Faculty Changes Effective July 1, 2016
Next academic year, the following changes will take place on our faculty: Fr. Thomas Byrne, Formation (Archdiocese of Chicago; ordained 2013); Fr. Brendan Lupton,
Acting President of the Pontifical Faculty (pending Rome’s approval); Fr. Carlos
Rodriguez, Director of Spiritual Life; Fr. Dennis Spies, Formation (Diocese of Joliet; ordained 2002); and Fr. Bradley Zamora, Director of Liturgy.
Certification
Recently the Certification process began for the men who will be ordained to the diac-onate this spring and summer. Each year Mundelein Seminary must certify the candi-dates for ordination. The entire faculty and the student community are invited to participate in this process by offering their comments and testimony to the readiness of these candidates. We are grateful to the candidates for their own thoughtful reflec-tions about their preparation for priesthood. Thank you to all who are participating in this process. Please keep these men in your prayers as they prepare for ordination.
Mid-Term Workshop
The second year theologians returned to Mundelein from their pastoral internships for their mid-term workshop on March 30-31. The workshop gives them an opportunity to review and share their experiences with one another and with the faculty. It was good to have these men back on campus with us.
Paluch Lecture
On Wednesday, March 30, Reinhard Hütter, Ph.D., offered his second Paluch lecture of this academic year. The title of the lecture was: Why Theology Needs Philosophy,
Sacred Theology and its Privileged Instrument, Metaphysics. We are grateful to Dr. Hütter for his presence as the Chester and Margaret Paluch Lecturer at Mundelein Seminary this year.
Exit Interviews
Last week the rector began meeting with the fourth year men to discuss their prepara-tion for priesthood, the different components of our Program for Priestly Formation, and their readiness for ordination. This is an important time of transition for these men. Please pray for them as they continue their immediate preparation for priest-hood.
Blood Drive
Thank you to all who donated blood recently. The goal was twenty-five units; our community donated 30 units of blood! The donations will be used to help up to ninety individuals. We are grateful to all who gave their time and donation to help save lives.
Meyer Lecture Series
On April 7-8, Mundelein Seminary welcomed Dr. William Lane Craig for the 2016 Albert Cardinal Meyer Lecture Series. Dr. Craig gave two lectures: “What Philosophy Offers to the New Evangelization” and “Methods for Sharing the Gospel on Col-lege Campuses.” Seminarians, faculty, staff and graduate stu-dents were welcome to attend. We were delighted to have
Dr. Craig with us for the Meyer Lecture Series this year.
Rector’s Meeting
On Monday, April 11 the rectors of the seminaries and houses of formation met with Archbishop Cupich at St. Joseph College Seminary. Thank you to Fr. Peter Snieg (St. Joseph College Seminary), Fr. Kevin Hays (Casa Jesus) and Fr. Jacek Wrona (Bishop Abramowicz Seminary) for their good work preparing men for priesthood.
Exploring Priesthood Weekend
On April 8-10, twenty-two men from six dioceses: Atlanta, Chicago, Davenport, Grand Rapids, Joliet and Tucson, were scheduled to attend the final Exploring Priesthood Weekend for this aca-demic year. These retreat-like weekends offer men who are discerning a call to priesthood an oppor-tunity to visit Mundelein Seminary and learn about our community. Please remind your vocation director(s) and speak with potential candidates about this ‘open house’ opportunity to explore the possibilities of preparing for the priesthood here at Mundelein Seminary. For next year’s dates or more information, please call Fr. Francis Bitterman at 312.534.8298, fbitterman@archchicago.org or Mari-anne Hadden at 847.970.4851, mhadden@usml.edu.
Celebration of Mundelein
On Wednesday, April 13, 2016, the Celebration of Mundelein will take place at the Sheraton Grand Hotel in Chicago. Reverend Kenneth Simpson, pastor of St. Clement in Chicago, will receive the 2016 Joseph Cardinal Bernardin “As Those Who Serve” award and Mr. and Mrs. Charles (Chip) Mulaney, Jr., will receive the 2016 Francis
Cardinal George “Christo Gloria” award. We look forward to presenting these awards to these faith filled individuals. Proceeds from the event will help to fund the Holy Land Pilgrimage and other programs at Mundelein Seminary.
