From the April 6, 2004 issue of Inside CUA Online
Papal Anniversary: CUA Celebrates Special
Bond With John Paul II
By Catherine Lee The two philosophers first met 27 years ago at Catholic
University. During their three days together, they struck up a friendship.
That was in 1976 when Jude Dougherty, then dean of CUA’s School of
Philosophy, invited the archbishop of Krakow, Cardinal Karol Wojtyla, to give
an academic lecture at Caldwell Hall.
Three years later Dougherty’s Polish friend returned to
Catholic University, but this time as Pope John Paul II. With the crush of
reporters and security on hand for the pope, Dougherty, seated at the back of
the old CUA gymnasium, could only catch a glimpse of John Paul as he
addressed the capacity crowd. But as the pope was leaving the gym, he stopped and asked
whether his friend was in the building. Dougherty was summoned to Pope John
Paul’s side. The two men embraced and talked briefly. “It was an emotional
moment for both of us,” says Dougherty. While the world paid homage to the pope last month on the
occasion of his silver jubilee, Dougherty and others at CUA reflected on
their relationship with a man whose papacy has earned the admiration of millions.
And at special events organized by Campus Ministry, the university community
celebrated not only John Paul’s 25-year papacy — the third longest in
the Church’s history — but also the beatification of Mother Teresa, the tiny
nun who tended the sick and dying in the Calcutta slums. “The pope’s relationship with the university has been
intimate over the years,” says Dougherty, now dean emeritus, professor
emeritus and editor of the philosophical quarterly The Review of
Metaphysics. That relationship stems, in part, from CUA’s unique status
as the national university of the Catholic Church and the only institution of
higher education founded by the U.S. bishops.
The ties between CUA and the Vatican were apparent at a
special Oct. 16 Mass at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate
Conception. The Mass, which marked the 25th anniversary to the day
of Cardinal Wojtyla’s election as pope, opened an almost weeklong series of
CUA events celebrating him and Mother Teresa, founder of the Order of the
Missionaries of Charity and recipient of the 1979 Nobel Peace Prize. At the noontime Mass, the Most Rev. Gabriel Montalvo, the
Vatican’s apostolic nuncio to the United States, served as principal
celebrant and homilist. The university’s president, the Very Rev. David M.
O’Connell, C.M., along with about 25 other priests, concelebrated the
Mass. Many CUA students, faculty and staff took a break from their weekday
responsibilities and slipped into the basilica for Mass. Set up near the pulpit was an oil portrait of the pontiff
on loan from the Pope John Paul II Cultural Center on Harewood Road. In the
portrait, artist Natalia Tsarkova depicted the pope with his hand raised as
though ready to give a blessing. In his homily, Archbishop Montalvo praised
Pope John Paul for his constant efforts “to bring together conflicting
parties.” A tireless champion of human rights, the pope has traveled
extensively as part of his efforts to build bridges between faiths. The first
pope to visit a synagogue and a mosque, he brought together major religious
leaders worldwide to pray for peace at Assisi in 1986 and 2002. An outspoken
opponent of communist persecution, the pope visited Poland in June 1979,
reigniting religious fervor and Polish nationalism. Many people believe his
trip and subsequent actions led to the breakup of the Soviet empire and the
collapse of communism. The CUA
community honored the pope at other events last month. On the night of the
Basilica Mass, the pews at Caldwell Chapel were full for a reflection on the
pope’s apostolic letter Rosarium Virginis Mariae, issued last October
to open the Year of the Rosary. On Oct. 20, members of the CUA community took
in a photo exhibit at the cultural center titled “At the Altar of the World”
and participated in a discussion about the life and times of the pope. CUA’s
celebration of the pope culminated on Oct. 22 — the silver anniversary of the
pope’s installation — with a community forum titled “Strength of John Paul
II’s Speech for Beginning of Pontificate 25 Years Later.” The forum was
dedicated to Monsignor Stephen Happel, who was involved in planning the event
prior to his untimely death on Oct. 4. Anthony Franchina, CUA’s new social awareness educator,
who organized the events, says the underlying theme of the celebrations was
“Be not afraid,” a phrase the pope repeated three times during his
installation address in Rome. In his speech 25 years ago, Pope John Paul II said, “Be
not afraid of welcoming Christ and accepting his power. Help the pope and
everyone who want to serve Christ and, with the power of Christ, serve man
and all humanity.” Honoring Blessed Teresa of Calcutta
In the midst of the celebrations on behalf of the pope,
the CUA community also honored Mother Teresa, whose beatification on Oct. 19
reminded the world of how she served Christ. Born in Albania, Mother Teresa
died in 1997 at the age of 87. She made several visits to the National Shrine
