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Profiles
Archbishop Joseph Marino '75: The Call of a Lifetime
An archbishop is called upon to lead the Pontifical Ecclesiastical Academy in Rome, his other alma mater, only the second American to be assigned to the post.
He’d gotten many calls during his career, several from the Vatican, that would change the course of his life. Still, this took him aback. Pope Francis was appointing him to the presidency of the Pontifical Ecclesiastical Academy in Rome, which trains the Holy See’s diplomats. The Academy meant a lot to Archbishop Joseph Marino ’75, as it was where he was trained, and he would be only the second American ever assigned to this post.
“It was a real surprise,” he said soon after the announcement was made public on Oct. 11, 2019. “I wasn’t aware that this was going to be proposed and given. It’s going to be a completely new type of work for me.”
Modest and soft-spoken, Archbishop Marino recently expressed his excitement about the new position, which he began at the start of the new year, after six years as apostolic nuncio to Malaysia and East Timor and apostolic delegate to Brunei. Pope Benedict XVI had named him first nuncio to Malaysia in 2013. The call meant he would be going back to Italy. Italian is his most fluent language, after English, and his grandparents emigrated from Sicily long ago. This was all a comfort as he prepared for his new role, but the transition wouldn’t be easy. Experience had taught him that.
From Birmingham to Scranton
After high school in Birmingham, Alabama, the devout Catholic was sent to the Diocese of Scranton’s St. Pius X Seminary in Dalton, which closed its doors nearly 30 years later due to low enrollment. At the time, though, there were more than a hundred seminarians, a couple of dozen of whom attended The University of Scranton. He hadn’t known what to expect at Scranton when he had arrived in 1971.
“You get used to the cold weather. That’s one thing you have to get used to,” said Archbishop Marino, laughing. “When I saw it snow in May one year, I said ‘Oh! Where am I?’”
Although most of his time was spent with his friends from the seminary, he got to know the other Scranton students at lunch and between classes. The University was “well-disciplined,” he said, and had a “wonderful spirit.”
“Scranton gave me a wonderful foundation for all that was going to happen in my life,” he said. “I look back on that and really appreciate what the community gave, the University, the church there, the seminary. It was really outstanding.”
After graduating with degrees in philosophy and psychology, he went to Rome to study theology and biblical theology at the Pontifical Gregorian University, a Jesuit University. He even had a stint volunteering for St. Teresa of Calcutta and her Missionaries of Charity.
He returned to Birmingham for several years as a newly ordained priest at St. Paul’s Cathedral and then went back to Rome in 1984 to obtain his doctorate in canon law and to prepare to become a Holy See diplomat at the Pontifical Ecclesiastical Academy. Admission to the Academy is a high honor. Currently, there are only few dozen priests from all over the world, chosen by the Secretariat of State, enrolled. Its alumni include five popes.
To the World
Once a Holy See diplomat, Archbishop Marino was under the jurisdiction of the bishop of Rome, or the pope. From there, he was assigned to posts all over the world. In 20 years, he served in countries on four continents.
“All the assignments I’ve been given have been very satisfying and fulfilling in every way, each one a little different,” he said. “Philippines, Uruguay, Nigeria, Rome, London, Bangladesh, Malaysia, Timor-leste (East Timor), each one brings a little challenge to adapt to the culture. But once you get over that, you discover that we all have the same goals and aspirations in life.”
Connecting to the people in each country to which he has been assigned, he said, was one of the joys of his job. Language is one barrier, he admitted, but he learns to adapt pretty quickly. Then, he said, it has been a big part of his job to listen.
“To be in dialogue with these different people in these different countries and representing the Vatican there, the Secretariat, the Apostolic Nunciature, and, in the last, as the nuncio himself, is incredible,” he said.
From 1997-2004, he served with the Vatican’s Secretariat of State in Rome. During this time, as an expert on the Balkans, he was sent by Pope John Paul II to Belgrade during the conflict in Kosovo to sit with Archbishop Jean-Louis Tauran and Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic. And, in March 2003, just one day before the Iraq War began, he accompanied Cardinal Pio Laghi on a mission of peace to Washington, D.C. to meet with President George W. Bush.
“The Cardinal was very clear about what the Holy Father wished: to avoid war,” he said. “In both cases, they were clearly missions of peace, which is what the Holy Father wanted.”
Marino tends to play down his role in these high-profile meetings, but, he admits, as he was taking notes at each meeting, he was aware of the enormity of it all.
