Made with FlowPaper - Flipbook Maker
STMThe Magazine of The Catholic Chapel & Center at Yale University Fall/Winter 2025STM MAGAZINE FALL/WINTER 2025 268 Park Street, New Haven, CT 06511-4714 Phone: 203-777-5537 Fax: 203-777-0144 stmchapel@yale.edu Follow us online: stm.yale.edu From the Editor: In this issue, we highlight the vibrant life of our community and the many ways God is at work at STM. We celebrate Fr. Joe MacNeill’s installation as Chaplain, welcome Damon McGraw '01 M.A.R., Ph.D. back home to Park Street, and reflect on Archbishop Caccia’s powerful witness of peace. Students share how prayer, study, and service deepen their faith, while alumni and trustees remind us of the legacy we continue to build together. May these stories strengthen your own sense of hope and belonging. Best, Robin About the Cover: Gathered on a rock beside Long Island Sound, students share a quiet moment of community and contemplation, reflecting the peaceful rhythm of their beginning-of-year retreat at Mercy by the Sea in Madison, Connecticut. Cover photo by Damon McGraw. Mission Statement Saint Thomas More, The Catholic Chapel and Center at Yale: Helping Catholics serve God and humanity locally and globally. STAY CONNECTED! Follow us online at stm.yale.edu and readwatchlisten STM The Magazine of The Catholic Chapel & Center at Yale University Fall/Winter 2025 with Fr. Joe MacNeill New season coming soon! Watch for our new STM website!Design: Cadwell Art Direction Primary Photography: Nina Melendez STM Magazine Editor: Robin McShane is the Director of Advancement at STM. Associate Editor: Julia Chin Ph.D. '27 is studying English language and literature and is co-chair of STM’s Graduate Council. STM magazine is published twice a year for our alumni, parents, and friends. Opinions expressed in this magazine do not necessarily reflect those of the entire STM community. p 3 A New Chapter of Hope p 6 A Night of Gratitude and Celebration p 13 Peace Without Power p 14 Living the Pillars In This Issue 1 FROM THE 5 A JOURNEY OF FAITH 11 THE VATICAN 17 IN GRATITUDE: CHAPLAINAND RETURNTODAY2024-25 DONORS 21 FAITH AT 23 STM STUDENTS THE UNITED NATIONSBY THE NUMBERS Features 20 SHORT TAKES 23 THREE QUESTIONS A lighted path glows in the Golden Center garden, creating a serene backdrop for Catholic life at Yale. Photo by Robin McShane 25 OPEN BOOK 28 FINAL WORDDear Friends, As we approach the conclusion of this Jubilee Year of Hope, I find myself praying about what sustains my hope amid these troubling times. Students come to us each day burdened not only by the usual collegiate pressures—finding friends, navigating relationships, managing exams— but also by the ongoing strife in the wider world and a deeper longing for purpose and meaning that the world alone cannot satisfy. Why, then, do I find sure hope here at Saint Thomas More? As St. Peter reminds us, we must always be ready to give an account of the hope that is within us (1 Peter 3:15). Looking back over the past few months and ahead to the remainder of the academic year, I feel convinced that our community is uniquely positioned to meet this moment with faith, wisdom, and love. In spiritual formation, our opportunities for prayer and worship continue to nourish our community with a deeper peace than the world can give. Beyond Sunday Mass, interest in daily Mass—now offered on Friday mornings—the sacrament of Reconciliation, and Adoration continues to grow. A record number of students have begun the journey toward full initiation in the Catholic faith through our Confirmation and OCIA programs, led by Assistant Chaplains Pauline Little and Sr. Mary Rose Irvine. Our weekly Bible study has renewed interest in Scripture and evangelization, and outreach efforts across campus led by our chaplaincy fellow, Chaney Wimsatt, have generated meaningful encounters with students curious about Catholicism. Engaging with the Catholic intellectual tradition, our newest assistant chaplain, Damon McGraw, brings deep experience in young adult formation and will offer a mini-course on St. John Henry Newman next semester. Under the leadership of Fr. Gregory Waldrop, S.J., our lecture series has likewise welcomed distinguished Catholic voices, including Archbishop Gabriele