Tag: Wheeling Jesuit University

Three High Ranking Priests Step Down From Leadership Roles in W.Va. Following Investigation

Three priests have resigned from their high-ranking positions in West Virginia, according to a press release from the Diocese of Wheeling-Charleston. 

The latest news from the Catholic Church in West Virginia follows an ongoing church investigation, which found that high ranking priests enabled predatory and harassing conduct by Former Bishop Michael Bransfield. Bransfield has denied wrongdoing.  

Archbishop William Lori announced the resignations on Monday, saying monsignors under Bransfield’s command enabled misconduct and misspending. Monsignors Frederick Annie, Anthony Cincinnati, and Kevin Quirk will step down from their leadership roles, but remain priests. According to the press release, Quirk is also stepping down from his position on the Board of Directors at Wheeling Jesuit University and Wheeling Hospital.

Lori says the following personnel changes are effective immediately:

Father James DeViese Jr., J.C.L., will assume the responsibilities of the Judicial Vicar on an interim basis and oversee the Office of the Tribunal, while continuing in his role as Pastor of St. Patrick (Weston) and St. Boniface (Camden) Parishes and Good Shepherd Mission in Glenville.

Monsignor Joseph Peterson, currently Pastor of St. Michael Parish in Wheeling, will serve as Interim Rector of St. Joseph Cathedral and Reverend Carlos Melocoton Jr. will serve as Pastor of St. Michael.

Fr. Dennis Schuelkens will serve as Interim Director of Clergy Personnel while continuing as Pastor of St. Joseph the Worker and Sacred Heart Parishes in Weirton. 

Mr. Lawrence Bandi, President of Central Catholic High School in Wheeling will serve as the Archbishop’s representative to Wheeling Hospital. The Archbishop will soon appoint his representative to Wheeling Jesuit University. 

“I am grateful to all of these individuals and to my brother priests for their hard work and dedicated service to the Church, especially in these challenging times,” Archbishop Lori said.

February 1, 1975: 25 Appalachian Catholic Bishops Release “This Land is Home to Me”

On February 1, 1975, 25 Catholic bishops from Appalachia released a pastoral letter called “This Land is Home to Me.” It was officially distributed from Wheeling College (now Wheeling Jesuit University). 

It was written in response to a report from the Catholic Committee of Appalachia, highlighting the region’s economic and political inequalities. For a year, committee members traveled throughout Appalachia and collected stories of hardship from individuals and from community and church groups. The committee members then folded these stories into the pastoral letter.

The letter is considered one of the most significant statements to emerge from the U.S. Catholic Church. It’s become a model for groups all over the world that want to promote social justice. More than 200,000 copies of the pastoral letter are in circulation, and it’s been translated into several languages.

In 1995, the Catholic Committee of Appalachia marked the 20th anniversary of the original message with a follow-up letter entitled, ‘‘At Home in the Web of Life: A Pastoral Message on Sustainable Communities in Appalachia.” The 1995 letter urged responsible stewardship of the land and its resources, particularly its people.

Diocese of Wheeling-Charleston Buys WJU

Wheeling Jesuit University has been purchased by the Diocese of Wheeling-Charleston to assure the future of the only Catholic university in the state.

Earlier this year, the school’s board of trustees appealed to the diocese to help secure its long-term future and lower its operating costs. Specifically, the university was challenged by its long-term debt. Bishop Michael J. Bransfield responded by redeeming WJU’s bonds.

In exchange for the bond redemption, the diocese will purchase all of the University’s property for an undisclosed amount. The property will be leased back to the University at a nominal rate.

The school says in a statement that it will now “embark on a new strategy to reimagine, realign and renew the future of Jesuit education.”

A StoryCorps Lesson on Homelessness: 'You Learn So Much by Not Having So Much'

Nicholas Cochran, 27, and Uneeke Ferguson, 21, are students at Wheeling Jesuit University in Wheeling, West Virginia, where they volunteer at a catholic worker home.

They discussed their childhood experiences with homelessness growing up in inner city Baltimore and Marietta, Ohio, and how volunteering has changed their views on the homeless population.

“I feel jealous sometimes,” Uneeke told Nicholas in the conversation about her experience volunteering at the Hagar House.

“You learn so much by not having so much. You know, the basic necessities that people say that we have to have, it’s a luxury. All of that is a luxury.”

This interview was recorded as part of the American Pilgrimage Project, a partnership of the national nonprofit, StoryCorps, and Georgetown University’s Berkley Center for Religion, Peace, and World Affairs. This story was recorded in Charleston, West Virginia, and was produced by Dan Collison.

The director of the American Pilgrimage Project is Paul Elie. Adelina Lancianese, Anjuli Munjal, Christina Stanton, Gautam Srikishan, and Maura Johnson also contributed to this story.

Debra Townsley Named Interim President of Wheeling Jesuit

Wheeling Jesuit University has named Debra Townsley as its interim president.

She will serve in the role after the Rev. James J. Fleming resigned as president in January. Fleming has been administrator at the university for seven years, the first three as vice president and as president since 2013.

Townsley most recently served five years as president of William Peace University in Raleigh, North Carolina.

Wheeling Jesuit also says Michael Miller has been hired as a special adviser to the president and will assist in the development and execution of strategic initiatives.

New Program Expected to Make Wheeling Jesuit More Affordable

Wheeling Jesuit University announced a new program this week that uses novel approaches to make college more affordable for some students, and prepares them more effectively to enter the workforce.

 

The program is called Jesuit STRONG (Scholars Trained and Ready for Our Next Generation). The university has been collaborating with Cristo Rey High Schools – a nation-wide network of 30 Catholic prep schools that cater to economically disadvantaged students throughout the U.S. Jesuit is taking a page from the Christo Rey model that collaborates with businesses and community to create paid internships.

WJU Admissions Recruiter, Danny Brosnan, said in a press release that two-thirds of tuition and fees will be covered by the University and Jesuit STRONG  benefactors, leaving one-third of the cost to the student. $1 million has been raised during the past 18 months from corporations, foundations and individuals to support the initiative.

During a press conference today the university’s president announced that about 70 Cristo Rey High School seniors have already been accepted into WJU’s Jesuit STRONG  program for the fall 2016 semester.

Jesuit STRONG is an expansion of an existing summer program that invites Cristo Rey students onto campus and into surrounding communities.

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