“It felt like you were witnessing history: to see the dynamic and the dialogue, what each side said,” he recalled.
A Return to Rome
He was ordained archbishop in 2008 in Birmingham, which he considers his true home, and was appointed papal nuncio that year to serve in Bangladesh, a majority Muslim country. Later, as first nuncio to Malaysia, Archbishop Marino was in unchartered waters. He was tasked with setting up a new embassy. “I worked closely with the government officials to secure the land and get the building done,” he said. “That was a big challenge, as I had to start from zero.”
The building was dedicated in 2017. Archbishop Marino has “had an audience,” or a private meeting, with Pope Francis several times, including when he was nuncio in Malaysia.
“He’s always been very engaging and wanted to know, in this case, about the life of the church in Malaysia and Timor-leste. He’s always been encouraging,” he said. “I look forward to having an audience with him when I get to Rome, so he can get his ideas of what he expects for the future diplomats of the church. I’m sure he has ideas.”
He looks forward to training new diplomats in Rome. “I will bring the experiences that I’ve had over the years — and I must say they’ve all been very positive — and share that with the students there,” he said.
Having recounted his story, the many countries in which he has served, the connections he has made with the world’s people, and the messages of peace and faith he has imparted, he said he is ready for what’s next.
“And now … a new page, a new chapter.”
John Mohler '73: Marathon Man
At age 67, one alumnus finished 51 marathons, one in every state and Washington, D.C., while keeping his day job.
John Mohler ’73 crossed the finish line of his first half-marathon thinking, “I don’t think I could ever run another step — and I couldn’t fathom how anybody could turn around and run 13.1 more miles after that (a full marathon).”
Mohler ran his "victory lap" in October 2019, crossing the finish line with his grandson, Matthew.
Perhaps not the words you’d expect from a man who has gone on to run marathons in all 50 U.S. states and Washington, D.C. But if you ask Mohler, “It’s all about the journey.”
He entered his first 10-mile run on a challenge from a co-worker. “Our company was sponsoring the Cherry Blossom 10-miler in D.C., and she drove the van that picked up the people that couldn’t keep pace. I said, ‘I’m in, but you’re not going to be picking me up,’” Mohler recalled.
Accepting the Challenge
A varsity cross country runner at Scranton, Mohler estimates that he hadn’t run more than five miles in a row for about 40 years when he accepted that challenge in 2009. He had been busy with his life in Baltimore: working as a CPA and auditor, raising his son and daughter with his wife, Cindy, and then being a devoted grandpa to their seven grandchildren. A few years of running 5Ks, 10Ks and half-marathons followed that first race, and then in October 2011, at age 59, Mohler decided to tackle the 50-states-plus-D.C. challenge.
Eight years later, in October 2019, Mohler reached his goal, a rare milestone even among the most dedicated runners. According to a recent survey by the 50 States Marathon Club, Mohler is one of about 1,500 people to do it.
Then, later in the month, he ran a “victory lap” celebratory race at the Marine Corps Marathon in Virginia, which was the first marathon he completed back in 2011. He ran the victory lap to raise money for Autism Speaks, an autism advocacy organization, in honor of his grandson, Matthew, who has autism.
“I could not have imagined a better finish to my marathon journey than the Marine Corps Marathon. The race started in heavy rain that lasted for most of the race but finished in the sun — a strong parallel to your reward for persistence in enduring life’s challenges,” Mohler said after the final race. “My ultimate reward was having my grandson, Matthew — who hadn’t even been born at the start of my journey — cross the finish line with me.”
Running was a big part of Mohler’s experience as a Scranton undergraduate, both socially and as a varsity athlete.
“Our dorm ran 567 miles continuously over a weekend to get into the Guinness Book of World Records for continuous running,” he recalled. “I was very proud of running on the varsity team and would have had no interest in doing that first 10-miler without my involvement at Scranton.”
Five of his friends from Scranton were cheering from the sidelines during his victory lap at the Marine Corps Marathon on Oct. 27, 2019, including Bob Caffrey ’73. Back when they were students, Caffrey would join Mohler for five-mile runs around Lake Scranton, the reservoir near campus, and Caffrey said Mohler’s passion for running was evident.
Celebrating Life
These days, Mohler runs with a motto he calls “Celebrate Life” in honor of family members and friends who have inspired him. He has run several of the 51 marathons in memory of a family friend killed in action in Afghanistan and a cousin lost to ALS, as well as in honor of his late grandson, Joseph, who died shortly after birth.
