NSTAURARE
The Christendom College Update Instaurare (vt. to restore, strengthen, renew)
INSIDE THIS ISSUE . . . Eucharistic Devotion – page 2
October 2004 Volume XII, Number III
NDGS Graduation page 3
High School Summer Program page 4
Fall Sports page 5
College Gets New Development Director – page 5 Administrative Changes – page 6 O’Kielty Named College Chaplain – page 7 Christendom in Ireland – page 8
Cardinal Arinze Discusses Liturgy and Eucharist Vatican’s Chief Liturgist Featured at Christendom’s Annual Summer Institute
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Francis Cardinal Arinze delivered the keynote address to 325 people from across America at Christendom’s 15th Annual Summer Institute on July 17. Cardinal Arinze is the Prefect for the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments. Before his address, His Eminence accepted an Honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters from the College.
“The Eucharistic celebration has a cosmic character,” said Cardinal Arinze. “The Eucharist is the Real Presence of Christ; It builds the Church and gives her continued life and evangelistic and missionary dynamism. It is a celebration of the Church and this explains why Catholic ministers licitly administer this sacrament only to Catholic faithful.” In speaking of liturgical matters, Cardinal Arinze said that the Holy Father is also aware of the difficulties that beset the Church today.
In his address on the teachings of Pope John Paul II on the Eucharist, Cardinal Arinze explained that the Sacred Liturgy is at the center of “Some people tend to prefer private and personal the Holy Father’s pontificate. participation to community celebrations. Others In many documents of the have rejected the renewed rites pontificate of Pope John while considering the old Paul II, the sacred liturgy rites as the sole guarantee of and the Holy Eucharist certainty in faith. Yet others have figured promihave promoted outlandish nently, said His Emiinnovations and ignored nence, especially the liturgical norms issued in the encyclical by the Apostolic See or the letter Ecclesia de Francis Cardinal Arinze delivered the homily and the keynote address Eucharistia. see INSTITUTE, page 4 at Christendom College’s 15th Annual Summer Institute.
Marcus Grodi took part in the booksigning held during Christendom’s Summer Institute on July 17 (above). College President Dr. Timothy O’Donnell delivered a powerful talk on the Mass of Pardon (below).
College Begins 28th Academic Year With Record Enrollment And New Library
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Christendom College’s 28th academic year opened with the Mass of the Holy Spirit celebrated by Arlington Bishop Paul S. Loverde on August 22. Faculty, staff, and a record 371 students filled to brimming the Chapel of Christ the King for the Mass, during which His Excellency also presided as the Christendom Faculty took the Oath of Fidelity to the Magisterium of the Catholic Church. Each faculty member voluntarily takes the oath every year and thus makes a commitment to truth in a time when most academics think that “religion” impinges upon “academic freedom.” Christendom President
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Timothy O’Donnell affirms the contrary. There can be no conflict between them, he says, because “faith and reason both have a common source in God and they’re meant to work in a harmonious fashion. So rather than seeing the Catholic faith as something that’s not compatible with reason, as though you have to set your reason aside if you’re going to be a Catholic, we follow the teaching of the Church, particularly St. Thomas Aquinas, and affirm as our Holy Father teaches in Fides et Ratio and Ex Corde Ecclesiae, that there can be no real conflict between faith and reason.” see RECORD ENROLLMENT, page 6
Christendom’s entire faculty voluntarily makes its annual oath of fidelity to the Magisterium. Non Profit Org. U.S. Postage PAID Permit No. 6445 Merrifield, VA 22081
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INSTAURARE, October 2004
Intensify Devotion During the Year of the Eucharist
Pope John Paul II has proclaimed October 2004 to October 2005 as the “Year of the Eucharist.” We at Christendom College embrace this year with joy and heartfelt gratitude. As believing, committed Roman Catholics and as a part of our charism, our Christendom community has a special love for the person of the Holy Father.
When you witnessed the faculty take the Oath of Fidelity, you saw in a tangible way that there can be no real conflict between faith and reason for both have a common source in God. There is Someone bigger than the world. As a matter of fact, Someone who has overcome the world, Who is there to help you.
The pope announced the “Year of the Eucharist” on June 13th, the Solemnity of Corpus Christi. This Pope has renewed the ancient papal practice of having an outdoor procession for Corpus Christi, a practice discontinued after Pius IX lost control of Rome. In June of this year he journeyed in procession from the great Basilica of St. John Lateran to St. Mary Major, the glorious basilica dedicated to the Blessed Virgin who was the first tabernacle of the incarnate Lord. What a great moment it is to see the Vicar of Christ kneel before Christ present in the Eucharist as he leads the plebs Dei, the people of God, down the great Via Merulana for benediction of the Blessed Sacrament. Traffic stops within the city as all pay homage to our Timothy T. O’Donnell, STD, KCeHS Eucharistic King.
Please remember always that Christianity is a real person, a presence, a face to be known and loved: Jesus Christ who alone gives meaning and fullness to all human life. You will encounter Him in your classes, in your brothers and sisters here on this campus, in the little joys and sufferings which make up daily life, in the great sacrament of reconciliation, and above all else in the Holy Eucharist. I urge you to cultivate the art of listening. If you listen to your conscience, as our Holy Father frequently reminds us, you will see that in the depths of your heart God has placed an ardent longing for truth, happiness, goodness, and beauty. It is by becoming attentive and listening in the quiet sanctuary of your heart that you will come to discover the plan that God has for your life. Your vocation should be understood precisely as that plan which God in His all embracing love has devised for you from all eternity. How truly providential it is that we are all here together!
