Word: hesburgh
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Dates: during 1970-1979
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...Hesburgh's batch of mail touched on the widely contrasting aspects of his life -appealing to the simple pastor as well as to the clerical entrepreneur. There was a letter from Cardinal Franz Koenig of Vienna congratulating Hesburgh on his recent elevation to the chairmanship of the Rockefeller Foundation. A woman friend in terrible emotional trouble begged for help. Teddy Kollek, the mayor of Jerusalem, wanted Hesburgh to fly over and help stop the rapid development of high-rise buildings. There was a hopeful note from the freshman class asking if Hesburgh would attend their formal dance. Another letter...
...Hesburgh searched for one letter in particular, a reply from Alexander Solzhenitsyn, who had been offered a Notre Dame degree this year. He finally found it: a polite no. Hesburgh was disappointed-but he had already landed his friend Jimmy Carter as the commencement speaker. The graduation ceremony will be a deliberate show of support for Carter on human rights, one of Hesburgh's passions. Hesburgh will award degrees to Bishop Donal Lament, who was ousted from Rhodesia; Stephen Cardinal Kim, who has fought against government repression in South Korea; and Paul Cardinal Arnes, who has spoken out against...
...Hesburgh sounds more confident on the subject of happiness. "It can only come," he says, "from giving at least a corner of yourself to others. People today are so egocentric. God help the person who goes through life doing nothing for someone else. He's doomed." He finds that young people today are less ambitious than a generation ago, duller than in the '60s but more eager to find some meaning in their lives. Hesburgh keeps a close rein on his own ambitions, even as he enjoys the trappings of success, smoking a Cuban cigar and sipping...
...Hesburgh the outer man seems unfailingly optimistic. Close friends say they never find him in a bad mood. But his is a calling where true feelings are often submerged. For all his heartiness, the inner Hesburgh seldom surfaces. "I think he's probably a lonely man who makes up for it by work and talk," says a colleague. Hesburgh laughs at this. He says his religion protects him from loneliness. While he says Mass every day. whether in a Moscow hotel room or at the South Pole, he seldom quotes the Bible in conversation. He is not a scholar...
Though he is popularly viewed as a kind of Catholic Mr. Chips, Hesburgh is now held in such awe by Notre Dame students that they seldom deal personally with him. Student Body President Mike Gassman says he would not dare interrupt the president with ordinary school problems because "he's too important now." Another student says, "Father Ted is usually too busy playing world savior." Both of them are swift to add, however, they think Hesburgh is the main force behind Notre Dame's stress on values...