By JENNIFER LEVITZ
Boston's Roman Catholic leader traditionally delivers the blessing at the graduation ceremony at Boston College, the most prominent Catholic college in the archdiocese.
But Boston's Cardinal Sean O'Malley will skip this year's ceremony, set for Monday, saying he objects to another scheduled speaker: Irish Prime Minister Enda Kenny, who supports proposed Irish legislation allowing abortions to save the life of the mother.
U.S. bishops have asked that Catholic institutions not honor officials who "promote abortion," Cardinal O'Malley said in a statement.
Since the university "has not withdrawn the invitation and because the [prime minister] has not seen fit to decline, I shall not attend the graduation," he wrote.
Boston College invited Mr. Kenny because of the school's close ties with Ireland and won't change plans, said spokesman Jack Dunn.
Mr. Dunn said the college "supports the church's position on the sanctity of life," but "we disagree with the interpretation that some have chosen to take regarding this proposed legislation in Ireland."
Abortion is currently banned in Ireland. But lawmakers have been debating the issue since an Irish jury ruled in April that poor medical care led to the well-publicized death last year of an Indian woman who underwent a drawn-out miscarriage in an Irish hospital, where doctors refused to perform an abortion.
Proposed Irish legislation would allow abortions when doctors determine that the pregnancy presents a "real and substantial risk" to the mother's life, including from suicide.
The legislation "restates the general prohibition on abortion in Ireland," but provides "legal clarity" to doctors, Mr. Kenny said in a May 1 speech. His office declined to comment Tuesday.
The Catholic Action League of Massachusetts, a conservative advocacy group, said it was "delighted" at the cardinal's withdrawal from the graduation. But Stephanie Rice, a senior and president of the College Democrats of Boston College, said she was "deeply disappointed" that the cardinal "has chosen to politicize" graduation.
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