On March 6th, faculty and staff gathered at CDU headquarters in Charles Town and via Zoom to publicly make the Profession of Faith. Bishop Mark E. Brennan of the Diocese of Wheeling-Charleston led the ceremony, and CDU Chaplain Reverend Boh, Pastor of St. Bernadette Catholic Church of Hedgesville, WV, attended as well. The turnout from both faculty and staff was impressive. Those onsite also enjoyed a Mass led by Bishop Brennan as well as fellowship and lunch together. (Pictured, from left to right:  faculty member Dr. James Kruggel, Interim Provost Dr. Elizabeth Shaw, President Dr. Marianne Evans  Mount, Bishop Mark E. Brennan, Reverend Aloysius Boh, and faculty member Reverend Bevil Bramwell.)  

Given CDU’s mission to educate the Catholic leaders of tomorrow, development of an innovative curriculum in Catholic Social Teaching (CST) is well underway. A new AA degree program in Theology with a concentration in Catholic Social Teaching designed especially for Hispanic Catholics, who will make up the majority of the U.S. Catholic population by 2030, will begin enrolling students in Fall 2023.  There is great need in the Hispanic community to develop well-educated leaders for the Church of the 21st century. All courses in the affordable online AA degree program being developed by program director Dr. Gerardo Salazar will be taught in Spanish to ensure wider access to higher education for underserved students who may not be fluent in English. Students will benefit from success coaching, and upon earning the degree will be prepared to serve as lay ecclesial ministers in Catholic parishes, pursue further academic study, and potentially enter seminaries. A graduate certificate program in CST, taught in English, will also launch in 2023. The curriculum is being developed by Rev. Avelino González-Ferrér, a priest in the Archdiocese of Washington, and is targeted to priests, deacons, and lay ecclesial ministers who seek to deepen their understanding of CST to better serve their faith communities. Many Catholic pastoral leaders feel insufficiently knowledgeable when faced with the challenges of immigration, racism, poverty, and family breakdown. The curriculum will draw upon the Church’s broad and deep intellectual tradition to provide the wisdom and insights needed to address these issues within local parishes. There are also plans to develop a hybrid seminar-travel experience in Rome through which students can earn academic credit. The first graduate course, CST 630: Respect for Life, Sex, Marriage, and Parenting: An Integrated Catholic Approach, will be offered from January 30th through February 24th and taught by noted law professor, writer, and speaker Helen Alvaré. Enrollment in the 1-credit course is underway. These innovative programs, supported by an $879,000 grant from Lilly Endowment Inc., will also foster greater collaboration with Catholic dioceses. “CST is essential to the new evangelization and provides a lens through which to view the issues of our time more clearly,” says Bishop Robert Barron, the 2021 recipient of CDU’s Founders Award.  He added that Catholic social teaching is “not just for us, it’s for the whole world. We need to propagate it, we need to teach it. We need to announce it from the rooftops.”

