The University of Notre Dame has issued a statement saying that it is rescinding an honorary degree that it conferred more than a decade ago to now-defrocked former Cardinal Theodore McCarrick.
The university made the announcement Saturday morning, saying the honorary degree was revoked in response to the Vatican defrocking McCarrick and finding him guilty of sex abuse. The South Bend Tribune reports that Notre Dame gave McCarrick the honorary doctor of laws degree in 2008 when he gave the school's commencement speech.
The 88-year-old McCarrick is the former archbishop of Washington, D.C. He is the highest-ranking churchman and the first cardinal to be punished by dismissal from the clerical state. He was notified Friday of the decision, which was upheld upon his appeal and approved by Pope Francis.