Hehir to receive honorary degree

J. Bryan Hehir, the Parker Montgomery Professor of the Practice of Religion and Public Life at the Harvard Kennedy School (HKS), will be awarded an honorary doctorate of humane letters by Elms College at its annual commencement exercises on May 17.

Hehir’s writings include: “The Moral Measurement of War,” “Military Intervention and National Sovereignty,” and “Catholicism and Democracy.” His teaching and writing focus on ethics and international relations and the role of religion in politics.

Hehir, who is currently the secretary for health and social services in the Archdiocese of Boston, has served on the staff of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops in Washington, D.C., was president of Catholic Charities USA, and was on the faculty at the Georgetown School of Foreign Service and the Harvard Divinity School.