Catholic Distance University honored Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone of the Archdiocese of San Francisco with the Founders Award, its highest honor, for his “fearless pastoral leadership in upholding the truths of the Catholic Church” at its annual gala on November 17th. The event was held at the St. John Paul II National Shrine in Washington, D.C., and offered the CDU community an opportunity to celebrate the university’s 39th year and look toward its future. The Very Reverend Joseph R. Gibino, Pastor, and Vicar for Evangelization and Catechesis of the Diocese of Brooklyn, served as the Master of Ceremonies. Archbishop Cordileone Delivers Remarks upon Receiving the Founders Award CDU Chancellor and USCCB President Archbishop Timothy P. Broglio, of the Archdiocese for the Military Services, USA, presented the Founders Award to Archbishop Cordileone, lauding him as “a champion for human dignity, an outspoken advocate for the unborn, mothers in crisis, the rights of migrants and immigrants, and the homeless, and a staunch defender of the Catholic faith” whose mission aligns closely with that of CDU. Archbishop Cordileone thanked attendees for all they do to support CDU. “Education is such an important part of rebuilding civilization,” he said, “and our civilization is being attacked on so many fronts.” “We live in an age that contests what is good,” he said, decrying attacks on innocent human life. Truth, Beauty, and Goodness He reflected on the enduring power of truth, beauty, and goodness as doorways to God for all in an age of secularism and cancel culture, giving the destruction of Notre Dame Cathedral as an example. “The entire world mourned the loss,” he said. “The timelessness of sacred beauty gives it the power to lift us out of the world of time and gives us a glimpse of that which transcends time….ultimately, the reality of God.” Cancel Culture Targets Western Civilization and Ultimately, Jesus Christ Archbishop Cordileone spoke about the long history of cancel culture and its painful legacy. “We are living in an age of cancel culture. Was not our Lord ejected from influence because he posed a threat to the worldly power of the governing authorities and the leaders of his own people? Were not the people quick to judge without thinking things through?” “What do the cancellers really want to cancel out?” he asked. “It is far more than those who disagree with them. The real activists are seeking to discredit the great protagonists of western civilization—both in the history of our country and in the Church.” “By trying to cancel out western civilization, what the cancellers are really trying to cancel out is the Church,” he continued, explaining that “Mass encapsulates all of western civilization and brings together truth, beauty, and goodness all in one place.” “We need to gaze upon Christ on the cross and truly behold our king, the one who truly gave all for us though He had no need to receive anything from us. Jesus Himself is the blueprint for a civilization of truth and love, a civilization imbued with a Christian ethos. The drive to cancel this out, then, is a drive to cancel out the founder of the Church, our Lord and savior Jesus Christ.” Jesus Came to Cancel Out Sin But, he reminded the crowd, “There is one cancel culture our Lord did come to establish: cancelling out sin. He has done that on the cross, cancelling out the debt we owed to God but could not pay ourselves.” “That is the good news, and the pattern for how the human person lives in accordance with the original human dignity that God gave us. But someone needs to tell this to the world, to open deaf ears and break through the cacophony of postmodern cancel culture so the message can get out, penetrate hearts, and take root there,” Archbishop Cordileone said. He thanked the CDU community for using modern technology to educate and evangelize. Academic Convocation Mass and Graduation The evening began with an Academic Convocation Mass for the class of 2021-2022, which included a graduation ceremony for the graduates present. They hailed from throughout the USA and Canada. Chancellor Archbishop Timothy Broglio served as the principal celebrant. The Mass was concelebrated by Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone of the Archdiocese of San Francisco; Bishop Michael F. Burbidge of the Diocese of Arlington; Bishop Mark E. Brennan of the Diocese of Wheeling-Charleston; Bishop Emeritus Paul S. Loverde of the Diocese of Arlington; Auxiliary Bishop Emeritus Octavio Cisneros of the Diocese of Brooklyn; and 15 priests and deacons.

Click here to learn more about the course

CST 630 Respect for Life, Sex, Marriage, and Parenting: An Integrated Catholic Approach, a new 1-credit graduate course, is being offered in the Winter I term from January 30th through February 24th. The timely course will be taught by Helen M. Alvaré, J.D., M.A., a well-known law professor, dean, and published author and speaker.  She is currently Associate Dean for Academic Affairs and the Robert A. Levy Chair in Law & Liberty, Antonin Scalia Law School, George Mason University. The course will explore the Catholic Church’s teachings concerning sex, marriage and parenting as part of Catholic social justice, so that students can communicate these more effectively in ways that are responsive to contemporary culture’s values, skepticism, and sometimes hostility. Students will learn to:

• Explain the faith and reason informing the Church’s teachings on sex, marriage and parenting.
• Discuss the relationship between Catholic sex, marriage, and parenting teachings and the “architecture of the faith,” specifically, God’s identity, how He loves us, and how He wants us to love Him and one another.
• Describe the unity of Catholic teachings about sex, marriage, and parenting, and about social justice.
• Articulate contemporary secular objections to Catholic sexual expression teachings and how to effectively respond to these.