“Every time you cross that finish line, you never take one of them for granted. The course profile differs on each course. Weather gets into it; sometimes you have injuries. I’ve had plantar fasciitis, calf muscle pulls a week before a race — those have been tough, but it’s all about the journey,” said Mohler, who prefers to run without music and instead observes the scenery around him — whether it is the desert of New Mexico during the Bataan Memorial Death March Marathon or the bald eagles along the Pacific Coast during the Prince of Wales Marathon.
— John Mohler ’73
Running a marathon is a challenge of its own, but the varied weather and terrain in running these races across all 50 states and Washington, D.C., add to that challenge. Some of the more memorable locations for Mohler were the Maui Marathon, where it was already 80 degrees at the 6 a.m. start time and there was no shade on any part of the course, and the marathon he ran in Utah, where it was 15 degrees at the start and he said his hands went numb until mile 10, even with gloves on.
“Once I committed to running marathons in all the states, the thought of failing was never an option for me,” Mohler said. “I FaceTime with my grandkids after each race, wearing my medal, and I don’t want to explain to them that it didn’t work out this time.”
Reaching his goal of running a marathon in all 50 states and D.C. doesn’t mean that Mohler is done with running. Now he wants to assist visually impaired runners with their own marathon goals as a guide runner. The sighted guide helps the visually impaired runner by describing the terrain of the course and helping them navigate potential obstacles.
“I thought running with blind runners would be a really cool thing to do, to run with purpose,” Mohler said. Though you might say that is the way he has been running all along.
Eileen Parinisi Dimond '85: Pioneering for Science
As a member of Scranton’s first graduating class of nursing students, this alumna has charged ahead without a road map, encouraging her patients to take risks, too.
The word “trailblazer” gets thrown around a lot these days. For Eileen Parinisi Dimond ’85, though, it actually fits.
In 1985, she was part of The University of Scranton’s first graduating class of nursing students. From there, she went on to a deeply rewarding career at the National Cancer Institute (NCI) in Rockville, Maryland, where she’s been an integral part of research teams responsible for numerous innovations in the treatment of the disease.
After many years on the treatment side of cancer care, Dimond now serves as a program director/nurse consultant in the NCI’s Division of Cancer Prevention’s Breast and Gynecologic Cancer Research Group. Here, she works on innovative, early phase clinical trials aimed at preventing cancers in women at risk, among them breast, ovarian, endometrial and cervical.
Meanwhile, she’s also the co-lead of a task force focused on research to address cardiotoxicity (harm to the heart), which develops in many cancer patients as a result of their treatments. That work has resulted in Dimond receiving awards from both the Directors of the NCI and the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The NCI is one of the largest Institutes within the NIH, which is part of the Department of Health and Human Services.
“I’m so blessed to do the work I do; I love it,” said Dimond, who lives in Bethesda, Maryland, with her husband of 30 years, Leo, who was also Jesuit educated. “All these things I’ve been able to do throughout my career, one builds on the other. If there’s one thing I can ever say to other nurses, your experiences are never wasted. With each new experience, you bring what you learned with you.”
A Patient
For Dimond, a native of Scranton’s Tripp Park section, those experiences began at the University in 1981, when she joined the first-ever cohort of nursing students. Dimond’s interest in nursing came as a result of suffering from congenital hip dysplasia as a child.
“I had a lot of surgeries and was continually exposed to doctors, nurses and hospitals,” she said. “Because I was a patient, I gained an empathy that allowed me to be a better nurse.”
At Scranton, Dimond and her fellow students learned under the tutelage of a first-class team of nursing professors led by Rosellen Garrett, Ph.D., C.R.N.P.
“Dr. Garrett was tough, but she had high integrity, and she really, really put together a fabulous program. We were cherished and well-taught,” Dimond said. “She would say to us, ‘We can’t teach you everything in this program, but we will teach you how to find out what you need to know.’ She taught us how to learn. And you know what, I never stopped learning. I learn something every day from the brilliant people I work with at NCI, and that love of learning came from the University.”
Upon graduating with honors in 1985, Dimond kept her Jesuit ties strong by taking a job as a nurse at Georgetown University’s hospital in Washington, D.C.
Her ultimate goal, though, was to work in the Clinical Center, the hospital of the NIH in Bethesda. However, when she first applied there, the Center wasn’t accepting new graduates. A few months later, though, the NIH called the home of her parents, Pete and Margi Parinisi.