On that great feast he stated, “the ‘Year of the Eucharist’ fits into the context of the pastoral project that I pointed out in the apostolic letter Novo Millennio Inuente in which I invited the faithful to ‘start afresh from Christ.’” What a glorious expression, “to start afresh from Christ.” There is something terribly beautiful in hearing a frail man in his 80s joyfully exhorting the entire Church to “start afresh from Christ.” One of the most beautiful hidden passages in the Gospel is when Jesus appears to Mary Magdalene early in the morning on that first Dies Domini. When he appears to her, he says, “go tell my disciples that I go before them into Galilee.” What a joyful consolation that must have been to the twelve after the horror and bitterness of the Passion, and their sinful betrayal of the good Lord to hear that He was going before them to the place where He first encountered them, that place where they first fell in love and decided to give their lives to Him and follow Him. Here I emphasize their desire to follow Him, not an idea, not an abstraction, but a person, the God-man. Here, after the sin and betrayal, once again they were invited to “start afresh!” Our Holy Father continued in his address on the Solemnity of Corpus Christi, “By contemplating with greater perseverance the Face of the Incarnate Word truly present in the Sacrament they will train themselves in the art of prayer and undertake that high standard of Christian living, an indispensable condition for effectively developing the new evangelization.” (Angelus Address for the Feast of Corpus Christi, June 13, 2004). The Eucharist is the center of the Church’s life and it must be the spiritual center of our Catholic, academic community. We make it central to our lives when we receive Holy Communion, daily whenever possible, but especially on Sunday, the Dies Domini, with our solemn celebration at the 10 am Mass. We are living in a culture dominated by a practical atheism. It does not so much openly deny God’s existence (for that involves intellectual argument and moves the entire discussion onto “enemy’s” turf as CS Lewis would tell us in the Screwtape Letters), but insists on living as if He did not exist. Despite this cultural miasma in which we all must live, as rational creatures we should acknowledge the Divine Sovereignty. God is a necessary being, independent of all other contingent beings. The essence of being a creature lies in being and acknowledging our dependence upon God. How crucial it is for human beings to be in the truth, to live in the truth of our nature. Man as a creature must confess and acknowledge his dependence on God. This confession, this acknowledgment on the part of man, is adoration. While you are here you will be studying the highest truths. In this search for wisdom, which is the purpose of liberal education, you will be guided by a brilliant and gifted faculty who will seek to serve as mentors, to guide you in the pursuit of this arduous good. As you begin your course of studies, you can begin to escape from “the matrix,” the many mirages that are set before your eyes by consumerist society, the many seductions that seek to cut you off from true joy. So often our fallen world seeks to envelop you in an effort to fill your life with nothing but transient pleasures, moral indifference, superficialities, and the pursuit of the trivial. The deep desire and need all of us have for a love which is true and pure cannot be found in that world which exalts and flounders in drifting, confused emotions. Strive while you are here to become young men and women of intellect who will be guided by the light of grace and right reason. Strive to become Christian men and women of character.
The Pope in his encyclical on the Eucharist wrote, “it is pleasant to spend time with Him, to lie close to His breast like the beloved disciple and to feel the infinite love present in His heart. If, in our time, Christians must be distinguished above all by the art of prayer, how can we not feel a renewed need to spend time in spiritual converse, in silent adoration, in heartfelt love before Christ present in the most Holy Sacrament. How often dear brothers and sisters have I experienced this and drawn from it strength, consolation, and support.” (Ecclesia de Eucharistia) Let us all resolve this year to intensify our Eucharistic devotion. Our Holy Father’s apostolic letter Dies Domini is a crucial document in the battle between the culture of life and the culture of death. In section 46 the Holy Father writes, “since the Eucharist is the very heart of Sunday, it is clear why, from the earliest centuries, the pastors of the Church have not ceased to remind the faithful of the need to take part in the liturgical assembly. ‘Leave everything on the Lord’s Day,’ urges the third century text known as the Didascalia, ‘and run diligently to your assembly, because it is your praise of God. Otherwise, what excuse will they make to God, those who do not come together on the Lord’s day to hear the word of life and feed on the divine nourishment which lasts forever?’ The faithful have generally accepted this call of the pastors with conviction of soul and, although there have been times and situations when this duty has not been perfectly met, one should never forget the genuine heroism of priest and faithful who have fulfilled this obligation even when faced with danger and the denial of religious freedom, as can be documented from the first centuries of Christianity up to our time.” When I read that passage I could not help but recall one of the highlights of our recent trip to Ireland with a group from Christendom: the celebration of Mass on a Mass rock in a remote glen in Donegal. Two priests evidently had been killed during the years of the penal laws saying Mass at that mountain altar. What made this even more poignant was the dogged determination of one of the priests traveling with us to get to this remote spot to celebrate the Holy Sacrifice. Fr. Denis Donahue is an alumnus of Christendom and priest of the Arlington Diocese. Twenty-seven years ago on August 15 he was delivering papers in his neighborhood when he was shot in the spine by a crazed sniper. It was one of those rounds which scatters upon impact. He fell to the ground and while lying face down, a second shot was fired which hit him yet again. After a number of life-threatening operations in his youth, he is now capable of walking with a leg brace and with arm crutches. We carried Fr. Denis to this Mass rock but he also walked a good part of the way with a determined resolution. As he celebrated Mass with another priest, it was overwhelming to think of the love the Irish people had for our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament in their fervent desire to attend Mass at a time when to do so was a capital offense. It was overwhelming to recall that time in Ireland when every priest had a price on his head and when Mass was celebrated with sentries posted to warn of oncoming soldiers. Frequently a layman would don the cassock of a priest to serve as a decoy in case they were discovered by soldiers; sometimes they were and the layman was hung. The priest, however, was hurried away to safety for the important thing was that the Mass must go on! Yes, the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass must go on until the end of time. May we never take this great gift, this priceless treasure, for granted. I urge you, I urge all of us together to intensify our devotion to our Lord in the Holy Eucharist, everyday, if you can, and especially at our solemn 10 am Sunday College Mass. Take to heart the words of our Holy Father, “start afresh from Christ,” for today He says to you once again, “Behold I make all things new!”
