Biden and Boehner, teary and grateful, receive high Catholic honor

[rug]

Former House Speaker John Boehner, University of Notre Dame president Rev. John Jenkins and Vice President Joe Biden enter the schools commencement ceremony Sunday, May 16, where the politicians were awarded the Laetare Medal. Photo courtesy of University of Notre Dame.

By Cathy Lynn Grossman | 6 hours ago

(RNS) Vice President Joseph Biden stood at the University of Notre Dame’s commencement ceremony on Sunday (May 15) with a medal signifying American Catholicism’s highest honor slung on a blue velvet rope around his neck.

The longtime Democrat turned and looked to former Speaker of the House John Boehner, a stalwart Republican who also wore the Laetare Medal that had just been awarded to them both for their efforts to work for the common good in a time of deep partisan rancor.

That rancor was vividly demonstrated by the fact that many anti-abortion Catholics strongly protested Notre Dame’s decision to give the award to Biden, a Catholic who favors abortion rights.

But neither man directly addressed the controversy, instead preferring to praise each other and let their respective public records do the talking.

http://religionnews.com/2016/05/15/biden-boehner-notre-dame-catholic/