Caccia and Sr. Raffaella Petrini, F.S.E. Finally, in apostolic service, our ministries continue to offer meaningful ways to serve our neighbors. Our Soup Kitchen, led by Assistant Chaplain Allan Esteron, and our quilting ministry for the Yale New Haven Hospital NICU remain strong while student-initiated efforts—such as tutoring at St. Martin de Porres Academy and service at the Clelian Adult Day Center—are taking root. We have also expanded Eucharistic ministry, enabling students to bring the Eucharist to homebound community members. I pray you will find in these examples ample proof of the hope that abounds here at STM. May the Lord fill us with His light, that we may shine as a beacon of hope to Yale and beyond, drawing strength from the mystery of the Cross, wonderfully proclaimed as spes unica nostra, our only hope, as we walk confidently into a hope-filled future. Rev. Joseph MacNeill Chaplain 1. A MESSAGE FROM THE Chaplain “Hope abounds here at Saint Thomas More.”Father Joseph MacNeill Good and Gracious God, You are the giver of all wisdom. As you walked so patiently with your disciples on the long road to Emmaus, so accompany us as we journey through our lives, studies, relationships, and work at Yale. Turn our gaze outward, that we might be attentive to the immense suffering and vast beauty of the world around us. Embolden us, that we might be brave enough to live our faith in every encounter, every lecture hall. Inspire us, that we might discern our vocations and work to build a society rooted in justice, solidarity, warmth, empathy, hospitality, and dignity. Ground us, that we might see you working in every trial, every victory. Remind us that you alone can fill us; that there is greatness in smallness; and that each day in this place is a gift to be received humbly and joyfully. In Jesus’s name, we pray. Amen. Kelli Reagan Hickey '18 FOR FAITH AT YALE From Ever Ancient Ever New: Prayers for Every Day#MyCatholicYale Michaela Phan J.D. '26 greets a guest while serving lunch at the STM Soup Kitchen.3. A New Chapter of Hope: The Installation of STM's Ninth Chaplain Joe Connolly, Executive Director On August 24, 2025, the Saint Thomas More community gathered in joyful celebration as Fr. Joseph MacNeill was installed as the ninth Chaplain of Saint Thomas More, the Catholic Chapel & Center at Yale. The moment marked both continuity and renewal, as Fr. Joe stepped into a lineage of talented and devoted Chaplains dating back to STM’s founder, Fr. T. Lawrason Riggs, and continuing through leaders such as Fr. Richard Russell, Fr. Bob Beloin—often called STM’s “second founder”—and most recently, Fr. Ryan Lerner, who helped usher STM into its second century of service to the Yale community. The installation took place during the Mass of the Holy Spirit, the traditional liturgical beginning of a new academic year. The Chapel was resplendent with red vestments and vibrant flowers, signs of the Holy Spirit’s presence and the hopeful energy of a new chapter. Archbishop Christopher Coyne, the Archbishop 4. of Hartford, presided and installed Fr. Joe in the presence of a full chapel and a joyful assembly. Concelebrating were Fr. Ryan Lerner, eighth Chaplain of STM; Monsignor James Shanley, vicar general; Fr. Gregory Waldrop, S.J., assistant priest at STM; and Monsignors Joseph Donnelly and Gerard Schmitz. Addressing Fr. Joe, Archbishop Coyne charged him, “Remember, my brother Joseph, to always be a loving father, a gentle shepherd, and a wise teacher of your people… lead your people as they stand in the profession of their faith.” The archbishop then presented Fr. Joe to various constituents of the Saint Thomas More community, including assistant chaplains, staff, trustees, and students. Fr. Joe responded with characteristic humility and warmth, “My friends, I pledge to seek your counsel, guidance, and advice in the spiritual and temporal care of my chaplaincy.” He later added his gratitude: “I want to thank all of you for being present for this special celebration… I ask for your prayers and support as I begin this new ministry among you.” With Fr. Joe’s installation, STM enters its next chapter filled with gratitude for its history and great hope for the future, blessed with a pastoral