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INSTAURARE, October 2004
Graduate School Awards Fourteen Master of Arts Degrees to Students
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Fourteen students from Christendom College’s Notre Dame Graduate School received their Master of Arts in Theological Studies degrees on Saturday, July 31, in a beautiful ceremony in the Chapel of Christ the King on Christendom’s Front Royal campus. After the conferral of degrees by College President Timothy O’Donnell, Randal Bedard of Alexandria, VA, addressed his classmates. He spoke on the Church’s teaching on the universal call to holiness and how the success of the New Evangelization is dependent on the sanctity of Christ’s faithful. “While all Christians were originally called to holiness in the Beatitudes,” he began, “somehow many came to see it as strictly for priests and religious. The laity came to understand their role in terms of ‘pray, pay, and obey.’ However, a fundamental theme of the Second Vatican Council is that everyone has a vocation to sanctity.”
conscious, and active participation. “Incorrectly understood, such ‘active participation’ has led to liturgical abuses at odds with our vocation to sanctity. The Holy Father has warned against clericalizing the laity and laicising the priesthood. The liturgy, like the Church, is meant to be both hierarchical and polyphonic,” he added. Prayer is absolutely necessary for sanctity, said Bedard, and spending time with Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament both at Mass and during Eucharistic adoration is imperative for our continued holiness. “Christ crucified on Calvary is the same Christ present in all the tabernacles of the world. So, there at the ‘foot of the Cross’ of our tabernacles is the Blessed Mother – and there is no better prayer partner than Mary,” he concluded. Bedard’s 13 fellow graduates show the diversity of background usually found in the graduate school’s students. Mary Ann Becksted is a certified Cardiovascular Imaging Technologist who is now waiting for the Holy Spirit to give her direction about how to use her NDGS degree.
He then outlined the two main ways through which holiness can be attained, namely, through faith and NDGS graduate of 2004 Randal Bedard delivered the graduation talk on the universal morals, and lit- call to holiness. urgy and prayer. James Beirne, a retired Assistant Chief Actuary for New York City, helps Bedard, a former United States Air Force Captain and with the CCD program at his parish and volunteers at high school math teacher, said that answering the call the orphanage where fellow NDGS graduate Rich Ryan to holiness in a hostile world necessitates both a steadlived as a child. fast faith and the courage to adhere to Christ’s moral teachings. Charles Buxton, a retired United States Army Band member, attended Christendom College during its first “A steadfast faith must be characterized by integrity. semester in 1977. He now plans to use his new Master’s When disputes arise, we must speak the saving truth degree to teach religion. in love, and as Vatican II reminds us, preserve unity in essentials, freedom in doubtful matters, and in all Sr. Maria Corona, PCI, has been a member of the Pax things charity,” he admonished his fellow graduates. Christi Institute for 12 years. She and her order are “And the courage to adhere to Christ’s moral teachings involved in many catechetical and missionary efforts in is also required. Living the Beatitudes may not be most Mexico and the US. people’s idea of ‘la dolce vita,’ but Christ promised a peace and happiness this world cannot give. Thanks be Lawrence Gottschalk, a retired United States Navy to God that every crucifix reminds us that with every Commander with an aerospace engineering background, cross comes Jesus.” entered the Catholic church in 1996. He continued by stating that in our quest for holiness we must approach Christ through the liturgy and the sacraments with profound amazement and gratitude, and with the proper dispositions, that is, with full,
formation Systems. She used to work as a consultant at Pricewaterhouse Cooper sand has served 8 years as a catechist at her parish. She plans to teach high school religion. Francisco Madan is a settlement officer for a title company. He attended Christendom College as an undergraduate in 1991 before transferring to George Mason University. He is currently working on an MA in History at George Mason University while he also teaches theology at his parish. Terri Ann Murray is a homeschooling mother of twin boys. She is now studying for an MA in counseling at the Institute for Psychological Sciences and hopes to use her knowledge of theology and psychology as a counselor. Kristina Nakas, who already has an MA in Russian Language and Literature, has worked for 12 years at the Voice of America (Lithuanian Language Service) and as a CCD teacher at her parish for 7 years. She plans to teach religion at the high school level. Delores Nelson is currently the Director of Religious Education at St. Andrew the Apostle Parish in Clifton, VA, and helps run several apostolates, including the Marian Society of Teachers and Daughters of Mary. She holds a previous Master’s degree in Computer Information Systems and is a retired Navy wife, with 4 children and 9 grandchildren. Father Vito Perrone, a priest of the Diocese of San Francisco, discerned his vocation to the priesthood while studying at NDGS during the summers of ‘96, ‘97, and ‘98. Fr. Perrone has two prior Master’s degrees in World Religions and in Theology. Richard Ryan is a retired high-rise iron worker and welder from New York City who worked as foreman on the Windows of the World Restaurant on the 110th floor of the World Trade Center, North Tower. He now resides in Daytona Beach and is active in several ministries. Anne Chu Song was very active in campus ministry as an undergrad and worked at her local parish as a high school confirmation class teacher, substitute grade school teacher, and extended-day supervisor. She is teaching 4th grade at Holy Family School in Dale City, VA, this fall.
Christine Kleiber, a former United States Marine Corps Major, is a mother of 4 and has a previous MA in In
EUCHARIST...
Study hard, pray hard, be joyful in the Holy Spirit and together let us have a great year. Dr. O’Donnell delivered the above address to the students and faculty at the beginning of this academic year.
The Notre Dame Graduate School of Christendom College Class of 2004 with faculty.
