William Wilberforce Award

I was honored to receive the 2013 William Wilberforce Award last Saturday. I would like to share  a copy of my speech with you.

Here is an excerpt:

We New Yorkers are tough negotiators, as you know, so, listen carefully to these conditions:  Ready?

Condition #1:  that receiving this award be an occasion, like every event in life should be, for me to praise God, from whom all blessings flow, and His Son, our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, whose Resurrection we radiantly confess this paschaltide.  “Not to us, Lord, not to us, but to your name be the glory!”

So far so good with the conditions . . . ?

Condition #2:  that this be awarded not to one Timothy Dolan, but to the Catholic bishops of the United States.  The gracious people who choose the recipient of this award have already noted that, through this thoughtful event, they wish to affirm  “advocacy for life, marriage, the rights of conscience, and religious freedom.”  Those principles, of course, are hardly mine alone, but have been a constant platform of my brother bishops.  So, I’ll accept this honor, condition #2, if I can do so on behalf of all the bishops in the United States.

Condition #3  . . . I told you I drive a hard bargain . . . is that I can use this occasion to extol the extraordinarily warm friendship and effective alliance that now characterizes the Catholic Church and Evangelicals in this beloved country we hail as our earthly home.

Click here to read my whole speech.