“They said, ‘We are beginning a program for new graduated nurses, would Eileen like the job?’ And my mom, to her great credit, said, ‘Well, you’ll have to talk to her,’” recalled Dimond, the 1995 recipient of the University’s Superior Achievement in Nursing Award. “That call would set the course for my incredible career in public service.”
Dimond happily accepted the offer and again became a pioneer of sorts as part of the NCI’s first Cancer Nurse Training Program. From then on, she said, “I never looked back; I loved oncology (cancer) nursing.”
Within the NCI’s inpatient research program in the NIH Clinical Center, Dimond spent her early years treating medical oncology, bone marrow transplant and HIV/AIDS patients.
Dimond stands with her daughter Grace at Grace's graduation from James Madison University Nursing in May 2019. Eileen, at right, a "proud parent," wears her Scranton nursing pin.
Advancing Science
Eventually, Dimond earned her master’s degree from the University of Maryland at Baltimore while continuing to work in myriad positions at the NCI. As a clinical nurse specialist in oncology, she mentored and taught other nurses, and was recognized as the NIH Clinical Center’s “Distinguished Nurse.” In addition, she worked with the initial families tested for genetic mutations indicating high risks of cancer and was among the first health care providers anywhere to administer AZT to AIDS patients and Taxol to women with ovarian cancer.
“To be a part of these new treatments was amazing,” she said. “The word is thrown around too much, but the patients on our clinical trials truly are heroes. You have to be so courageous to say, ‘I’m going to try this research study, and even if it doesn’t benefit me, it could benefit someone else down the road.’ If they weren’t willing, we could never advance the science of cancer treatments and our understanding of this devastating disease.”
In recent years, Dimond has also worked with the NCI’s Office of Communication and Education, and the NCI Community Oncology Research Program (NCORP) where her efforts focused on supporting community cancer centers throughout the country involved in cancer research.
Dimond’s been a good spokesperson for the NIH, too. About five years ago, she and two of her oncology nursing colleagues since the mid-’80s talked about their work with cancer patients on research studies at the NCI with StoryCorps, the well-known nonprofit dedicated to recording oral histories of everyday Americans. Their story is now in the Library of Congress. Francis Collins, M.D., NIH director, was so impressed with the recording that he played it during an NIH Advisory Committee to the Director meeting. “He seemed proud of what we shared, conveying ‘This is the kind of dedicated staff we have at the NIH,’” said Dimond, still touched by Collins’ generosity of spirit. Eileen Parinisi Dimond ‘85 stands with her daughter Grace at Grace’s graduation from James Madison University School of Nursing in May 2019. Eileen, at right, a “proud parent,” wears her Scranton nursing pin.
Besides her work, Dimond is deeply inspired by her three children, twins Michael and Maggie and daughter Grace, who has decided to follow her mother into the nursing profession and recently gained admittance to a top-flight New Graduate Nurse Residency program at Georgetown.
“I couldn’t be more proud as a parent,” Dimond said. She was only disappointed about the fact that she had lost her nursing pin from 1985 so wouldn’t be able to wear hers to Grace’s pinning. Dimond’s sister, Kathleen — also a Scranton alumna and “woman of faith and for others” according to Dimond — found a way to get her a replacement pin, so that she could wear it on graduation.
Dimond is also guided by her strong faith, which resulted in her returning to the University this past summer for the second annual Diocese of Scranton Catholic Women’s Conference. Every time she returns, Dimond finds herself marveling at how much the campus has grown. What will never change, though, is her enduring appreciation for the education she received at Scranton and the life-changing work she’s been able to do as a result of it.
“I have a tremendous amount of gratitude because of the many blessings God has given me, including the education my parents gave me, the work I’ve done, and the perspective I’ve received,” she said. “When you work with people who have cancer or are at risk for cancer you get to know what really matters in life.”
Jim McNulty ’96: Finding Peace in The Upper Room
After surviving a hostage situation, an alumnus founds a support group for people with PTSD.
— Jim McNulty ’96
On the last Wednesday of each month, amidst the quiet hours of the evening twilight, there is a group that meets at St. Patrick’s Catholic Church Parish Center in Rockville, Maryland. Its members all have something in common, a physiological response to a traumatic experience that continues to affect them long after the experience itself has ended. The group is called The Upper Room, and it provides people struggling with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) with an oasis of support as they continue along their journeys of healing.
