THE TABLET
June 7, 2008

Exciting Moments at Graduations

My dear brothers and sisters in Christ,

This time of the year when graduations are on our minds gives us the opportunity to count the achievements of those who have applied themselves to learning, which takes great effort and discipline.  To earn a degree at any level, grammar school, high school, college and beyond, attests to the human desire to learn and achieve.  During the past two weeks, I have attended at least three graduations that I would like to mention.  They were all very different, and all which I believe can teach us something about the current academic situation in our country.

The first I attended was St. Francis College at the invitation of Dr. Frank Macchiarola, who is stepping down as President to become Chancellor of this great Catholic institution in our Diocese.  At the commencement ceremony, I was presented with an honorary doctoral degree, which makes three, not counting the earned doctorate in social policy.  I am not sure I can be called doctor four times over, but the honorary degrees, and the one I earned, have taught me that study and achievement are more than honors but a real necessity in our world today. 

The St. Francis graduation was perhaps the warmest I have attended in years.  Dr. Macchiarola’s knowledge of each student contributed to the warm congratulations that he gave to each graduate as they received their academic hoods.  Dr. Mac, as the students call him, is a good friend of the Diocese, and one who serves on the Diocesan Finance Council. It was a somewhat challenging graduation since it would be his last as President.  Not only has he enabled St. Francis to grow institutionally, but he also has contributed greatly in enhancing the Catholic identity of this valued academic institution in the Diocese of Brooklyn. In Brendan Dugan, Dr. Macchiarola’s successor, the college community can look forward to continued enlightened leadership. I wish Mr. Dugan great success as he assumes this important post.

I then attended the Cathedral Preparatory Seminary graduation.  Cathedral Prep is, in effect, the high school seminary of the Diocese.  This all-boys school of about 200 graduates each year graduates about 50 students. Some go on to the College Seminary.  This year, although only two are going directly to the College Seminary, it is hoped that others may still consider priesthood after they complete their college training. 

Cathedral Prep is critical to our vocation strategy since over half of our current seminarians were students there.  The formation and education received at Cathedral helped those discerning for the priesthood to carry on in a seamless continuum of formation and education toward the priesthood.  They are hardly sheltered from the world; they live at home. But the support they receive at Cathedral Prep has helped many prospective seminarians keep their vocation alive amidst serious challenges.  I take this opportunity to thank Msgr. Joseph Calise for his 13 years of service to the Prep and welcome Father Fred Marano back, now as president-rector of this important institution.

Finally, I attended the graduation at Queens College.  Queens College, part of the CUNY system, is unique in that it still allows commencement ceremonies to begin with an invocation and end with a benediction.  Normally, a guest is invited to deliver the invocation and one of the chaplains, Catholic, Jewish or Protestant, gives the benediction.  While on campus, I visited the Student Center and there I learned that under Bishop McEntegart, the Diocese contributed to the building of the Newman Center, which insured adequate space for a Catholic chapel.  This is a truly unique situation among our college campuses.  In the last two years, I have tried to place chaplains on all college campuses to assure pastoral care for the students.  The chaplaincy at Queens College, under Father Paul Wood, is truly a model which I wish we could duplicate on every college campus in our Diocese. 

In the Diocese, we are concluding the scholastic year and are preparing for the new year in September. Unfortunately, additional school consolidations have been necessary.  The new strategic plan for our schools hinges on three important characteristics: Catholic identity, quality educational achievement, and sustainable institutional viability. It is my hope that these three characteristics will guide the diocesan network of schools into the future and enable us to provide Catholic education in all areas of the Diocese at a cost affordable to most families.  The affordability is truly a challenge today given the cost of salaries and benefits and the new demands of policies for supplemental instruction.  It is my hope that we will see many more graduations in our Catholic schools in the years to come.

Last week also the Diocese had a wonderful visit to Xaverian High School by Cardinal Zenon Grocholewski, Prefect of the Vatican Congregation for Catholic Education.  Cardinal Grocholewski was in New York to receive an honorary doctoral degree from Fordham University and give a major address on the role of Catholic schools in canon law.  Cardinal Grocholewski greeted the students at Xaverian with encouraging words regarding Catholic education.  His worldwide experience in directing Catholic education for the past seven years gives him a unique perspective on how Catholic education differs across the globe. He mentioned the existence of Catholic schools in non-Catholic countries and the vital role they play for interreligious relations and evangelization.

This week we will ordain two new priests who have graduated from the School of Theology at the Immaculate Conception Seminary in Huntington.  As we see this so necessary sacrament being conferred on two graduates from our Catholic schools network, we recognize how important it is for us to maintain Catholic schools since, for the most part, our vocations to the priesthood and religious life are nurtured by and come from our Catholic schools.  Our Diocese would be all the poorer if they were not to continue in the future. 

Join me in praying for all the graduates of this academic year.  They will all “put out into the deep,” confronting the unknown with the knowledge they have acquired during the past years.  It is my hope that all will recognize that true wisdom comes only from God working in our lives.