Rerum Novarum

Seminary Salutes to Labor, Business, and Government

An evening to honor lay men and women who are examples of Catholic Social Teaching in action, especially in the areas of labor, business and government.

Thurs., October 29, 2026

5:30pm Registration and Cocktail Reception
6:30pm – 9:00pm Evening Program & Dinner

Venue Information
IBEW Local 134
2722 S. Martin Luther King Drive
Chicago, IL 60616

His Eminence, Blase Cardinal Cupich and Rector/President, Very Reverend John Kartje, invite you to join us at the IBEW Local 134 for an evening of honor, community, and support at our annual Seminary Salutes Rerum Novarum. We are thrilled to recognize Fr. Jason Malave, Pastor at Queen of Apostles, and Matt and Christi Marcheschi from FOCUS.

Purchase Tickets or Become a Sponsor

Purchase individual tickets to attend this evening of fellowship and tribute.

Our Honorees

Labor Award

Fr. Jason Malave

Raised on the South Side of Chicago in the Marquette Park area, Fr. Jason Malave attended Quigley South High School and Niles College before spending four years at University of Saint Mary of the Lake. After ordination in 1997, Fr. Jason served five years as Associate Pastor at St. Benedict Parish, ten years as Pastor at St. Bartholomew Parish, and then five years back at St. Benedict Parish as Pastor.

In 2017, a few years after Cardinal Cupich called the Archdiocese to a time of renewal, specifically called “Renew My Church”, Fr. Jason was called to full time ministry in that renewal effort. As the Cardinal’s Liaison to that effort, Fr. Jason served on a team of prophetic and pastoral people who accompanied communities in discerning a sustainable structure for their area. Through these conversations, the Archdiocese reduced its number of parishes from 350 to 216, with many newly configured parishes having multiple sites.

At the same time, Fr. Jason walked along a team discerning the Spiritual renewal our Archdiocese is currently undertaking. While the Spiritual renewal was always more attractive for Fr. Jason, the structural journey was the task at hand! After six years on the “Renew My Church” team, Fr. Jason became Pastor of the recently configured Queen of Apostles Parish uniting St. Matthias and Queen of Angels. There, in the past almost three years, the Spiritual renewal has firmly begun with five seasons of Alpha, radical hospitality, small faith groups and a growing culture of evangelization.

Fr. Jason is supported by both his parents, three amazing sisters and their families, and a strong brother who is a single dad to a fifteen year old young lady! Family is very important to Fr. Jason.

Business Award

Matt and Christi Marcheschi

Matt and Christi Marcheschi have been married for sixteen years and are the grateful parents of five children on earth and three babies in heaven. From the day they met at George Mason University, their relationship has been centered around the mission of the gospel. For over 20 years, they have served together most notably through FOCUS, dedicated to evangelization and discipleship.

Rooted in a deep love for Jesus Christ, Matt and Christi are lifelong missionaries who walk alongside men and women toward deeper encounters with the Lord. Shaped by Christ’s humble, incarnational way of loving, they invest personally and intentionally in others, forming disciples who go on to disciple others.

Matt grew up in Glenview, Illinois, at St. Catherine of Laboure Parish. Though raised Catholic, it was not until a FOCUS missionary accompanied him that he realized he was made for a deep and personal relationship with Jesus Christ. Through Christian fellowship, FOCUS bible studies, and a deepening prayer and sacramental life, Matt’s heart for evangelization was ignited. He has served with FOCUS since 2004—first as a campus missionary at George Mason University, then in regional leadership across Illinois, Indiana, and Michigan. Since 2016, Matt has served as a parish missionary and Director of Parish Outreach at St. James Parish in Arlington Heights, working to build a culture of missionary discipleship.

Christi’s life was changed in college through the witness and invitation of a FOCUS missionary who walked with her personally and introduced her to life in Christ. Grateful for God’s mercy and the gift of accompaniment, she felt called to offer the same to others. Christi served as a full-time FOCUS missionary from 2008 to 2011 and continues to live the lifelong call to missionary discipleship among neighbors, parish families, and with her clients. In 2015, she founded Christi Lynn Photography as an extension of her mission, using her artistic gifts to honor the beauty of family life.

Above all, Matt and Christi’s primary mission is their family. Together, they seek to raise their children in the love of Christ, striving—imperfectly yet faithfully—to live the joy, sacrifice, and hope of the narrow path of discipleship.

Government/Public Service Award

Matt and Christi Marcheschi

Rerum Novarum Award

Matt and Christi Marcheschi

About Seminary Salutes

Begun in 1991, the Seminary Salutes to Labor, Business, and Government event was created for St. Joseph College Seminary’s to support the formation of college men discerning the priesthood. The event honors lay men and women who are examples of Catholic Social Teaching in action, especially in the areas of labor, business and government.

The fundamentals of this award are: respect for the dignity of the human being and human labor, the right to organize, and the right to a living wage. The evening provides the seminary with an opportunity to identify Catholic men and women in their fields, who by their example and work have promoted the social teachings of the Church. Those honored receive the prestigious Rerum Novarum Award from the Archbishop of Chicago at the Seminary Salutes dinner and award ceremony.

In 2018, St. Joseph Seminary was permanently closed and at the request of Cardinal Cupich, the event was moved to Mundelein Seminary. The event continues to raise funds to support the formation of young men discerning the priesthood for the Archdiocese of Chicago.

About Rerum Novarum

In response to the excess of the 19th century capitalism and the exaggerated response of socialism, Pope Leo XIII in 1891 issued the first modern papal encyclical on labor and the dignity of the worker. This tradition has been adapted and reshaped by Pius XI, John XXIII, Paul VI, and John Paul II as conditions have changed over time. The fundamentals, however, have remained constant: respect for the dignity of the human being and human labor, the right to organize and the right to a living wage.

In the United States this tradition has been championed by John Ryan, Francis Haas, Walter Reuther, and Philip Murray among others, not to mention the innumerable men and women on the local level who have sacrificed so much for this vision.

The Church has called upon priests and seminarians to foster these goals, so it is especially fitting that St. Joseph College Seminary should honor the men and women of our day in business, labor, and government who have excelled in their support of these ideals.

In 1891 Leo XIII issued the first Papal document in modern times on the condition of Labor, Rerum Novarum. He began with an ominous assessment: “The elements of a conflict are unmistakable; the growth of industry and the surprising discoveries of science … the enormous fortunes of individuals and the poverty of the masses . . . and, finally, a general moral deterioration.”

Over a century later, the challenge remains and involves all of us, as it always has. The men and women who are the institutions of family, labor, business, government and church must work together to renew the vision and demonstrate a common conviction in the dignity of every human being, in the value of all human work, in the power of human solidarity in the face of human greed and exploitation, and most of all in the coming of Jesus Christ whose death and resurrection are the vindication of all human goodness, justice and love.

Thank You to This Year’s Sponsors

Rector Sponsors

Tom and Linda Berk

Mundelein Sponsors

A.B. Edwards Enterprises, Inc.

Shepherd Sponsors

Wayne and Erma Kinzie
Ken and Zenith Chua
Jerome J. Claeys III

For more information or to become a sponsor, contact Nicole Karlove at nkarlove@usml.edu.

Seminary Salutes to Labor, Business, and Government