Hong Kong cardinal to speak at Boston College commencement
Cardinal Stephen Chow, S.J., the Roman Catholic bishop of Hong Kong and a supporter of closer ties between the Vatican and China, will speak to this year’s graduating class next month at Boston College’s commencement, the university announced.
Also due to be honored at the May 20 ceremony are Boston Public Schools Superintendent Mary Skipper; former NBA and BC basketball star Dana Barros; Sister Maria Teresa “Tere” de Loera Lopez, a nun who serves poor people in Mexico; and Dr. James O’Connell, president of Boston Health Care for the Homeless, the university said in a statement Thursday.
Chow, who was made a cardinal by Pope Francis in September, last year became the first bishop of Hong Kong to visit Beijing in almost three decades. At Chow’s invitation, Beijing Archbishop Joseph Li, leader of the state-controlled Catholic church in China, then made a historic five-day visit to Hong Kong in November.
Chow’s invitation was viewed as a symbolic, but meaningful gesture “that could strengthen the fragile relationship between China and the Vatican,” the Associated Press reported.
Boston College president, the Rev William P. Leahy, will present an honorary degree to Chow and the four other honorees during the 1 p.m. ceremony at Alumni Stadium.
Chow’s work to strengthen the relationship between Hong Kong and Beijing is unprecedented in the time since China and the Vatican severed diplomatic ties in 1951, the university said.
After serving as the provincial of the Chinese Jesuits from 2018 to 2021, Chow earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees at the University of Minnesota. He holds several other degrees, including one from Harvard University.
The other honorees are being recognized for their work as educators, entrepreneurs and humanitarians.
Skipper, superintendent of the Boston Public Schools since September 2022, has a “vision of BPS as a welcoming, safe, and sustainable district,” particularly “for students with disabilities and multilingual learners,” BC said in a statement.
Barros is a native of Mattapan who starred at Xaverian Brothers High School in Westwood before heading to BC, where he became the first player in program history to score 2,000 points. After graduating in 1989, he went on to play 13 years in the NBA, including five years with the Boston Celtics. He is now an entrepreneur, active in the city of Boston’s recreation department, BC said.
Sister Lopez, of the Congregation of Catholic Sisters Teachers of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, was part of the inaugural group of religious women in the US-Latin American Sisters Exchange Program. Through the program, she earned a master’s degree in leadership studies from BC, the university said.
O’Connell is the founding physician and president of Boston Health Care for the Homeless Program, a role in which he “meets Boston’s unhoused population where they are, often traveling the city at night, providing medical care, socks, soup, empathy, and friendship to those living on the margins.”
Lila Hempel-Edgers can be reached at lila.hempeledgers@globe.com. Follow her on X @hempeledgers and on Instagram @lila_hempel_edgers.