# Laetare Medal

The Laetare Medal is an annual award given by the University of Notre Dame in recognition of outstanding service to the Catholic Church and society. The award is given to an American Catholic or group of Catholics "whose genius has ennobled the arts and sciences, illustrated the ideals of the church and enriched the heritage of humanity." First awarded in 1883, it is the oldest and most prestigious award for American Catholics.

## Overview

The medal is an external award which can be given to a person from outside the University of Notre Dame. It is named the Laetare Medal because the recipient of the award is announced in celebration of Laetare Sunday, the fourth Sunday in Lent. The Laetare Medal was conceived by University of Notre Dame professor James Edwards as an American version of the papal award the Golden Rose. It was approved of by the university's founder Father Edward Sorin, C.S.C. The Golden Rose has existed since the 11th century, and was customarily awarded to a royal person on Laetare Sunday, although this was rarely done during the 20th century. The university adapted this tradition — awarding a gold medal, instead of a rose — to a distinguished American Catholic on Laetare Sunday. The medal has the Latin inscription Magna est veritas et praevalebit, meaning "Truth is mighty, and it shall prevail." The medal is awarded during commencement at Notre Dame, during which the laureate delivers a remark.
A candidate for the award must be a practicing American Catholic who has made a distinctively Catholic contribution in his or her professional or intellectual life. A committee generally takes names of potential recipients from faculty and staff at the University of Notre Dame. They select two or three candidates from this group, which are voted on by the Officers of the University.

## History

John Gilmary Shea, a historian of the Catholic Church in the United States, was the first person to be awarded the Laetare Medal in 1883. The recipients of the Laetare Medal come from varied fields. Recipients include jazz musicians, Cardinals, philanthropists, ambassadors, authors, opera singers, Senators, doctors, generals, and a U.S. President. Both Catholic Presidents of the United States, Kennedy and Biden, are recipients of the award.

### 2009 Medal

Harvard Law School professor and former United States Ambassador to the Holy See, Mary Ann Glendon, was chosen as the 2009 recipient but declined the award when the university, as part of its justification for naming Barack Obama as its commencement speaker and grant him an honorary degree, stated:
   "President Obama won’t be doing all the talking. Mary Ann Glendon, the former U.S. ambassador to the Vatican, will be speaking as the recipient of the Laetare Medal. ... We think having the president come to Notre Dame, see our graduates, meet our leaders, and hear a talk from Mary Ann Glendon is a good thing for the president and for the causes we care about."
In light of Obama's strong pro-choice policies, Glendon considered Notre Dame's decision to be in violation of a 2004 pronouncement from the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops instructing Catholic institutions not to provide "honors, awards, or platforms" to "those who act in defiance of [Catholic] fundamental moral principles." She also believed that the University's statements had placed her in an untenable position; as she wrote in her letter declining the medal:
   "A commencement, however, is supposed to be a joyous day for the graduates and their families. It is not the right place, nor is a brief acceptance speech the right vehicle, for engagement with the very serious problems raised by Notre Dame’s decision—in disregard of the settled position of the U.S. bishops—to honor a prominent and uncompromising opponent of the Church’s position on issues involving fundamental principles of justice."
Notre Dame ultimately selected 1984 Laetare recipient Judge John T. Noonan, Jr. to speak, choosing not to award the 2009 medal at all.

