A Man of the World
The campus joke in the Hesburgh era was, “What’s the difference between God and Father Hesburgh? God is everywhere. Father Hesburgh is everywhere but Notre Dame.” It was a wry tease of Notre Dame’s globetrotting priest.
For Father Hesburgh, Notre Dame was only the starting point for promoting peace and justice around the world. His public service was stunning, his engagements many and diverse—from 14 years with the International Atomic Energy Agency to chairman of the Rockefeller Foundation, from U.S. immigration and refugee policy to U.N. human rights efforts, from opposing the spread of nuclear weapons to fostering Third World development, from negotiating Israeli-Palestinian tensions to promoting democracy in Latin America.
But in all his many endeavors, the human element was paramount as he showed his University how to be a citizen of the world.