“That’s what we call it, a ‘journey of healing,’” said Jim McNulty ’96, the group’s founder and facilitator. “It’s not about the destination; we don’t know what the destination is, but it’s about walking this path together and asking Christ to light that path.”
McNulty’s traumatic experience occurred on Sept. 1, 2010, when he and two others were taken hostage at the Discovery Channel’s Silver Spring, Maryland, headquarters by a gunman threatening to detonate an explosive device. After an intense standoff, McNulty escaped unharmed with his fellow hostages while police shot and killed the gunman.
“You never expect to know anybody that something like that happened to, let alone live through it yourself,” he said of the incident.
Survivor’s Guilt
McNulty certainly never imagined he would live through such an experience during his Scranton days, when the Upper Darby native kept himself busy performing with the University Players and working on WUSR-FM and the then-fledgling Royal News Network. After graduating cum laude, McNulty began working for WYOU, where he began dating Amy Finnegan ’97, who would soon become Amy Finnegan McNulty. The couple moved to the Washington, D.C., area, where Jim continued to work in television news and Amy began working in government.
Jim then transitioned from news into an award-winning career in entertainment television whose highlights include interviewing Morgan Freeman and “playing Duck-Duck-Goose with Honey Boo Boo.” Along the way, he and Amy settled in Gaithersburg, Maryland, with their two children, Colleen and Sean. Eventually, Jim founded his own boutique creative agency, Wurdsmith Creative LLC, and today he is the creative director for Gigawatt Group, a branding and advertising agency in Washington, D.C.
On the day of the standoff, however, McNulty was working as a senior writer/producer for TLC, a subsidiary of Discovery Communications. Upon entering the Discovery Channel’s lobby, an armed gunman began shouting for him to get down on the ground, and McNulty suddenly realized he had been taken hostage by an unhinged man screaming about the evils of overpopulation.
“I said more ‘Hail Marys’ on the floor of that lobby than you can count,” McNulty said. “At one point, I just kind of said, ‘OK, God, your will be done.’ I just kind of left it up to him, and in that moment, this peace came over me.
“The only way I can describe it is like a warm hug from behind, and on reflection, and in therapy, I have come to accept that the Holy Spirit really did answer my prayers that day.”
After the incident, McNulty struggled with symptoms of PTSD, including flashbacks and bouts of fear and anxiety. He also began experiencing intense feelings of survivor’s guilt each time he would hear of a mass shooting.
“I’m still here, they’re not — what am I supposed to do with that?” he said. “You feel very unworthy.”
McNulty enjoys a day at the beach with his wife, Amy Finnegan McNulty '97, and their two children, Coleen and Sean.
An Epiphany
During this time, McNulty received spiritual guidance from his parish priest, who introduced him to the writings of the Rev. Walter Ciszek, S.J., a Polish-American Jesuit from Shenandoah who described his own surrender to God’s will after a traumatic interrogation by his Soviet jailers during the years when he ministered to the people of the Soviet Union.
“He described the sensation of peace that I experienced on the floor of the lobby, and it was like this validation, like, ‘Oh my God, that was real,’” McNulty said.
After seeing a CNN feature on the disaster relief efforts of actor Rainn Wilson of “The Office” in the wake of the 2010 Haiti earthquake, McNulty had an epiphany: he could use his experiences with trauma to help others by founding a PTSD support group. He reached out to his parish priest, who agreed to let the group use the church’s facilities as a meeting place. When deciding on a name for the group, McNulty found inspiration in the scriptures surrounding the story of Easter and the “upper room” where the Apostles gathered before and after the crucifixion.
“The Apostles themselves were traumatized by the crucifixion, and they went and hid,” he said. “It wasn’t until Christ appeared and said, ‘Peace be with you, receive the Holy Spirit’ that they went forward. So, the idea that formulated was let’s create a space where survivors can come together and pray for the Holy Spirit to help us to move forward to the next thing that God has planned for us.”
McNulty founded The Upper Room on the second anniversary of his ordeal. Since then, the group has served as a McNulty enjoys a day at the beach with his wife, Amy Finnegan McNulty ‘97, and their two children, Colleen and Sean.
“My faith, for me, has been this external source of strength when my own strength failed me,” McNulty said. “I know I’m not strong enough to have gone through everything that I’ve gone through on my own; it was my faith that has sustained me through the event and through the recovery.”
McNulty speaks to a potential voter while campaigning for a seat on the City Council of Gaithersburg, Maryland, in 2017.
For more information, visit theupperroomptsd.org.