## List of recipients

| Year | Laetare Medalist | Position | Year | Laetare Medalist | Position |
| 1883 | John Gilmary Shea | Historian |
| 1884 | Patrick Charles Keely | Architect |
| 1885 | Eliza Allen Starr | Art Critic |
| 1886 | General John Newton | Engineer | 1956 | General Alfred M. Gruenther | Soldier |
| 1887 | Edwin Preuss | Publicist | 1957 | Clare Boothe Luce | Diplomat |
| 1888 | Patrick V. Hickey | Founder and Editor of The Catholic Review | 1958 | Frank M. Folsom | Industrialist |
| 1889 | Anna Hanson Dorsey | Novelist | 1959 | Robert Daniel Murphy | Diplomat |
| 1890 | William J. Onahan | Organizer of the American Catholic Congress | 1960 | George N. Shuster | Educator |
| 1891 | Daniel Dougherty | Orator | 1961 | John F. Kennedy | President of the United States |
| 1892 | Henry F. Brownson | Philosopher and Author | 1962 | Francis J. Braceland | Psychiatrist |
| 1893 | Patrick Donahoe | Founder of the Boston Pilot | 1963 | Admiral George Whelan Anderson, Jr. | Chief of Naval Operations |
| 1894 | Augustin Daly | Theatrical Producer | 1964 | Phyllis McGinley | Poet |
| 1895 | Mary Anne Sadlier | Novelist | 1965 | Frederick D. Rossini | Scientist |
| 1896 | General William Starke Rosecrans | Soldier | 1966 | Patrick F. & Patricia Caron Crowley | Founders of The Christian Movement |
| 1897 | Thomas Addis Emmet | Physician | 1967 | J. Peter Grace | Industrialist |
| 1898 | Timothy Edward Howard | Jurist | 1968 | Robert Sargent Shriver | Diplomat |
| 1899 | Mary Gwendolin Caldwell | Philanthropist | 1969 | William J. Brennan Jr. | Associate Justice of the Supreme Court |
| 1900 | John A. Creighton | Philanthropist | 1970 | Dr. William B. Walsh | Physician |
| 1901 | William Bourke Cockran | Orator | 1971 | Walter Kerr & Jean Kerr | Drama Critic and Author |
| 1902 | John Benjamin Murphy | Surgeon | 1972 | Dorothy Day | Founder of the Catholic Worker Movement |
| 1903 | Charles Joseph Bonaparte | Lawyer | 1973 | Rev. John A. O'Brien | Author |
| 1904 | Richard C. Kerens | Diplomat | 1974 | James A. Farley | Business Executive and Former Postmaster General |
| 1905 | Thomas B. Fitzpatrick | Philanthropist | 1975 | Sr. Ann Ida Gannon, BVM | President of Mundelein College |
| 1906 | Francis J. Quinlan | Physician | 1976 | Paul Horgan | Author |
| 1907 | Katherine Eleanor Conway | Journalist and Author | 1977 | Mike Mansfield | Former Senate Majority Leader |
| 1908 | James C. Monaghan | Economist | 1978 | Msgr. John Tracy Ellis | Church Historian |
| 1909 | Frances Tieran (Christian Reid) | Novelist | 1979 | Helen Hayes | Actress |
| 1910 | Maurice Francis Egan | Author and Diplomat | 1980 | Thomas P. (Tip) O'Neill Jr. | Speaker of the House |
| 1911 | Agnes Repplier | Author | 1981 | Edmund Sixtus Muskie | Secretary of State |
| 1912 | Thomas M. Mulry | Philanthropist | 1982 | John Francis Cardinal Dearden | Archbishop Emeritus of Detroit |
| 1913 | Charles George Herbermann | Editor of the Catholic Encyclopedia | 1983 | Edmund & Evelyn Stephan | Chairman Emeritus of the Board of Trustees and his wife |
| 1914 | Edward Douglass White | Chief Justice of the United States | 1984 | John T. Noonan, Jr. | Lawyer |
| 1915 | Mary Virginia Merrick | Philanthropist | 1985 | Guido Calabresi | Dean of the Yale Law School |
| 1916 | James Joseph Walsh | Physician and Author | 1986 | Thomas & Mary Elizabeth Carney | Chairman of the Board of Trustees and his wife |
| 1917 | Admiral William Shepherd Benson | Chief of Naval Operations | 1987 | Rev. Theodore Hesburgh, CSC | President of the University of Notre Dame |
| 1918 | Joseph Scott | Lawyer | 1988 | Eunice Kennedy Shriver | Founder & Chairwoman of the Special Olympics |
| 1919 | George L. Duval | Philanthropist | 1989 | Walker Percy | Novelist |
| 1920 | Lawrence Francis Flick | Physician | 1990 | Sister Thea Bowman (posthumously) | Educator |
| 1921 | Elizabeth Nourse | Artist | 1991 | Corinne Lindy Boggs | Former Louisiana Congresswoman |
