A JESUIT-RUN university has honoured US Vice President Joe Biden for pushing through legislation related to domestic violence.
Mr Biden was given the Legal Momentum Hero Award during a day-long conference at Georgetown University.
It was timed to mark the 15th anniversary of the Violence Against Women Act, for which Mr Biden was the principal advocate.
Signed by President Bill Clinton in 1994 the Act provided funds for investigating and prosecuting violence against women, limited access to bail for accused abusers, and required mandatory restitution.
It also provided for immigrants who were victims of abuse to become legal American residents without relying on the immigration status of an abusive relative.
In accepting the award Mr Biden called the law “the single most important legislative accomplishment in my 32-year-old career in the Senate”.
Randall Terry, founder of pro-life group Operation Rescue, and the Cardinal Newman Society, a Catholic university watchdog group, issued statements decrying the award being bestowed at a Catholic university. Both statements said Mr Biden, a Catholic, should not be honoured because of his support for abortion.