other member of the Congregation of Holy Cross this week's column honors is Mark McGrath, who served as archbishop of Panama from 1969 until his retirement in 1994 and who played a leading role at the Second Vatican Council (1962-65) as a young auxiliary bishop in drafting one of its two most important documents, the "Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World," known also by its Latin title as Gaudium et Spes ("Joy and hope").

As archbishop of Panama he was a strong advocate of the poor, and, like so many other church leaders of his time and place, he was quickly branded a communist for his efforts.

He also encouraged the role of the laity in the church, and was one of the key organizers and leaders of the Latin American Bishops' Conference. He should have been named a cardinal, but that is another story.

McGrath died Aug. 4 at age 76, after a six-year struggle with Parkinson's disease.

Fr. Richard McBrien teaches theology at the University of Notre Dame.