On June 23, 2022, the Higher Learning Commission (HLC) granted initial accreditation to Catholic Distance University for its undergraduate and graduate degree and certificate programs. Accreditation by the HLC provides assurance that an institution meets high standards in all aspects of educational quality, institutional capabilities, and governance, with a commitment to continuous improvement. HLC is the largest of six historically regional accreditors in the United States recognized by the Department of Education to accredit the nation’s institutions of higher education. In response to new regulations from the Department of Education, several of the historically regional accreditors have recently eliminated their geographic boundaries, expanding their accreditation service area to the entire United States. President Dr. Marianne Evans Mount, who has served as president since 2008, lauded the landmark accomplishment. "Catholic Distance University celebrates with joy our welcome as an accredited member of the Higher Learning Commission and the broader higher education community of accredited schools. The hard work and adherence to high academic accrediting standards and practices have strengthened CDU and given further assurance to our students and graduates of the value of their educational credentials. We look forward to the witness of their service to the Catholic Church and the world, as they strive to serve the common good and especially the underserved." “CDU is now recognized with the same accreditation as many of the most prestigious brick and mortar universities in the U.S.,” said Board Chairman Steve Pryor. “This major milestone marks the beginning of the next stage of CDU’s mission: to communicate the mind and heart of the Church to a wider audience. As trustee Sr. Mary Brendon Zajac observed, this should be viewed ‘…as a Commencement rather than a Graduation….the real work is just beginning.’” University Chancellor Archbishop Timothy P. Broglio, who heads the Archdiocese for the Military Services, USA, said, “The news that the Higher Learning Commission has accredited Catholic Distance University offers a significant recognition to the commitment of the CDU community to academic excellence. I hope that this decision will be an impetus for the growth of the university and one more sign of its role in forming committed scholars especially in the theological sciences.” Students will benefit in newfound ways from HLC accreditation, which ensures a quality of education that the general public has the right to expect and that the educational community recognizes widely.

Catholic Distance University (CDU) was awarded a grant of $879,000 from Lilly Endowment Inc. in support of a significant new educational effort that the university is developing. Given its mission to educate the Catholic leaders of tomorrow, CDU is designing and launching a first of its kind higher education curriculum in Catholic Social Teaching (CST). The grant will fund a new bilingual English-Spanish AA degree program designed for Hispanic Catholics, who will make up the majority of the population of Catholics in the coming years, and a graduate certificate program. These new, affordable online offerings in CST will provide education to priests, deacons, and lay ecclesial ministers as they seek to serve their faith communities. For this reason, CDU also envisions the programs as a springboard to greater collaboration with Catholic dioceses. CDU Board Chair Steve Pryor said, "Catholic Social Teaching is that body of teaching addressing human rights and responsibilities in society—beginning with the dignity of the human person and promotion of the family and extending to the global family—flowing from Jesus Christ's ‘Great Commandment’ to love God, and to love one another as He has loved us." While the Catholic Church has a broad and deep teaching regarding social problems, Catholic pastoral leaders feel insufficiently knowledgeable when faced with the very real challenges of immigration, racism, poverty, and family breakdown. Bishop Robert Barron, a great proponent of CST, according to Mr. Pryor, noted at a recent CDU gala dinner, “It (CST) is essential to the new evangelization and provides a lens through which to view the issues of our time more clearly.”  Continuing in his remarks, the bishop added that Catholic social teaching is “not just for us, it’s for the whole world. We need to propagate it, we need to teach it. We need to announce it from the rooftops.’” CDU president Dr. Marianne Evans Mount affirms, “The University is well positioned to develop a new innovative CST curriculum to extend our reach to a growing underserved yet vital body of future Church leadership in Hispanic Catholics as well as to ordained and lay ministers.” According to Dr. Mount, CDU’s new program is designed to do just that, by providing the clergy and laity the wisdom and insights needed to effectively address these issues at their local parish and ministry level.  There is great need in the Hispanic community to develop well-educated leaders for the Church of the 21^st century. Understanding this need, CDU’s CST-focused, two-year online AA degree will help Hispanic Catholics achieve post-secondary education and provide a pipeline for future entry into seminaries, lay ecclesial ministries, and further academic study. Recognizing the impact this new program could have on society both today and long into the future, The Lilly Endowment Pathway for Tomorrow Initiative awarded CDU the grant to fully launch the initiative.  This program from CDU speaks to the heart and focus of Lilly’s Endowment Pathways for Tomorrow Initiative: to prioritize and respond to the most pressing challenges and prepare pastoral leaders for Christian congregations both now and into the future.

Dr. Marianne Evans Mount was interviewed by the Association of Catholic Colleges and Universities for their "At the Helm" series. Click here to read the interview.

Dr. Marianne Evans Mount was interviewed on Relevant Radio's Catholic Forum show to discuss CDU and the Year of St. Joseph. Click here to listen to the show.

On January 28, 2021, President Dr. Marianne Evans Mount appeared on "Jon Leonetti in the Morning" to discuss CDU and the Year of St. Joseph. Click here to listen to the show.