25th / 50th Anniversaries
On Friday, April 15 the Class of 1966 will celebrate their Golden Jubilee Anniversary and the Class of 1991 will celebrate their Silver Jubilee Anniversary. Archbishop Blase Cupich will be the principal celebrant and homilist at Mass followed by a luncheon with family and friends of the Jubilarians. We are grateful for their many years of ser-vice and dedication to the Church and to the priesthood and we were happy to cele-brate with them on their special anniversaries.
Deacon Call to Orders
On Friday, April 15, Archbishop Cupich will meet with each of the men who will soon be ordained to the priesthood for the Archdiocese of Chicago. As part of these individ-ual conferences, the Archbishop will call each man to orders. Please keep these men in prayer as they take this final step towards priesthood ordination.
Staff Appreciation
Each year the seminary hosts an appreciation celebration for the staff of the University of Saint Mary of the Lake/Mundelein Seminary. We are grateful to all those who work behind the scenes and make possible our work to prepare candidates for priesthood and ministries in the Church. We look forward to this opportunity to express our thanks for their service and dedication. This year the staff is invited to a Mass of Thanksgiving on April 22 followed by a luncheon. Please keep our staff members in your prayers.
4th Year Send-Off
On Wednesday, April 27, the seminary community will celebrate with the fourth theo-logians who are completing the Program of Priestly Formation. After Mass, the semi-nary community will gather for dinner at which time we will have the opportunity to then them for their contributions to the community and offer our prayers as they re-turn to their home dioceses to serve as priests.
Also at this time the seminary community will thank Fr. Christopher Ciomek and Fr. Jim Presta for their service. Father Ciomek will take on a new parish assignment as pastor of St. Peter Damian in Bartlett, IL, and Fr. Presta has been named pastor of St. Emily parish in Mount Prospect, IL. It has been a blessing to have these priests with us and we will miss their presence. Please keep them in your prayers.
Visitors
Recently, Bishop R. Daniel Conlon and Fr. Burke Masters (Joliet), Fr. David Schatz (Dubuque), Archbishop Joseph Naumann (Kansas City, KS), Bishop David Malloy (Rockford), Fr. Bryan Dolejsi (Seattle), Fr. Aidan Logan (Archdiocese for the Military), Fr. Ricardo Bauza (Las Cruces) and Fr. Eric Hill (Atlanta) visited Mundelein Seminary. We are grateful for their support of vocations to the priesthood.
Community Activities
Last week Mundelein Seminary was well represented at the “Fabro Symposium” at the Catholic University of America by two member of the Mundelein faculty. The Rever-end Cornelio Fabro (1911-1995) was a priest of the Stigmatine Order, a Thomistic phi-losopher, and important scholar of Kierkegaard, Fabro was one of the first Catholic scholars to engage in a systematic study of atheism. He taught at the Universities of Rome, Naples, Perugia and Louvain and at the Pontifical Universities of the Lateran and Urbaniana. He is best known as the founder of the Institute for Higher Studies on Unbelief, Religion and Cultures at the Pontifical Urbanian University. Father Joseph Henchey, CSS (Adjunct Spiritual Director) delivered a paper on Fabro and Kierke-gaard. Dr. Patricia Pintado (Adjunct Assistant Professor of Philosophy), while unable to attend due to illness, had her paper on “God in Exile: Cornelio Fabro on the Roots of Modern Atheism” read by a colleague. We thank Father Henchey and Doctor Pintado for their scholarship.
Archbishop Blase Cupich (Archbishop of Chicago and Chancellor of the University of Saint Mary of the Lake) and Fr. Thomas A. Baima (Vice Rector for Academic Affairs) attended the formal opening of Building Bridges of Faith: Photographs of Papal Visits to the Holy Lane 1964-2014 at DePaul University’s John Richardson Library. The exhibit is sponsored by the Consulate General of Israel to the Midwest. In June, at the invitation of Archbishop Cupich, the exhibit will travel to the University of Saint Mary of the Lake’s Feehan Memorial Library and McEssy Theological Resource Center to make the photographs accessible to a suburban audience during the Summer term. It will then travel to Marquette University in the Fall. Given the bonds which Mundelein Seminary has forged with the Holy Land through the Study Pilgrimage, we look forward to host-ing this historic exhibit.
Dr. Melanie Barrett, chair of the department of moral theology, gave a presentation at the Create a Clean Heart: Defeating the Poison of Pornography in our Parish and in our Cul-ture conference, sponsored by the Respect Life office of the Archdiocese of Chicago, and held at St. Luke’s parish in River Forest. The title of her presentation was “How Clergy Are Called to Understand and Respond to the Evils of Porn.”