Archbishop Paul Richard Gallagher, the Vatican’s foreign minister, encouraged graduates to cultivate mutual respect and promote justice during Boston College’s 150th commencement address Monday morning.

“Our desire for knowledge should also push us to learn about and from those around us, to hear perspectives and experiences that are not our own,” Gallagher said. “Through that, we should learn to respect others, even if we may not agree with them, while bearing ever in mind that the deepest motive for our respect is that they too are created equal—that they are endowed by their creator with certain inalienable rights.”

Throughout his speech, Gallagher referenced the theologian John Henry Newman and his belief that universities foster creativity and thought. 

“This is first and foremost a place of learning, a place where knowledge may be pursued and developed through research and reflection,” Gallagher said. “Our desire for knowledge is so much more than a desire for facts. It is more than the drive to acquire information.”

University President-elect Rev. John “Jack” Butler, S.J., opened the commencement held in Alumni Stadium with an invocation, before University President Rev. William P. Leahy, S.J., began his remarks. 

The ceremony marked Leahy’s final commencement before his stepping down on July 31 after a historic 30-year tenure. 

It also marked the first commencement for students from Messina College, the University’s associate degree program intended for first-generation and low-income students, which opened its doors in 2024.

“Today’s graduates have done much for our campus community, bringing enthusiasm, generosity, and fresh perspectives,” Leahy said. “They have also helped Boston College live out its mission, heritage, and culture as a Jesuit, Catholic university.”

Amid ongoing conflict and increasing poverty, the world needs graduates to pursue good, Leahy emphasized, calling upon the Class of 2026 to become “beacons of hope and agents of reconciliation.” 

“[The world] desperately needs people of talent, moral and ethical values, generosity of heart, and willingness to invest themselves in working for the greater good and helping society be more just and welcoming to all,” Leahy said. “Jesuit education has always sought to prepare graduates who are competent and seek to be a leaven for good in the wider world.” 

During the ceremony, Leahy awarded Ryan Milligan, MCAS ’26, the Edward H. Finnegan, S.J., Award, which recognizes a graduating senior who has best exemplified the University’s motto “Ever to Excel.” Professor of Theology and Religious Education Thomas H. Groome received the 2026 St. Robert Bellarmine, S.J., Award for his advancement of the University’s mission. 

In addition to Gallagher, who received an honorary Doctor of Laws degree, Leahy presented honorary degrees to five other recipients, including Joyce M. and William S. Cummings, founders of the Cummings Foundation, and Mathias Kiwanuka, a two-time Super Bowl–winning NFL defensive end and BC ’05.

Central to Gallagher’s address was mutual care and concern for others, with the archbishop emphasizing humility, aid, and justice in their pursuit. 

“To have respect for oneself is a necessity in order to begin to have the same attitude towards those around the earth,” Gallagher said. “To learn to respect others is, in some ways, to learn how to live in society, and the more deeply we learn that lesson, the stronger our society has become.”

The world has grown increasingly competitive, Gallagher noted, but rather than foster selfishness, the archbishop encouraged graduates to support their peers and build unity instead. 

“Helping others can also seem like an act of self-sabotage, and yet to aid, to help others needs to be at the core, not only of university life, but also of civil society,” Gallagher said. “Today you graduate from a prestigious institution and enter into the next phase of your lives, that would not have been possible without help from others.” 

Gallagher ended his address to the Class of 2026 with a call to service.

“The message I received during my Jesuit education at high school, both explicitly and implicitly, was, ‘What are you going to contribute? What are you going to give back?’” Gallagher said.