Are you looking for a theology program that is 100% faithful to the Church, 100% online and easily fits into your busy schedule? Then sign up for  our Online Open House being held this Tuesday, August 17, at 7 p.m. (EDT).

This event will introduce you to our different theology degree and certificate programs so you can choose the right program for you.

You’ll also get:

• A chance to hear from our admissions director, dean, director of student life, and professors about what sets CDU apart from other online universities.
• An overview of several fascinating courses at the undergraduate and graduate levels that will introduce you to the
  study of theology.
• Information on transferring credits, ensuring you a smooth transition into our program, and the opportunity to finally finish your undergraduate
  degree.
• An overview of the online Student Life Center, where you’ll obtain resources to help you successfully complete your degree.
• Breakout sessions to ask our dean and professors questions.

Be sure to stick around until the end of the webinar, where you’ll have a chance to win free CDU gear and books by our professors!

The event will last about 40-50 minutes, and it’s completely free. Once you’re through, you’ll be well-positioned for an easy transition into one of our online theology degree programs.

Register Now!

The 2020 Annual Report tells a profound and inspiring story of the CDU Community, a mission-focused, pioneering educational venture that most recently demonstrated its worth in response to the worldwide pandemic. While most of higher education responded in panic-mode, CDU continued doing what we do so well every day, as we are experts in the pedagogy of online education. Our colleagues at the International Federation of Catholic Universities reached out to us at the beginning of the pandemic to ask that we teach international faculty how to teach online. We are continuing that service into the future.

We understand the richness of theological education in our world of contemplative conversations and digital imagery that draws our students into the beauty of the Church’s 2,000-year history of art, music, culture, and writings. We also have a global footprint as the premier Catholic online educational institution of worldwide service and international charity at a moment’s notice wherever we are needed.

What inspired me especially about the Annual Report this year was the glimpse it gives into the unity of our communal dedication to our mission so united to the Church’s mission of the new evangelization.

Our mission, handed on from Jesus himself, embodies our community. Trustees like Dr. Joe Braddock never grew weary of inspiring us to find the gaps in Catholic higher education that CDU could fill. The Annual Report documents the effective transition of leadership from Dr. Charles Wasaff to our new Board Chair Stephen Pryor, as well as the quality and dedication of our faculty, the hard work of our staff, and the achievements of our graduates. The CDU community lives out education of the mind and heart.

Our Annual Report enables us to reflect more deeply on the story of our donors, who generously share in this mission. We know so well how many worthy organizations and activities deserve financial support. However, the value of our mission is deeper and perhaps more lasting as we feed the mind and heart of each student who in turn becomes a passionate disciple eager to give back and share the joy that comes from the gift of a CDU education.

A very significant milestone for us is the retirement of Sister Mary Margaret Ann Schlather, SND, who on June 30 will bid farewell to her position as Dean of Catechetical Programs and Accreditation Liaison Officer. She has been a rock and source of wisdom and strength to all of us who have been privileged to work with her for many years. Our students have a deep affection for her because of her devotion to them through a commitment of personal communication to each one of them and the respect she has garnered from many dioceses who have worked with her to bring a CDU education to their catechists and lay leaders. Sister Margaret Ann embodies the institutional values of CDU, and she will be a part of our institutional history as a gift of self to a mission that brings transformation and joy. Sister and I share a deep, personal friendship. Her return to her Provincial Home in Chardon, Ohio, will keep me connected to my own family in Ohio and keep us connected to our roots with the Sisters of Notre Dame. Let us all pray in gratitude for the exemplary life of Sister Mary Margaret Ann Schlather, SND, who found her inspiration in the truth and call of CDU’s mission.

Undergraduate Theology professor David Bonagura, Jr., has published a new book: Staying with the Catholic Church: Trusting God’s Plan of Salvation, which explains the mystery of the Church and why we need her to encounter Christ in light of contemporary challenges. This book is a reassurance for readers that the Church’s ultimate mission remains to aid sinners in the achievement of salvation, in spite of, and despite, the frailty of its members and leaders alike.