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INSTAURARE, October 2004
High School Summer Program Draws Over 100 Students From Across Nation
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Over 100 high school students from across the nation traveled to Front Royal to attend Christendom’s High School Summer Program in June and July. What they found in Front Royal was a period of intellectual stimulation, spiritual renewal and wholesome enjoyment, and a welcome hiatus from summer jobs or college preparations. The high level of student interest required that the College again offer two sessions of this popular program. The students’ daily schedules were packed with both edifying and fun events, including classes in the mornings, daily Mass, and a variety of afternoon activities. In the classes, Christendom faculty members taught Plato, Aristotle, and Thomas Aquinas. Students discussed famous works of literature and explored the relationship between the Catholic Faith and reason. But studying theology, English literature, philosophy, and political science was only part of the two-week program. Afternoon activities included canoeing on the Shenandoah River; hikes in the Blue Ridge Mountains; exciting softball and volleyball games; attendance at an Orioles baseball game at Baltimore’s Camden Yards; a trip to the Nation’s Capital to visit the John Paul II Cultural Center and the monuments and museums; and a special evening of fun and camaraderie at College President
INSTITUTE...
Bishops. All these people are invited to retrace their steps to full faith in the Church and unity and fidelity in her celebrations.” The Holy Father urges all Christ’s faithful to observe the liturgical norms established by the Church because of the very nature of the sacred liturgy. “Not even a priest can add or subtract anything on his own initiative from the approved sacred texts. A lack of fidelity on the part of the celebrant can even affect the validity of a sacrament,” said the Cardinal. “The quarter-century of the pontificate of Pope John Paul II has brought many blessings to the Church also in the liturgical field. Let us pray to the Most Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of Christ our Savior whose mysteries we celebrate in the sacred liturgy, to obtain for us the grace to do our part to listen, to believe, to take part in liturgical celebrations and to live in our daily lives what we have celebrated,” concluded Cardinal Arinze. Earlier in the day, College President Dr. Timothy O’Donnell spoke on Pope John Paul II’s much publicized and misunderstood “Mass of Pardon” of March 12, 2000, in which his Holiness asked forgiveness from the Lord for the past and present sins of Christ’s faithful. “When the Holy Father acts he is not limited to the corridors of time,” said O’Donnell. “He was seeking forgiveness; it was a request for pardon made to God. In offering this Mass, the Holy Father did something that no other leader could do because only a pope, as successor of St. Peter and the Vicar of Christ, can speak
Dr. Timothy O’Donnell’s home. “We know that there are other ways in which juniors and seniors can spend their summers,” says Christendom’s Director of Admissions Tom McFadden, “so we try our best to make sure that the time they spend with us on our campus is both fulfilling and culturally edifying. I attribute part of our success to our ideal setting, with mountains and rivers all around, and location, a mere 65 miles outside the Nation’s Capital. And as a bonus, a number of our recent alumni and current students serve as counselors for the participants, enabling the highschoolers to become better acquainted not only with Christendom College, but with our students and alumni as well.” Although the program has been open to both upcoming juniors and seniors for the past six years, next year’s
program will be offered first to upcoming seniors, and then to juniors, space permitting. The 2005 High School Summer Program will be offered from June 19 to July 1 and again from July 10 to July 22. Applications are now available on Christendom’s website at www.christendom.edu.
Continued from Front Page for the Church, past and present,” he said. As a point of interest, O’Donnell explained that although the secular press had reported that the Pope apologized to the world for the sins committed by members of the Catholic Church, the Holy Father never actually used the words “apology” or “apologize” in the Mass. “Pope John Paul II,” said O’Donnell, “was functioning like a great high priest who in his person takes on the burden of his people’s guilt, like on the great Day of Atonement in the Sanctuary. He was seeking forgiveness and cried out to God the Father to accept the repentance of his people who humbly confess their sins.”
Missio. In it the Pope states that conversion “is a gift of God, the work of the Blessed Trinity. It is the spirit who opens hearts.” Grodi explained that conversion must be our constant prayer and desire. “We don’t want to just stop abortion, we hope for the conversion of those who participate in this sin. People ask me what the ‘silver bullet’ for conversions is. It’s grace. God picks the time and place, all we must do is pray, for prayer opens the doors for grace…this is the theme of John Paul’s teachings on conversion.”
Associate Professor of Fr. Anthony Mastroeni, a Philosophy at Christendom professor of Theology at the Christendom philosophy professor John Cuddeback College, Dr. John Cuddeback College, followed O’Donnell’s discussed “Pope John Paul II and Culture.” addressed the audience on the presentation and addressed Pope’s teachings on Culture. Pope John Paul II’s writings on the priesthood as found in Pastore Dabo Vobis and Ordinatio Sacerdotalis. “Culture is formative, for good or for evil, of moral character; it is formative of the worldview, the habits, He showed the relevance of the Pope’s teaching in light the desires of human persons,” said Cuddeback. “It is of the current scandals facing the Church and her priesta real factor in determining how receptive to grace and hood today. He attributed the scandals to an identity holiness a human soul will be. If there are not many crisis among the clergy. today who see culture in this way, there is at least one: the visible head of Christ’s Church on earth. Pope John “The Pope,” he stated, “continually exhorts priests to Paul II speaks often, and with obvious urgency, about follow Our Lord’s example of Holiness. The identity matters of culture. This Shepherd of souls knows what of the priest comes from Christ. It takes his flock needs, and what threatens it. The Vicar of tremendous power to create a priest…it Christ has warned us that we live in a veritable culture is likened to the outpouring of the Holy of death. We can be sure that his concern goes well Spirit at Pentecost. The Holy Spirit comes beyond that for the life of the unborn and the aged. down upon that priest and ‘recreates him, The spiritual life of all persons is at stake here.” refashions him’ into the very likeness of the Eternal High Priest, the Head, and Next year’s conference will be held on July 16, 2005, the Spouse of the Church, Jesus Christ. and will feature EWTN’s Fr. Mitch Pacwa, SJ. Today priests think they need to be regular guys, but the world is full of regular guys! What the world needs is for a priest to be an Alter Christus; an other Christ,” he concluded.
