This past year, as Edna Ramos prepared to send one son off to college and the other into his freshman year of high school, she knew that one chapter of her life was coming to a close. She needed to determine what the next phase would hold, what meaningful work she could undertake.
Dallas/Fort Worth area faithful gathered at the Irving Convention Center for the 12th Annual Dallas Ministry Conference (DMC) Oct. 11-13, 2018. Sponsored by the Diocese of Dallas and the University of Dallas, the event seeks to provide opportunities for faith formation.
This spring, Confraternity of Christian Doctrine awarded the Ann and Joe O. Neuhoff School of Ministry a $24,050 grant to support the CCD's goals of promoting Catholic biblical literacy. This grant will fund a full scholarship for one bilingual student to complete a Master of Theological Studies with a concentration in biblical studies.
Nearly a year ago, when Hurricane Harvey hit, Houston, Beaumont and surrounding areas endured a natural disaster of unforeseen proportions. The process of rebuilding has been long and arduous, and this past spring, UD's Alternative Spring Break program took students down to Beaumont to join in the efforts through Operation Blessing, the division of Catholic Mission Trips in charge of Hurricane Harvey relief.
Between March 19 and March 24, pastoral leaders congregated in Rome for a pre-synod gathering of over 300 representatives from every part of the world. Two of those leaders were UD alumni Katie Prejean McGrady, BA '11, and Nick López, BA '12 MTS '16. The purpose of the gathering was to craft a document, to be presented to the pope, on the state of young people and religion worldwide.
The week of March 19, University of Dallas alumnus and Director of Campus Ministry Nick López, BA '12 MTS '16, attended a pre-synodal gathering of young people in preparation for the upcoming Synod on Young People, the Faith, and Vocational Discernment. López was even asked to address the gathering, including Pope Francis, at the request of the Vatican Synod Committee.
Recently, we sat down with Matthew Vereecke, Ed.D., and Verónica Alonzo, Ed.D., superintendent and associate superintendent of Catholic schools for the Diocese of Dallas, to ask them about the state of Catholic education in the Diocese of Dallas: "What has been accomplished? What can we be proud of this year, in our Catholic schools?"
On Jan. 25, 2018, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) announced that University of Dallas alumni Nick López, BA '12 MTS '16, director of campus ministry at UD, and Katie Prejean McGrady, BA '11, were selected to serve as delegates at an upcoming pre-synod gathering in Rome. The March meeting is in preparation for the October Synod of Bishops called "Young People, the Faith, and Vocational Discernment."
The University of Dallas proudly announces that Father Michael Patella, O.S.B., professor of the New Testament and seminary rector at Saint John's University School of Theology and Seminary, will deliver the Ann & Joe O. Neuhoff School of Ministry's 19th annual Landregan Lecture, titled "Catholic Biblical Tradition: Ancient & Postmodern."
As our culture has become increasingly secular, the Catholic church faces a serious threat: a shortage of young faithful. Unlike past generations of steady churchgoers, the number of millennials involved in their faith has slowly declined, posing a serious danger to the future of the church as a whole. Such is the perilous trend, but fortunately the Church has responded with a solution: an increased focus on evangelizing to youth. Among those at the helm of this movement is Doug Tooke, youth minister and former Neuhoff School of Ministry student.
