St. Catherine University

"In your years at St. Kate’s you’ve lived the reality of Catholic pluralism. You know, from the inside, that religions are not monolithic; they don’t speak with a single voice. They are inherently a chorus of voices, a profusion of perspectives. As you meet other religious traditions, then, you won’t make the mistake of forcing a false univocality upon them. Yours won’t be the voice that emphatically asserts, for example, that all Buddhists are one thing and all Muslims are another. Yours will be the voice that recognizes nuance, that understands heterogeneity, that moves the conversation beyond dismissive and uninformed generalizations. Right now, more than ever, our nation and our globe need you and need your sensitive leadership as we struggle to live with the challenges that our new-found proximities present."