leader ready to guide, listen, and serve. n Photo by Aaron Joseph/ Archdiocese of Hartford5. Walking into the STM Chapel for the first time was the culmination of a long journey. Growing up in a nondenominational church, I felt a deep sense that God was near, yet also a visceral alienation from my faith community. After years of adolescent disorientation, I experienced an existential crisis and spiritual awakening in college. I emerged with a firm resolve to find a form of Christian faith that resonated with my interior witness. I broadened my horizons through intensive study of religion, philosophy, and theology while participating in diverse forms of spirituality and ministry. My search for graduate formation in the historic Christian faith—intellectually excellent, spiritually vibrant, and pastorally grounded—led me to Yale Divinity School. During my first year, as I encountered the Church Fathers, Vatican II, Catholic social teaching, and contemporary Catholic theology and spirituality, I felt a growing interior resonance that suggested I might be called to Catholicism. At the start of my second year, a member of Saint Thomas More’s worshipping community invited me to join her for Mass. My awkward social unease vanished when she introduced me to Fr. Bob Beloin. His warm welcome, quick wit, and gracious presence made me feel immediately at home, as did Sr. Jo-Ann Veillette and many others. That year, Fr. Bob became my counselor and spiritual guide, leading me through RCIA and teaching me as much by his example as by his pastoral wisdom. By the Easter Vigil, I was ready to be received into the Catholic Church. With Fr. Bob and STM, my internal tension was resolved; I had found a faith community that matched my interior witness. After another year at Yale, I completed a Ph.D. in theology at the University of Notre Dame and later served as an educator and campus minister at Notre Dame, Duquesne University, The Academy of the Holy Cross, and Georgetown Preparatory School. Yet nowhere else did I find the distinctive blend of intellectual, spiritual, and pastoral excellence I experienced at STM. Last year, while completing the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius, I discerned my next vocational step. As I meditated on the Call of Christ the King, the image of STM kept returning. I found myself in a colloquy with Fr. Bob and sensed a personal invitation to continue his ministry for today’s students. When the opportunity arose to return as Assistant Chaplain, I visited Fr. Bob’s grave before my interview and again on my first day. Every day in the Golden Center, I feel myself inhabiting his vision for Catholic life at Yale, accompanying students as he once accompanied me. n A Journey of Faith and Return: Our New Assistant Chaplain Damon McGraw ′01 M.A.R., Ph.D. Top: L to R, Luke Plein '27, Wenbin Gao Ph.D. '27, Damon McGraw, and Jeth Fogg '27 in Damon's office. Middle: Sr. Jo-Ann Veillette, Damon McGraw, and Fr. Bob at Damon's graduation from Yale Divinity School. Bottom: Damon's Yale student ID from 1999. Photo courtesy of Damon McGraw6. Photos by Rob Lisak In October, the STM community gathered for the 2025 Saint Thomas More Medal Dinner, an evening dedicated to recognizing individuals whose lives reflect the faith, wis- dom, humility, and integrity of our patron saint. This year’s celebration carried special resonance, as all honorees were united by their roles in the design and construction of the Thomas E. Golden, Jr. Center. Fittingly, the event was held on the very date of the center’s groundbreaking in 2004. The evening began with a cocktail reception accompanied by gentle harp music before guests moved into the STM dining hall for a festive dinner, where the STM Chamber Singers offered musical selections that added to the atmosphere of reflection and appreciation. The program was skillfully hosted by Emma Ventresca '26 and Aaron Ventresca M.B.A. '26, the first siblings to serve together in this role. Marked by a deep sense of community and gratitude, the night honored those whose vision and dedication helped shape the beloved home we share today. A Night of Gratitude and Celebration: The 2025 Saint Thomas More Medal Dinner Joe Connolly, Executive DirectorNext >