Fr. Anthony Mastroeni explained the role of the priest in today’s culture.
Marcus Grodi, the Director of the Coming Home Network and the host of the weekly EWTN program, The Journey Home, spoke of Pope John Paul II’s teachings on conversion, especially in Redemptoris
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INSTAURARE, October 2004
Development Office Gets New Director Stephen P. Grundman has joined Christendom’s Development Office team as the new Director of Development. A California native, Grundman graduated from Thomas Aquinas College, CA, in 1991 with a Bachelor’s degree in liberal arts. He continued his education at The Catholic University of America, earning a Master of Arts degree in philosophy in 1995. In 1997, after teaching for two years, Grundman entered the world of Catholic non-profits, taking a position with the Legionaries of Christ in Bethesda, MD. While there, he gained administrative and development experience working as a catechist trainer and as the manager of a retreat and conference center. Grundman and his wife, Gwendolyn, homeschool their four children: Therese (10), Mary Beth (7), Marcel (3), and Veronica Rose (8 months). He is also currently completing a PhD in philosophy from Catholic University, with a dissertation on “The Role of Custom in Aquinas’s Philosophy of Law.”
“The newly-created position of Director of Development is absolutely essential to the continued growth of Christendom College,” says John F. Ciskanik, Vice President for Development and Planning. “We have reached a point in our history where we need to better communicate our mission and vision to our donor base and find new members of Christ’s faithful who are interested in supporting our educational apostolate. Working with me and my team, Steve will enable Christendom to move forward with this plan.”
Director of Development Stephen Grundman with his wife, Gwendolyn, and children.
Grundman’s chief duties and responsibilities will be to manage the other members of the development office staff; to organize and direct various fundraising events;
College Enters Second Quarter with Reason to Hope Encouraged by several good quarters of operational fundraising results during the 2003-2004 fiscal year and faced with both a substantially higher maintenance budget (due to the new Library) and Christendom’s eleventh record enrollment, the Board of Directors approved a 2004-2005 fiscal year budget containing the College’s most ambitious fund raising target for operations in its history: $1,750,000. Sadly, our operational fundraising results during the first quarter seemed more like traditional summer doldrums than the launch of a new chapter in Development annals. In fact, the 9%-of-goal achieved during June-August 2004 was the slowest first quarter in our history. (For the record, we traditionally raise over 15% of our operational goal in the first quarter.) The good news is, of course, we have much time in which to catch up.
to acknowledge specifically two recent gifts. First, a friend and benefactor from Texas transferred property in excess of $1 million in return for a Deferred Gift Annuity. The gift portion of this annuity, estimated at approximately $580,000 has been restricted for use on the St. John the Evangelist Library project. Second, a Boston couple who have long been generous friends to Christendom, have pledged $500,000 to the Library project as well.
John F. Ciskanik
Furthermore as Catholics we know that, even as Our Lord graces us with greater challenges and heavier financial burdens, so too does He direct answers our way, frequently in the form of particularly generous benefactors. Though I am not free to name names, I would like
debt.
These funds will have at least the following two immediate benefits to Christendom. First, when coupled with several other gifts to the Library, these new funds have effectively halved the $2.3 million debt on the Library. Second, they will immediately and substantially decrease interest payments on that remaining
On behalf of President O’Donnell, the faculty and the many students who will benefit by these good people’s generosity, and in the sure knowledge that Our Lord will not be outdone in generosity, I offer our sincere thanks and continued prayers. John F. Ciskanik is Vice-President for Development and Planning.
to cultivate new donors to the College; and to direct new fundraising initiatives as they are developed. “As a graduate of Thomas Aquinas College,” says Grundman, “I have a sincere appreciation of Christendom, both as the provider of a curriculum firmly founded in faith and reason, and as a deeply Catholic institution strategically located near the Nation’s Capital and committed to preparing new generations of lay apostles. I’m excited to be a part of the team!”
Fall Semester Sports
2004Women’s SoccerTeam (back row, l to r): Therese Oligny, Regina Gaetano, Emily Mersch,Veronica Miller, Caitrie Santicola, Katherine Freeman, Laurel Munsill, Agnes King, Mary Akers, Bethany Zuniga, Sophia Mascia, Danielle Lussier, Coach Mark Schlomer; (front row, l to r) Anne Kulick, Angela Gaetano, Sharon Scanlon, Emily Rose, Addy Buckley, Marie Antunes, and Trish Metzger.
Planning for the Future Gifts made as part of your overall financial plan that benefit you now and Christendom later are known as planned gifts. Through planned giving, you can plan future support for those areas and programs at Christendom that are of the most interest to you–and often make a larger gift than you might have thought possible–while also benefitting yourself. Explore how you can help Christendom while making sound financial plans for yourself.
2004 Men’s Soccer Team (back row, l to r): Denny Pregent, Mike Freeman, John Archer, Mitch Benes, Mark Leopold, Peter Kromhout, Daniel Curtin, and Adam Marchand; (front row, l to r) John English, Joey Miller, Sean Vieira, Noah Morey, Pat VanderWoude, Jake Minick, and Sonny Ramirez.
The benefits to you: -Provide life-time income for you and, if you wish, another beneficiary -Receive a substantial federal income tax charitable deduction -Turn low-yielding assets into a higher income stream -Reduce or eliminate taxes on capital gains -Eliminate or reduce federal estate taxes -Ultimately provide a meaningful gift to Christendom. For further information please contact John Ciskanik, Vice President for Development, at (800) 877-5456 or ciskanik@christendom.edu. 2004 Women’s Volleyball team: (l to r) Danielle Ampi, Karissa Gubash, Carissa Posch, Elli Ampi, Michele Fox, Laura Serafin-Ward, Vanessa Anderson, Sydney Whitmyer, and Cara Whitaker.
