ARTICLES
July/August 2004 ARTICLES
Contents © 2004
by Jim Holman.
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Goldie Hawn Was Booked
Cardinal Arinze Presides at Thomas Aquinas College Commencement
BY CHARLES A. COULOMBE
Thomas Aquinas College in Santa Paula differs from most Catholic colleges and universities both in its curriculum (a Great Books program with a standard course of study -- no electives) and in its fidelity to the Catholic faith. It is not surprising, then, that it differs in one other respect -- in its graduation ceremonies.
Commencements at the tight-knit college are much like family reunions. They differ from more mainstream Catholic universities' graduation ceremonies in other ways as well, such as in the choice of commencement speakers. For instance, this year, while Loyola-Marymount University in Los Angeles invited Goldie Hawn to be its commencement speaker, Thomas Aquinas College asked Francis Cardinal Arinze, Nigerian-born prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments.
Although neither blonde nor a famous actress, Cardinal Arinze nevertheless boasts an impressive background. Born in 1932 to a chiefly family of the Igbo people, in Onitsha, Nigeria, Cardinal Arinze was baptized at age 9. The parish priest was Blessed Cyprian Michael Iwene Tansi, who cultivated the vocation he saw in the young convert. Sponsored by Blessed Cyprian, Arinze entered the minor seminary three years later. Having studied in his home country and in Rome, he was ordained in 1958; was consecrated coadjutor bishop of his hometown in 1965, and two years later was named archbishop of that see. This was the year of the outbreak of the Biafran civil war, which saw the Catholic Igbo attempt unsuccessfully to win their independence from Nigeria. Although France and Great Britain backed the Biafrans quietly, their opponents received the support of both the United States and the Soviet Union. (Although opposed in other areas of the world at that time, the two super-powers often collaborated in Africa).
The result was a bloody three-year conflict in which the Igbo lands were devastated. The young Archbishop Arinze became a fugitive, administering the sacraments and giving counsel on the run to a people whose nation was collapsing around them. When defeat and peace finally came in 1970, Archbishop Arinze played a vital role in rebuilding the Church in a shattered land. In 1979, he was elected president of the Nigerian council of Bishops and served in that role for three years. He received the red hat from Pope John Paul II in 1985 and was in that year appointed president of the Pontifical Council for Inter-religious Dialogue. In 2002, the cardinal exchanged that position for his current one. Having accompanied the pope on a number of trips abroad and now occupying the number-three post in the curia, he must be considered a close collaborator of John Paul II. Moreover, he is often mentioned as a possible successor to John Paul.
Last year, Thomas Aquinas College president Dr. Thomas Dillon visited Cardinal Arinze in Rome. According to the college's press release announcing the cardinal's attendance at commencement, the pair "discussed liturgy, the Church and Catholic higher education."
The release noted that Cardinal Arinze was to be the seventh cardinal to preside over the college's commencement ceremonies and to receive the Saint Thomas Aquinas Medallion. Previous cardinal recipients include J. Francis Stafford (2003), Christoph Schönborn (2002), Francis George (2001), Jan Schotte (1999), Anthony Bevilacqua (1998), and John O'Connor, late archbishop of New York (1989).
I attended the commencement ceremonies, which began at 9 a.m. with the Baccalaureate Mass of the Holy Spirit, held in a specially erected outdoor pavilion. The Mass (except for the readings) was in Latin, with music rendered by the Thomas Aquinas College Choir and Schola Cantorum, directed by Daniel Grimm. The Mass booklets given the congregants contained the texts of the Mass, both in Latin and in an accurate and stately English translation prepared by the late chaplain of the college, Jesuit Father Thomas McGovern.
The liturgy opened with a procession by the undergraduates, faculty, and administration in their academic robes, followed by the sanctuary party in beautiful vestments, including Cardinal Arinze himself; the processional hymn was a plainchant rendering of the Veni Creator Spiritus, composed by college alumnus Stephen Grimm. The Kyrie and Gloria were taken from William Byrd's Mass for Four Voices, while the readings were Acts 1:3-8, Galatians 5:16-25, and Matthew 5:1-12.
