Last fall, ACCU invited all Catholic college and university students to capture their actions and reactions related to Pope Francis’s visit to the U.S. and enter our video contest. We are pleased to announce our winner: Congratulations to Kristin McDermott of Salve Regina University, whose video has been selected! In her video, Kristin features four Salve Regina students who traveled with her to Philadelphia for the World Meeting of Families. Watch the video here!
The culmination of Pope Francis’ apostolic visit to the Americas is the World Meeting of Families in Philadelphia, PA. As the Meeting is the purpose of the visit, Our Holy Father’s time in the City of Brotherly Love is arguably the most anticipated portion of the visit. In keeping with the excitement over the climactic weekend, Philadelphia’s colleges and universities are more than doing their part to welcome Pope Francis.
One of the universities that is hosting events in anticipation of the visit and the WMOF, Gwynedd Mercy University, is especially attentive to the Pontiff’s message for the Year of Mercy. To reflect this theme and to remain true to their heritage, the students, faculty and staff of Gwynedd Mercy have successfully scheduled a week full of preparatory activities, which include their annual Mercy Week and Pope-a-Palooza.
As an established annual celebration of the university’s history, Mercy Week is full of events honoring the Sisters of Mercy, the university’s founding congregation. The mission of the Year of Mercy resonates with the values of the Sisters of Mercy, who seek to fill their lives with service for others. The events include live viewings of all the papal addresses and Masses, as well as a special Mercy Day Mass to honor the Sisters and Associates of Mercy at the university. See the flyer on the GMU Campus Ministry website for more details.
Pope-a-Palooza takes place over the weekend of Pope Francis’ actual visit to Philadelphia from Saturday, September 26 to Sunday, September 27. In celebration of His Holiness being in such close proximity, Gwynedd Mercy will be hosting over sixty students from five other universities affiliated with the Sisters of Mercy. They will be joining GMU students, faculty, and staff in a weekend of opportunities to delve deeper into the Critical Concerns of the Sisters of Mercy, to share their faith, and to advocate for our brothers and sisters experiencing poverty and homelessness. They will also be making the trip to the city of Philadelphia to attend the Mass on the Parkway with Our Holy Father.
#HigherEdWithPope: Catholic colleges and universities are greatly anticipating the upcoming visit of Pope Francis to the United States, and several colleges will play a special role during the Papal Visit. This series highlights how certain Catholic colleges and universities are preparing for the Papal Visit, and how Catholic higher education lives out the vision of Pope Francis every day.
As Pope Francis continues his apostolic journey to the Americas this week, he will visit New York City, arriving Thursday evening, September 24 and departing Saturday morning, September 26.
As Our Holy Father gets ready to visit the most populous city in the United States, he is joined in preparation by the students, faculty, and staff at NYC’s only Jesuit university, Fordham University. As Pope Francis is a Jesuit, the spiritual connection between him and the University is powerful and evident in the activities in anticipation and celebration of his visit.
A week before the Pontiff’s visit, Fordham began their preparatory activities with a provocative panel discussion entitled, “None of his Business? Pope Francis on Climate Change and the Economy“. The event was a continuation of the overall conversation at Fordham on Pope Francis’ writing. The first event, which took place last December, was on the Pontiff’s debut encyclical, Evangelii Gaudium. For this year’s discussion, Fordham hosted Jo Confino of the Huffington Post, Hunter Lovins, green businessman and the author of Natural Capitalism, and Andrew Winston, founder of Winston Eco-Strategies and the author of Green Recovery. The panelists were brought together by one of Fordham’s own, Associate Professor Michael Pirson.
To continue their efforts in praying for Our Holy Father, the University held special Masses of Anticipation on Sunday, September 20, with one Mass at the University Church and the other at Lincoln Center.
The university’s schedule continues with live viewings of all the papal addresses and Masses during his visit to the Americas. On Thursday, September 24, the Fordham community is invited to watch the Pontiff’s address to Congress and to pray with him as he leads evening vespers at St. Patrick’s Cathedral. Friday, September 25 offers a chance for the community to watch live the papal address to the UN.
Similar to initiatives at the Catholic University of America, Fordham has decided to honor Pope Francis’ wishes for greater involvement in works of charity and social justice. To finish their week of preparing for and celebrating this historic apostolic visit, Fordham students are invited to join Habitat for Humanity’s Pope Francis House in Yonkers to help construct homes on Saturday, September 26.
Stay tuned to learn how other Catholic colleges are preparing for the Papal Visit!
#HigherEdWithPope: Catholic colleges and universities are greatly anticipating the upcoming visit of Pope Francis to the United States, and several colleges will play a special role during the Papal Visit. This series highlights how certain Catholic colleges and universities are preparing for the Papal Visit, and how Catholic higher education lives out the vision of Pope Francis every day.
The entire country is in a gleeful frenzy preparing for the upcoming visit of Pope Francis to the United States next week. The Catholic University of America (CUA) in Washington, DC, will play a special role in the Papal Visit and has been preparing accordingly.
Pope Francis will land at the Andrews Air Force Base in Washington on Tuesday, September 22, travel to New York City on Thursday, September 24, arrive in Philadelphia on Saturday, September 26, and finally depart for Rome on Sunday, September 27. Pope Francis will celebrate Mass on the Catholic University campus, outside of the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception. Catholic University has set up a website highlighting information about the Papal Visit and Mass, as well as how the campus is preparing to welcome Pope Francis to campus.
As part of the preparations, the School of Architecture and Planning engaged students in a competition to design the altar, chair, and other furnishings for the papal Mass. Additionally, recent academic events on campus have focused on the Church teachings that Pope Francis has emphasized. These events have included a conference on human trafficking and a book discussion series.
CUA has encouraged its students, faculty, and staff to take the Walk with Francis Pledge since the beginning of the fall semester. Taking the pledge involves committing to pray for our Holy Father and learn more about his teachings, to engage in service to the local, national, and international communities, and to actively promote the causes most dear to Pope Francis, such as “human life and dignity, justice and peace, family life and religious freedom, care for creation and the common good.” Anyone can sign up to take the pledge at the #WalkwithFrancis Pledge website.
For each pillar of the pledge, CUA offers abundant resources and events. Visit the Pray, Learn, and Serve tabs on the webpage for more details. As part of the Pledge, students, faculty and other community members at CUA participated in the CUA Day of Service on Saturday, September 13. Hundreds of students and faculty served at various organizations throughout DC, gaining experiential knowledge of what it means to encounter and serve Christ in His people.
Stay tuned to learn how other Catholic colleges are preparing for the Papal Visit!
#HigherEdWithPope: Catholic colleges and universities are greatly anticipating the upcoming visit of Pope Francis to the United States, and several colleges will play a special role during the Papal Visit. This series highlights how certain Catholic colleges and universities are preparing for the Papal Visit, and how Catholic higher education lives out the vision of Pope Francis every day.
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