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INSTAURARE, October 2004
2004-05 Academic Year Brings Administrative and Academic Changes
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The Christendom community began its twenty-eighth academic year welcoming some new members and bidding farewell to some old ones.
Student Life Programs, among them the very popular mission program that has been sending students to poverty-stricken areas around the world for five years.
Dr. Steven C. Snyder, an Associate Professor of Phi-
The new Dean of Student Life is Joseph Wurtz. Wurtz comes to Christendom from Benedictine College, KS, where he was the Director of Student Activities for the past 2 years. Prior to that he worked with the Fellowship of Catholic University Students (FOCUS) on two different college campuses. Wurtz earned his BA in Philosophy from Benedictine College in 1999 and an MS in Higher Education Administration from the University of Kansas this past spring. He and his wife, Megan, have one daughter, Mary. “I hope to help develop a leadership training program for the students over the next year or two,” says Wurtz. “Also, I plan on spending a lot of time helping to raise money for the
VP For Academic Affairs Dr. Steve Snyder.
losophy at Christendom since 2001, is the new Vice President for Academic Affairs. Prior to coming to Christendom, Snyder was an Associate Professor of Philosophy at the Pontifical College Josephinum in Columbus, OH. Before that, Snyder taught Philosophy at St. Dean of Student Life Joseph Wurtz. Thomas More College (Saskatchewan, Canada), Cardinal Muench Seminary (Fargo, ND), much-needed Moorhead State University (Moorhead, MN), and the Student Union University of South Carolina (Columbia, SC). Center.” After receiving his Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy from Cornell College in Mt. Vernon, IA, in 1977, Snyder earned his Master of Arts from the University of Toronto’s Centre for Medieval Studies in 1978 and his PhD in 1984. Snyder replaces Dr. Jonathan Reyes who has left the College to become a Vice President of the Fellowship of Catholic University Students (FOCUS) in Greely, CO. Reyes taught in the History Department for 6 years and succeeded Robert Rice as Vice President for Academic Affairs in 2002. He was instrumental in helping the College gain re-accreditation in the fall of 2003. He is very much missed by his students and colleagues. After serving the College for eleven years as Dean of Student Life, Mike Brown has become a full-time member of the faculty as an Assistant Professor of Philosophy. During his tenure as Dean, Brown created a number of
RECORD ENROLLMENT...
From 2002-03, Shannon was a visiting assistant professor at St. Mary’s College in IN before becoming a research associate for the Jacques Maritian Center at the University of Notre Dame during the 2003-04 academic year. He is the author of two books, A World Made Safe for Differences: Cold War Intellectuals and the Politics of Identity and Conspicuous Criticism: Tradition, the Individual, and Culture in American Social Thought, from Veblen to Mills, and has written numerous articles and commentaries for various periodicals and journals. Sharon Hickson joins the College community as an Instructor in the English Language and Literature Department. Hickson, the mother of eight children, earned her Bachelor of Arts in English from Marymount College and her Master of Arts in English from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. Hickson and her family moved to the Front Royal area in 1980 and have been associated with Christendom ever since. For the last five years, she has been teaching English at Seton High School in Manassas, VA, and before that she served as Academic Dean and English teacher at Wakefield Country Day School in Huntly, VA, for eight years.
Dr. Christopher Shannon joins Christendom’s already strong History Department as an Assistant Professor. Shannon History Professor Christopher Shannon. earned his BA in English from the University of Rochester in 1985, and his PhD, MPhil, and MA, all in American Studies, from Yale University. Following his graduate studies at Yale, he served as a visiting lecturer at Yale and then later at the University of Rochester. From 1996-98, Shannon worked for the International Museum of Photography and Film at the George Eastman House. He then began work at the
English Professor Sharon Hickson.
Continued from Front Page
In his homily, Bishop Loverde compared the life of a Christendom College student to the life of an Olympic athlete. Both student and athlete must live disciplined lives in order to be victorious in their respective fields. Students must have discipline in daily prayer, in participation in the sacraments, and in intellectual study.
“Since our founding in 1977, students have been attending Christendom for the unique educational experience that we offer, and not for the buildings. And although that will probably never change, it is nice to be able to offer them this state-of-the-art and aesthetically pleasing library.”
The newly-opened St. John the Evangelist Library will offer a splendid venue for growth in this latter discipline. The library now serves as the academic center of the campus, and the embodiment of the College’s commitment to the vision and nobility of Catholic education, reflecting in its very design the harmony that characterizes the marriage of faith and reason. In fact, the opening line of the encyclical Fides et Ratio is inscribed above the entrance.
Archbishop Edwin F. O’Brien, Archbishop of the Archdiocese for the Military Services, USA, blessed and dedicated the building on October 9. The dedication event included a Mass of Thanksgiving, a Blessing of the Library and Papal Bust, catered food and beverages in the Library, and the performance of an original orchestral piece, composed and directed by Christendom’s own Dr. Kurt Poterack.
“The students of Christendom College deserve this library,” says Director of Admissions Tom McFadden.
University of Notre Dame as a Junior Fellow for the Erasmus Institute. Over the next four years, he served Notre Dame as a research associate and the associate director of the Cushwa Center for the Study of American Catholicism, as well as a history instructor for the university’s History Department.
Expect more information on this festive event in the next issue of Instaurare.
Published quarterly by the Christendom College Admissions & Marketing Office Managing Editor, Layout, Design: Tom McFadden Copy Editor: Kathleen Blum Christendom College 134 Christendom Drive, Front Royal, VA 22630 (800) 877-5456 ~ www.christendom.edu Copyright © 2004. Permission to reprint in whole or in part is hereby granted, provided the following credit line is used: “Reprinted by permission from INSTAURARE, the quarterly newsletter of Christendom College (www.christendom.edu).” SUBSCRIPTION FREE UPON REQUEST.