Cardinal Arinze's homily centered on the fact that true freedom consists of doing the will of God. He pointed out that we are not really free to do anything we want, but rather are free only to do right. This was a theme he would return to in his commencement address.
The offertory antiphon, Psalm 67:29-30, was chanted in Latin, followed by a setting of Romans 8:26-27, sung in the German of Johann Sebastian Bach from his chorale in Der Geist Hilf. Cardinal Arinze chanted the preface -- as well as the other parts of the Mass falling to the celebrant -- in a strong voice, with clear diction and perfect pronunciation. The Sanctus was likewise from Byrd's Mass, and the cardinal intoned the Roman Canon. The Pater Noster was in the familiar chant, joined in by the congregation, while the Agnus Dei came from Byrd. All knelt at the conclusion of this prayer, as well as for communion.
The communion motets were Byrd's setting of Ave Verum Corpus and "Wondrous Love" from the Southern Harmony. The recessional was Viadana's Exsultate Justi. During the continental breakfast following the Mass, the participants were certainly joyful over what they had experienced. It was, as one woman told me, "as though a little bit of heaven had descended upon us."
The day's commencement ceremony was not untypical -- with the familiar academic regalia dating back to the Catholic Universities of the Middle Ages (caps, gowns, and hoods) and the ceremonial staff, topped by a crown or globe, hearkening back to the symbol of authority and protection granted by monarchs to universities. But at Thomas Aquinas College, which attempts to emulate its medieval predecessors in giving an education based on Catholic truth, this ceremony was a living thing. These thoughts passed through my mind as I watched the college's beadle, marshals, faculty, governors, dean, president, and Cardinal Arinze process to their places, followed by the graduates.
Father Wilfred Borden, the college's chaplain, delivered the invocation, followed by the presentation of the colors, the playing of "The Star Spangled Banner," and the Pledge of Allegiance. Then graduate Brendan Wicke delivered the student address. He spoke of what his class had experienced during the prior four years; of how their spiritual lives had been strengthened, of the conversions that had occurred, of the things they had learned. Wicke related how grateful he and his class were for what the college had given them, and how eager they were to apply it to the world outside.
Cardinal Arinze then gave his speech. Religion is not an option in our lives, he said; "religion is essential; it gives us a sense of direction and meaning." In an apparent reference to pro-abortion politicians, he added that one's faith cannot be separated from one's life as a professional, even if one is a politician: "the Christian must not introduce divergence between his professional and his religious duties. If the Christian shies away from politics, who will be there in the public arena to see that public funds are spent wisely? Who will build up the foundations of justice and peace? Who will speak for the defenseless and the weak?"
By virtue of baptism, it is every Catholic's duty to evangelize, the cardinal said. "Sharing faith is the way to be a good Christian. How could one keep one's Faith to oneself? Do you want to go to heaven alone?"
The cardinal pointed out that "the family is primary place of witness to Christ." But, for the family to be what it should be, it must follow "the instructions of the Maker -- following the plan of God. The husband and wife know that the basilica of a successful marriage is built by sacrifice and mutual surrender. The family is the place for the origin of new life."
Cardinal Arinze complimented the students and staff of Thomas Aquinas College, who "are convinced of the sacredness of family life. This must be defended, even against the tide of what society writes or projects. I urge you, go and share this good news of marriage and the family with the world."
The cardinal then returned to his prior theme of true freedom, likening those who say they may do what they please with themselves to the owner of a plane who decides to fly it regardless of air traffic control, the user's manual, or other planes. "You wouldn't want to get near that plane," he said.
Following the cardinal's address, Maria Grant, chairman of the board of governors, presented Arinze with the St. Thomas Aquinas Medallion. The cardinal then blessed the degrees, after which college dean Michael McLean called the names of the candidates. President Dillon presented the degrees, the cardinal handed each of them to the graduates, while senior tutor Marcus Berquist vested them with their hoods. Following this ceremony, Dr. Dillon gave the class their charge, after which the whole class sang the Non Nobis.