of the Immaculate Conception, including a visit in October 1975 when she received
an International Women’s Year award. Last month, CUA students participated in outreach
activities reflective of the work done by Mother Teresa and her Missionaries
of Charity. Students spent an evening at the Jeanne Jugan Residence run by
the Little Sisters of the Poor on Harewood Road, distributed food to the
homeless at parks in downtown Washington, and helped with a daylong Habitat
for Humanity project in Prince George’s County. “She was so generous with
herself,” said sophomore Jamie Hernandez, an elementary education major from
Brooklyn, N.Y., who helped to organize the events in honor of the nun. “I
often think of her quote about those who are less fortunate: ‘If you judge
them, then you have no time to love them.’ ” A
Meeting of Philosophical Minds
In 1976, before he was elected pope, it was Cardinal
Wojtyla’s connection to academic circles that first brought him to Catholic
University. Active in a Krakow experimental theater group as a young man,
John Paul later studied philosophy, wrote plays and poetry and taught
philosophy for 25 years at the Catholic University of Lublin. Dean Dougherty had invited the cardinal to speak at a
colloquium hosted by CUA’s School of Philosophy. After picking up Cardinal Wojtyla
at Washington National Airport, they embarked on three busy days on campus
and around the city of Washington. Dougherty had reserved a Curley Hall room for his guest,
who he thought might like to rest occasionally during his first visit to
Washington. “But I was the one who needed to rest,” remembers Dougherty.
“He was a dynamo.” One of their stops during the cardinal’s visit was the
National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception where they prayed at the chapel
dedicated to Our Lady of Czestochowa in the Great Upper Church. In the chapel hangs a copy of the painting at the Shrine of Czestochowa in Poland, where, in 1430,
plundering Hussites struck the painting with a sword, leaving scars on Mary’s
cheeks. At the CUA philosophy colloquium, Cardinal Wojtyla gave a
lecture on the use and abuse of freedom. That lecture was incorporated into
the pope’s book, The Acting Person, and three years later Dougherty
published the lecture as an essay in The Review of Metaphysics. “His
talk was
a highly technical, very professional lecture,” says Dougherty. “Nobody
had ever heard a cardinal give a talk like that before.” Following the lecture, there was a dinner for Cardinal
Wojtyla at Washington’s Cosmos Club where “he charmed everyone,” says
Dougherty. “I don’t know anyone from that dinner who doesn’t hold the
evening in their memory.” By the time Cardinal Wojtyla left Washington, Dougherty
says he knew he had been in the presence of “a great man.” On the morning of
Oct. 16, 1978, while having breakfast with his four children, Dougherty
predicted, “Our Polish friend Wojtyla will be elected pope.” Since then the two philosophers have seen each other during
Dougherty’s visits to Rome, where he has attended the pope’s private Mass and
shared meals with him at the Vatican and at the papal villa Castel Gandolfo. Returning
to CUA as Pope
When he came back to Catholic University on Oct. 7, 1979, Karol
Wojtyla was pope and the campus was electrified. He delivered a major address
on Catholic higher education to a crowd that included 240 heads of Catholic
institutions of higher learning from around the country. His visit came at
the end of a U.S. trip that concluded with a Mass on the Mall in downtown
Washington for a crowd of about a million people. The pontiff’s first stop in Brookland was the National
Shrine of the Immaculate Conception, where CUA students lined the steps and
cheered the pontiff. Later, outside the old CUA gym, students chanted, “We
love you, John Paul II! We love you!” The pope, standing near the gym door at the top of stairs
lined with red carpeting, responded: “John Paul II, he loves you! John Paul
II, he loves you!” Inside the gym, the pope addressed an audience of about
2,000, saying, “I cannot but feel at home with you.” He described CUA as a
“great institution” and affirmed the responsibility of a Catholic university
to set up “a real community which bears witness to a living and operative
Christianity, a community where sincere commitment to scientific research and
study goes together with a deep commitment to authentic Christian living.” Edmund D. Pellegrino, who was president of CUA at
the time of the pope’s visit, said he had the chance to meet privately with
John Paul for about 20 minutes prior to his address. They chatted a bit in
Italian and a bit in English about the pope’s trip to the United States. “It was such a moving day for all of us at Catholic
University,” says Pellegrino, now professor emeritus of medicine and medical
ethics at Georgetown University Medical Center. Pellegrino, who like the pope turned 83 this year,
says, “As a physician, I can’t help but be impressed by his enormous courage
in the face of physical impairments. I’ve always been struck by his
determination. He’s a great inspiration to all of us.” |