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INSTAURARE, October 2004
Blum and Prokes Publish New Works
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The Notre Dame Graduate School gave a booksigning reception at Christendom in July for Sr. M. Timothy Prokes, FSE, and Dr. Christopher Blum. At the Interface: Theology and Virtual Reality, published by Fenestra books, is Sr. Timothy’s latest work o n the theological ramifications of virtual reality, a subject which has been a growing concern for many church leaders. Though this topic had not previously been explored in real depth by theologians in the past, Archbishop John P. Foley, President for the Pontifical Council for Social Communications, believes that “the subject is of great importance. Virtual Reality is more than just ‘a sign of the times.’ For many, virtual reality is their principal world; they live in a world of virtual relationships.”
several articles. She has taught in many universities in the United States and Canada, and frequently lectures at conferences on the themes of theology of the body, bioethics, and the spiritual life. Christopher Blum’s anthology of French Catholic political thought, Critics of the Enlightenment: Readings in the French Counter-Revolutionary Tradition, was recently published by ISI Books. After a preface by French political thinker Philippe Beneton and an introduction by Blum, the volume includes Blum’s translations of essays by six prominent French conservatives of the nineteenth-century: FrançoisRené de Chateaubriand, Louis de Bonald, Joseph de Maistre, Frédéric Le Play, Emile Keller, and René de La Tour du Pin.
Sr. Timothy is a member of the Franciscan Sisters of the Dr. Christopher Blum and Sr. Timothy Prokes, FSE, held a Eucharist and Professor of book signing for their recently published works. Theology at Christendom’s Notre Dame Graduate School. She has previously published, Towards a Theology of the Body and Mutuality: The Human Image of Trinitarian Love, in addition to
Blum is the Chairman of the History Department at Christendom and has written articles and essays for various scholarly journals.
Cuddeback Brings Western Ethics to Austria In August, Associate Professor of Philosophy John Cuddeback traveled to Austria to teach a one-week course in ethics to fifty students from all over eastern and central Europe.
interested to consider the ethical positions of the great western tradition. Many of the participants related that they had not been exposed to this tradition. Others had worked within The course, part of a this tradition and are four-course seminar currently involved led by Cuddeback and in the reformation three other American of higher education philosophy professors, in their countries. was sponsored by the One participant is a Educational Initiative philosophy profesfor Central and Eastsor at a Catholic ern Europe (EICEE). university in the largely Catholic state EICEE sponsors vari- Dr. John Cuddeback speaks with an Eastern European student at a reception of Slovakia. He reous projects aimed at held during the week-long course in ethics he delivered in Austria. lated that Catholic promoting a greater higher education understanding of the principles that underpin a truly faces unique challenges in states still suffering from the just social order. Professor Cuddeback believes that the effects of communism. students, primarily doctoral students or young professors in various disciplines in their own countries, were very
Fr. Seamus O’Kielty Appointed College Chaplain In the 51st year of his priesthood, Fr. Seamus P. O’Kielty was made College Chaplain this past August. No one will say he lacks experience.
Farleigh Dickinson University in NJ where he earned a Master’s degree in Education and then a Master’s in Linguistics at New York University.
He came to Christendom as an Assistant Chaplain in 2002, and, following the recent reassignment of College Chaplain Fr. Robert Ruskamp, assumed the role of Chaplain.
In 1974 he returned to Burundi and became a parish pastor, replacing Hutu priests who had been massacred. In 1979 he was inducted into the Navy as a chaplain where he was deployed to Libya, Lebanon, Turkey, and Morocco. Following his retirement in 1995, he then served as adjunct professor at Farleigh Dickenson University’s School of Education, spent three months at the Knock Shrine in Ireland, and returned to the Paterson diocese where he assisted at local parishes.
Born in County Mayo, Ireland, the eighth child of 10, Fr. O’Kielty studied in seminaries in England, Belgium, Germany and Scotland and was ordained a priest in 1954. He spent the next 11 years as a bush missionary in Tanganyika/Burundi. In 1965 he came to the US and taught high school in the Paterson, NJ, Diocese. In 1966 he served in the missions in Bolivia where he became temporary chaplain to the Bolivian army during the Che Guevara emergency. Fr. O’Kielty later attended
Fr. O’Kielty is aided in the chaplaincy by Fr. Anthony Mastroeni and numerous visiting priests.
Prof. Schwartz Makes Scholarly Contributions Dr. Adam Schwartz, Assistant Professor of History, is a contributor to the new Encyclopedia of Catholic Literature (Greenwood Press, 2004). This ambitious two-volume set, edited by Dr. Mary Reichardt of the University of St. Thomas, attempts to provide detailed scholarly analyses of leading works of Catholic literature from the last 2000 years. Schwartz’s essay is on G. K. Chesterton’s The Everlasting Man (a book all Christendom students are required to read in History 101). Although often praised as Chesterton’s finest work, there has been little sustained treatment of it by scholars. Schwartz analyzes it as a theology of history, one asserting the uniqueness of humans among creatures, Christ among men, and the Church among religions. Schwartz also puts The Everlasting Man in its cultural context, the early twentieth-century revival of orthodox Christianity in Britain that also occasioned renewed interest in a theological approach to history; historians like Christopher Dawson, poets such as T. S. Eliot and David Jones, and fiction writers like J. R. R. Tolkien all had highly-developed Christian theologies of history underlying their work in different literary genres. Schwartz’s essay concludes by assessing previous scholarship on The Everlasting Man, and calling for detailed analyses of it by future historians, theologians and literary critics. Other contributors to the Encyclopedia of Catholic Literature include past Christendom Major Speakers Joseph Pearce and Fr. Ian Ker. “I am flattered to have my work appearing alongside such established writers,” Schwartz comments. “I hope that the essay will be useful to students, other scholars, and anyone interested in the great tradition of Catholic thought and writing.”