Professor Bonagura was inspired to write the book in 2018, after the revelation of a new wave of scandals within the Church hierarchy. “So many Catholics were angry, confused, and questioning how such things could happen in God’s Church,” he says. “These reactions are understandable—I shared them. But, if the Church is what we know in faith that she is—the Body of Christ, the temporal extension of the Incarnation—then there has to be more to her than the sins of her members.”

“I set out to explain what the Church is, why Christ founded her, and what her mission is in the hope that Catholics would understand that the Church is a great mystery, a collection of sinners ministering divine healing to sinners, that is worthy not only of our continued support, but our faithful love,” Professor Bonagura says.

The book can be ordered on Amazon or from Scepter Publishers.

Join us in welcoming Paul Schott Stevens, who was appointed to the Board of Trustees in March. He brings many years of strategic leadership, financial expertise, and commitment to our Faith to our esteemed Board of Trustees and will be an asset as CDU embarks on its new strategic plan. He retired in 2020 after more than 16 years as president and CEO of the Investment Company Institute (ICI), the global association of regulated funds whose members manage some $35 trillion on behalf of more than 100 million shareholders. During this time, he also served as a director of ICI Mutual Insurance Co. and of the ICI Education Foundation. From 2014-2017, he was chairman of the International Investment Funds Association. Stevens was general counsel of ICI from 1993-1997.

Outside of ICI, Stevens has had a varied career in private law practice as corporate counsel and in government service. He was a leader in the financial services practice of Dechert LLP, an international law firm, and senior vice president and chief counsel for mutual funds and international enterprise at Charles Schwab & Co. He was Special Assistant for National Security Affairs to President Ronald Reagan, who appointed him as the first Legal Adviser to the National Security Council (NSC) and subsequently as head of the NSC’s policy and support staff. At the conclusion of his government service, Stevens received the Department of Defense Medal for Distinguished Public Service, DoD’s highest civilian decoration.

Over the course of his career, Stevens has been committed to a wide range of professional, church, cultural, and community activities. He chaired the American Bar Association’s Standing Committee on Law and National Security. He was resident in Japan in 1990 as a US-Japan Leadership Fellow. He has served on the boards of the National Capital Area Council of the Boy Scouts of America and of the community foundation ACT for Alexandria. He is a long-time member of the Life Guard Society of George Washington’s Mount Vernon. For 11 years he was a member of the Finance Council of the Catholic Diocese of Arlington and served as chair of the Council’s investment committee. Currently he is a trustee of Catholic Investment Services; a member of the Finance & Investment Committee of the Federal Association of the Order of Malta; a director of the Eisenhower Foundation; and a member of the national advisory board of his alma mater, Jesuit High School of New Orleans, Louisiana.

Stevens received a B.A., magna cum laude, from Yale University and a J.D. from the University of Virginia School of Law. He is a member of the District of Columbia Bar. Stevens and his wife Joyce have been married for more than 40 years. They have four sons and live in Alexandria, Virginia.

We are excited to welcome Martin X. Moleski, S.J., Ph.D., to the faculty. Dr. Moleski, a Jesuit priest, educator, and author, holds a Ph.D. in Theology from The Catholic University of America. He taught for 30 years at Le Moyne College in Syracuse and Canisius College, winning tenure and promotion to full professor. He currently works as an assistant to the editors of Biblica and Orientalia at the Pontifical Biblical Institute in Rome.

He has authored three books: Personal Catholicism, Michael Polanyi (with William T. Scott), and Judging Religion Justly. He was a weekly host of “Calling All Catholics,” a one-hour broadcast on affiliates of The Station of the Cross Catholic Radio, for seven years.

Dr. Moleski specializes in Catholic Systematic Theology and World Religions. In addition to the Ph.D., his extensive education includes a B.A. in English from Boston College (summa cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa), an MA in Philosophy from Fordham University, and an M.Div. and S.T.B. from Regis College, University of Toronto. He recently taught PHIL 340 See for Yourself: An Introduction to Epistemology.