Alumni of a Catholic boys school in Boston are upset that their alma mater plans to honor Biden administration official Marty Walsh this spring despite his pro-abortion record.
Walsh, the U.S. secretary of labor and former Boston mayor, supports the legalized killing of unborn babies in abortions and taxpayer funded abortions, which contradict Catholic Church teachings about the sanctity of human life.
That is why Robert Joyce, an alumnus and former board member, believes Catholic Memorial school should not have chosen Walsh as the recipient of its Blessed Edmund Ignatius Rice Award, The National Catholic Register reports.
“It kind of sent a message that abortion might not be that bad to support or maybe even participate in,” Joyce told the Register. “Because after all, Martin Walsh is a zealous proponent of abortion, and he’s receiving the Blessed Edmund Ignatius Rice Award. The message to the students is contrary to the message that you want Catholic young men to receive.”
Other alumni also are upset by the decision to honor Walsh because of his open defiance of Catholic teachings.
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C.J. Doyle, a graduate of Catholic Memorial and executive director of the Catholic Action League of Massachusetts, said the award sends the wrong message to students.
“By this award, CM is telling its students that support for the mass murder of the unborn is morally acceptable, that those who advocate such killings are respectable members of the Catholic community, and that those who reject Catholic principles, to conform to the dominant secular culture, are role models to be emulated,” Doyle said in a statement.
He pointed to Walsh’s pro-abortion actions as mayor, including wanting to make the city a sanctuary for abortions and naming a public square after a late-term abortionist. Walsh also received an award from NARAL Pro-Choice Massachusetts, which lobbies for abortions without limits up to birth.
Doyle once described Walsh as “the most militantly pro-abortion mayor in the history of the City of Boston.”
He told the Register, “Faithful Catholics should not have to fight a two-front war, against both a culture of death in secular society, and against a culture of betrayal in their own Church.”
A spokesman for the school told the Register in a statement that they are aware of the concerns about Walsh.
“We are aware that one of our alumni has gone public with his opinion of the school’s selection of Secretary of Labor and former Boston Mayor Martin J. Walsh as the recipient of one of our key awards at CM’s Spring 2022 Gala,” the spokesman said. “A few hundred alumni, school families and generous supporters are helping us raise much needed scholarship funds, which are given to more than 60 percent of our students, many of whom would not be able to attend our school without the aid.”
Joyce said he did not want to cause trouble for the school, but his faith would not allow him to remain silent.
“I’m disappointed to do this, because I’ve been a longstanding supporter of Catholic Memorial and I have a lot of friends at Catholic Memorial, and I know that some of them won’t like what I’m doing,” Joyce said. “But I think it’s my duty as a loyal Catholic to speak out in defense of fundamental Catholic values.”
The Massachusetts Pro-Life Coalition also criticized the school’s decision to honor Walsh, saying his actions show a “notorious, impenitent, wide-ranging, and longstanding … opposition to Catholic morality.”
Walsh has a long pro-abortion record as a former mayor and state legislator.
Though the Democrat official professes to be Catholic, he showed his support for abortion symbolically by renaming the city’s Worcester Square in honor of late-term abortionist Kenneth Edelin. In the 1970s, Edelin was convicted of but later exonerated for allegedly suffocating a newborn baby to death in a botched abortion.
In 2020, Walsh also advocated for state legislation to expand late-term abortions and allow underage girls to get abortions without a parent’s knowledge or consent. The state legislature passed the law Christmas week, despite a strong public outcry against it.
While Walsh served in the state legislature, he voted to create “buffer zones” that restrict pro-life advocates’ free speech outside abortion facilities. Walsh also received the first ever endorsement of a Massachusetts mayoral candidate from the Planned Parenthood abortion chain, according to CNS News.
