Excerpts of Father O’Connell’s Remarks

For me, the past 10 years-plus at The Catholic University of America have been a blast! And they have passed so quickly. I feel honored and privileged — fortunate, really — to have served as president during a very good and important time in Catholic’s history.

People have asked me often since the sobering financial situation began to reveal itself in early fall, if I was “worried.” My answer has been and remains “no.” And the reason is you, all of you. Your dedication to Catholic over these past 10, 20 years and more have assured me that we can face just about anything — if we face it with faith and if we face it together. Over these many years — and I can say “many,” now that I have served for over a decade — we have confronted tough times and good times together and with faith. And we will get through the current difficult times, I have no doubt, thanks to your cooperation and commitment to all that we are and have here at CUA.

I have been asked by many what Pope Benedict XVI said to me when he visited campus last year. You know, I was not concerned about anything during the preparations for his arrival last year — not raising the money to cover expenses, not the coordination with the Secret Service or so many other offices, not the sprucing up of the grounds or buildings — nothing worried me except the thought that I would be alone in the elevator with the Pope. What do you say to the Pope? As I mentioned last week to the bishops in Baltimore, I did not have to worry: The Pope did all the talking! And what he said was an expression of gratitude for [what he called] this “truly great Catholic University.” And that gratitude, my friends, I also share with you, all of you.

We have taken as a kind of mantra at CUA the tagline “Reason. Faith. Service.” It is a very appropriate one for us because it expresses what we are all about — every one of us here tonight and every one of us at the university: “Reason. Faith. Service.” Not one or even two of those words describe what we are and do. All three are necessary no matter what our job or position is here if the picture is to be complete. The Scriptures remind us, “The greatest of these is love.” For us at Catholic and for all of you tonight, the “service” that we honor and celebrate is really the expression of love, the “greatest of these.” Respect and love for the university, for the students we serve and I want to say for one another. Catholic is a wonderful place to serve and in the name of the entire university community, as president, I thank you for your service. God love you.


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