Snapshots

Several members of the College community served the Easter Triduum liturgies with the Holy Father Pope Francis. Sixteen of them record the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity with a photo in front of Michelangelo's Pieta in St. Peter's Basilica.

Seated right to left: Producer Rev. John Cush '98, C '15 (Brooklyn), Director Rev. Mr. Jakob Hurlimann '23 (Austin) and Assistant Director Andrew Westerman '24 (Personal Ordinariate of the Chair of St. Peter) with members of the cast of Brother Orchid.

Rev. Vincent Ferrer Bagan, OP, Director of Liturgical Music, bats for the Angelicum students' team during the annual university softball game. Mauricio Romero '25 (San Angelo) and Gerard Gayou '25 (Washington) lead a team of servers into the refectory during the Rector's Dinner.

Encore! Musicians pause to celebrate their performance following the classical music concert.

Members of the Class of 2023 share a proud moment with players of the Nettuno Baseball Club during their class fraternity weekend. Nettuno is known as Italy's City of Baseball for its continued love of the sport, brought over by American armed forces members who landed there in the Second World War.

Richard Sofatzis '23 (Sydney) shares a reflection with seminarians and members of Comunità Cenacolo, a "school of life" for individuals healing from "not just drug addiction, but more so the inability to love and live one’s life." After heavy squats, bench presses, and deadlifts, participants of the first "PNAC's Strongest Man" powerlifting meet smile triumphantly.

Departing Faculty

MICHAEL NORIEGA ’24, DIOCESE OF AUSTIN

Rev. John Cush ‘98, C’15.

Fr. John Cush ’98, C’15 (Brooklyn) will conclude his time as Academic Dean of the College and Formation Advisor at the end of this academic year. Fr. Cush arrived at the College on faculty in 2015, serving as Assistant Vice Rector. In 2016, he was named Academic Dean and Assistant Vice Rector, and, from 2017 onward, he served as Academic Dean. Fr. Cush taught U.S. Catholic Church History at the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas, the Pontifical University of Santa Croce, and the Pontifical Gregorian University, where he also taught first-year theological seminars in dogmatic and fundamental theology. Fr. Cush will be assigned to St. Joseph’s Seminary and College (Dunwoodie) in Yonkers, New York where he will be a full-time professor of Dogmatic Theology and a Formation Advisor. Fr. Cush will also assume the role of Editor-in-Chief of Ignatius Press’ online journal Homiletic & Pastoral Review. Fr. Cush will have two new books published in the next year in the field of priestly formation, one with Rev. Msgr. Walter “Tad” Oxley, ’03, C’09 (Toledo), from IPF Publications, and another from Word on Fire Press. Rev. Joshua Rodrigue ‘02.

Fr. Joshua Rodrigue ’02 (Houma-Thibodaux) will conclude his time as Director of Spiritual Formation at the College at the end of this academic year. He arrived at the College on faculty in August 2017 and was Director of Pastoral Formation between 2017 and 2018. In 2018, he became the Director of Spiritual Formation for the College. He has led the team of spiritual directors and overseen planning and preparation for the yearly retreats, Advent and Lenten Days of Recollection, and community rosaries. In addition to serving as a spiritual director, Fr. Rodrigue has taught Sacred Art and Architecture at the College to many students. He will be the next Rector of Notre Dame Seminary in New Orleans, Louisiana, a position he will take up on July 1.

Rev. Randall Soto C’98, C’02

Fr. Randy Soto, C’98, C’15 (New York) will conclude his time as a spiritual director and the Carl J. Peter Chair of Homiletics at the end of this academic year. He arrived at the College on faculty in 2017 as a spiritual director and in 2019 was appointed as the Carl J. Peter Chair of Homiletics. In his years on faculty at the College, Fr. Soto has taught Hebrew, Greek, Latin, and the Introduction to Theological Method first-year seminar for the Pontifical Gregorian University, as well as Hebrew, Greek, Latin, and the Priesthood in the Epistle to the Hebrews for the Pontifical University of Santa Croce. Fr. Soto has also offered classes in Hispanic Pastoral ministry and Spanish language on Monday evenings. He will be assigned to St. Joseph’s Seminary and College (Dunwoodie) in Yonkers, New York, where he received his own formation for the priesthood. He will be a full-time professor of Scripture and Systematic Theology, and also serve as a spiritual director. In addition to his full-time teaching at Dunwoodie, Fr. Soto is involved in the translation of the Bible for the USCCB into Spanish, while also completing his second doctorate (Ph.D.) in Spiritual Theology at the Pontifical University of Santa Croce.

Rev. Kevin Bazzel '01, C'06

Fr. Kevin Bazzel, ’01, C' 06 (Birmingham) concluded his time as an adjunct spiritual director at the College in February of this year, upon the completion of his term in serving at the Congregation for Clergy. Fr. Bazzel began working at the Congregation for Clergy in 2016 and became an adjunct spiritual director at the College in 2019. Prior to becoming an adjunct spiritual director, Fr. Bazzel would assist the College’s formation sessions on Thursday nights in practica for homiletics as well as sacraments, which he continued after becoming an adjunct spiritual director. Fr. Bazzel is currently serving as the Moderator of the Curia and Vicar General for his diocese of Birmingham, Alabama, in addition to filling in at different parishes throughout the diocese when needed.