Fahey Directs Seminars at Oxford Dr. William Fahey, Chairman of the Classical and Early Christian Studies Department, returned for a second year to Oriel College, Oxford, to direct seminars in the Intercollegiate Studies Institute’s Western Civilization Honors program held there in August. This year, among the two dozen students selected in an international competition, was Christendom student and Classics major Justin Stover. In addition to their formal activities, Fahey and Stover hunted down Hilaire Belloc’s original Oxford home and scoured the town’s bookshops for precious Latin and Greek texts.
Strickland Joins Fellow Weaver Scholars at College Professor Edward Strickland (Classical and Early Christian Studies) was awarded the prestigious Richard M. Weaver Fellowship for 2004-2005. Over the past four decades a small number of Weaver Fellowships have been awarded annually to the most promising doctoral candidates and young professors selected by the Intercollegiate Studies Institute from a national competition. Christendom has one of the largest communities of former Weaver Fellows including Nancy Briggs, Kristin Burns, William and Amy Fahey, Christopher Manion, William Marshner, Robert Rice, and Trey Stanford.
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INSTAURARE, October 2004
US News & World Report Awards Christendom High Marks for 6th Consecutive Year
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Christendom’s ranking in the 2005 edition of US News & World Report’s “Best Colleges” issue marks the sixth consecutive year that Christendom has been found to be one of the best Liberal Arts colleges in the US.
(83%), first in percentage of freshmen in the top 10% of their high school class (59%), and third in alumni giving (36%).
Additionally, Christendom ranked first among all Catholic national liberal arts colleges in America in the category of “least debt incurred by its graduates.” This is the fifth consecutive year that Christendom has been awarded this unique ranking.
Christendom’s SAT score is comparable to other Catholic Colleges such as Holy Cross (1270), and actually higher than that of Villanova (1238), Fordham (1212), Providence (1206), Creighton (1189), Gonzaga (1182), Catholic University (1161) and Seton Hall (1102).
The study revealed that the average debt incurred among the 52% of Christendom graduates who acquired student loans was $10,050. Other Catholic liberal arts colleges making the list were Thomas Aquinas College with an average debt of $13,250, College of the Holy Cross with $17,253, and the University of Dallas with $20,836. In addition to being recognized in the category of “least debt,” US News ranked Christendom first in its tier in the area of SAT scores amongst incoming freshmen (1130-1330), first in freshmen retention rate
statistics found in the Princeton Review and US News & World Report, Christendom’s average SAT score for this year’s incoming freshmen (1258) lands the College atop a list of nationally recognized Catholic colleges.
In Virginia, Christendom’s SAT average compares favorably with those at the prestigious, nationally ranked, and long established Universities. Only the University of Virginia (a top 25 school), William and Mary, and Washington and Lee University have higher averages.
In a related yet different study, according to available
Study Abroad Participants Discover the Jewel in the Crown of Christendom
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Christendom’s Summer Study Abroad program went to Ireland from July 26 to August 16.
The Study Abroad Program offers three weeks of intensive study during which student-travelers achieve an integrated understanding of Catholic culture in the Catholic regions of Europe. Two courses totaling six semester hours of college credit are offered. The program begins with one week of introductory orientation lectures on Christendom’s campus in Front Royal, followed by two weeks of travel and immersion in the
European Catholic culture.
ery, Trinity College, and the Book of Kells.
The 2004 program began with a week-long course in Irish History and Literature, followed by a two-week tour of Ireland. The group was comprised of Christendom students, graduates, college friends/guests, and two chaplains, alumnus Father Denis Donahue and Father Andrew Menke. Dr. Timothy O’Donnell and Dr. Patrick Keats were the professors of History and Literature and also served as the general tour guides.
One of the greatest blessings of the trip was the opportunity to discover firsthand how the Catholic faith has so fruitfully influenced Ireland from the time of Saint Patrick. The participants also gained a deeper appreciation for the enduring nature of Irish Catholicism, which has persisted throughout the centuries despite savage persecution. The group took an overnight trip to Knock Shrine and met with the Archbishop of Armagh, Archbishop Brady who is the successor of St. Patrick himself. They also visited many (ruined) monasteries and abbies, such as Ballintubber Abbey, where Catholics have gathered for Mass for 800 years. These experiences imbued the participants with a poignant awareness of Ireland’s Catholic heritage/faith and a tremendous understanding of why Ireland has long been the emerald in the crown of Christendom.
Christendom in Ireland after an outdoor Mass at the Upper Lake, Glendalough.
The group’s primary travels were to Killarney, Galway, Knock, Donegal and Dublin, with numerous side trips throughout the countryside. Some highlights of the trip included the Ring of Kerry, the Rock of Cashel, Holy Cross Abbey, the Cliffs of Moher, the Aran Islands, the Holy Mountain of Croagh Patrick, the Knock Shrine, the Hill of Slane, the Cathedral at Armagh, Kilmainham Gaol, the Guinness Brew-
The planned 2005 Summer Study Abroad Program will be the College’s first in France.
Christendom Alumni Make 2004 the Summer of Love - and Marriage
Alumni Summer Weddings (clockwise from top left): Matthew Coffey ‘03 and Patricia Thompson ‘04; Jennifer Coleman ‘04 and Brian Kelly; Alexandra Doylend ‘04 and Ronald Klassen ‘01; Elizabeth Hendricks ‘04 and Nat Lloyd; Meg McNeely ‘03 and Paul Wonderboy Jalsevac ‘03; Jill Watson ‘01 and Patrick Storey ‘02; Louis Massett and Amber Meza ‘03; Anne Fraser ‘03 and Mike Schmitt ‘03.