| 1922 | Charles Patrick Neill | Economist | 1992 | Daniel Patrick Moynihan | U.S. Senator from New York |
| 1923 | Walter George Smith | Lawyer | 1993 | Donald R. Keough | Chairman Emeritus of the Board of Trustees |
| 1924 | Charles Donagh Maginnis | Architect | 1994 | Sidney Callahan | Educator and Journalist |
| 1925 | Albert Francis Zahm | Scientist | 1995 | Joseph Cardinal Bernardin | Archbishop of Chicago |
| 1926 | Edward Nash Hurley | Businessman | 1996 | Sister Helen Prejean | Death Penalty Abolitionist |
| 1927 | Margaret Anglin | Actress | 1997 | Rev. Virgilio Elizondo | Theologian and Activist |
| 1928 | John Johnson Spalding | Lawyer | 1998 | Dr. Edmund D. Pellegrino | Medical Ethicist and Educator |
| 1929 | Alfred Emmanuel Smith | Statesman | 1999 | Philip Gleason | Professor Emeritus of History, Notre Dame |
| 1930 | Frederick Philip Kenkel | Publicist | 2000 | Andrew McKenna | Chairman of the Board of Trustees |
| 1931 | James J. Phelan | Businessman | 2001 | Msgr. George G. Higgins | Priest and Labor Activist |
| 1932 | Stephen J. Maher | Physician | 2002 | Father John Smyth | Executive Director of Maryville Academy |
| 1933 | John McCormack | Artist | 2003 | Peter and Margaret O'Brien Steinfels | Editors of Commonweal |
| 1934 | Genevieve Garvan Brady | Philanthropist | 2004 | Father J. Bryan Hehir | President of Catholic Charities, Archdiocese of Boston |
| 1935 | Francis Hamilton Spearman | Novelist | 2005 | Dr. Joseph E. Murray | Surgeon & Nobel Prize Winner |
| 1936 | Richard Reid | Journalist and Lawyer | 2006 | Dave Brubeck | Jazz Pianist |
| 1937 | Jeremiah D. M. Ford | Scholar | 2007 | Patrick McCartan | Chairman of the Board of Trustees |
| 1938 | Irvin William Abell | Surgeon | 2008 | Martin Sheen | Actor |
| 1939 | Josephine Van Dyke Brownson | Catechist | 2009 | NOT AWARDED (SEE ABOVE) | |
| 1940 | General Hugh Aloysius Drum | Soldier | 2010 | Dana Gioia | Poet and Chairman of National Endowment for the Arts |
| 1941 | William Thomas Walsh | Journalist and Author | 2011 | Sister Mary Scullion, R.S.M., & Joan McConnon | Social Advocates |
| 1942 | Helen Constance White | Author and Teacher | 2012 | Ken Hackett | Former President of Catholic Relief Services |
| 1943 | Thomas Francis Woodlock | Editor | 2013 | Sister Susanne Gallagher, S.P. Sister Mary Therese Harrington, S.H. Rev. James H. McCarthy | Founders of S.P.R.E.D. (Special Religious Education Development Network) |
| 1944 | Anne O'Hare McCormick | Journalist | 2014 | Kenneth R. Miller | Professor of Biology at Brown University |
| 1945 | Gardiner Howland Shaw | Diplomat | 2015 | Aaron Neville | R&B Singer |
| 1946 | Carlton J. H. Hayes | Historian and Diplomat | 2016 | Joseph Biden John Boehner | Vice President of the United States (and later President of the United States) former Speaker of the House of Representatives |
| 1947 | William G. Bruce | Publisher and Civic Leader | 2017 | Father Greg Boyle, S.J. | Founder of Homeboy Industries |
| 1948 | Frank C. Walker | Postmaster General and Civic Leader | 2018 | Sister Norma Pimentel, M.J. | Executive Director, Catholic Charities of the Rio Grande Valley |
| 1949 | Irene Dunne Griffin | Actress | 2019 | Dr. Norman Francis | President Emeritus, Xavier University of Louisiana and civil rights leader |
| 1950 | General Joseph L. Collins | Soldier | 2020 | Kathleen McChesney | Former FBI executive assistant director and director of USCCB Office of Child Protection |
| 1951 | John Henry Phelan | Philanthropist | 2021 | Carla Harris | Finance executive, gospel artist, and motivational speaker |
| 1952 | Thomas E. Murray | Member of the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission | 2022 | Sharon Lavigne | Environmental justice activist and founder of RISE St. James |
| 1953 | I.A. O'Shaughnessy | Philanthropist | 2023 | Sister Rosemary Connelly, R.S.M. | former executive director of Misericordia Home |
| 1954 | Jefferson Caffery | Diplomat | 2024 | Claire Babineaux-Fontenot | CEO of Feeding America |
| 1955 | George Meany | Labor Leader |