Collection to assist university

This weekend's special collection, which will be taken up in parishes to benefit The Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C., should be important to every Catholic in the Albany Diocese: Many current and future priests of the Diocese were educated there.

Founded in 1887 by the U.S. bishops, CUA is the national university of the Catholic Church -- the only college in America with Vatican approval to grant canonical degrees for clergy, religious and laity in theology, canon law and philosophy.

The college's president, Rev. David O'Connell, CM, describes it as providing "a Catholic education with a focus on service," with "rigorous scholarship guided by spiritual and ethical values." About 5,500 graduate and undergraduate students are enrolled at CUA.

Nurses, musicians, lawyers, architects, social services workers and teachers also number among CUA's students, many of whom receive financial aid through the annual collection.

English major John Meehan of New Jersey said that donations to the collection made it possible for him to receive a parish scholarship to CUA; he'll soon make his second mission trip to Jamaica to "give back" by helping needy children, seniors and the sick.

More than 1,100 high-school seniors from all over the U.S. -- more than half of CUA's freshman class -- also received $3,000 parish scholarships this fall as a result of the diocesan collection for CUA. The collection also helps to meet other Catholic higher-education needs.

Pope John Paul II and Bishop Howard J. Hubbard have been passionate supporters of CUA. In a letter to parishes of the Albany Diocese, Bishop Hubbard noted that the university's faculty "includes many of our country's -- and the world's -- most influential Catholic thinkers and researchers."

The Bishop urged Catholics to give generously to "this most worthwhile educational initiative," which helps thousands to receive "an education rich in the spirit of faith and the Catholic intellectual heritage."

(9/25/03) [[In-content Ad]]