The University is hosting brothers and priests from the United States Province of the Congregation of Holy Cross for their Provincial Chapter meetings from June 14 to 26. Chapter meetings set the direction for the life and work of the Holy Cross community for the next three years. Delegates are here from all ministries of the United States Province, which includes East Africa, Peru, Chile, and Mexico. Please keep the Holy Cross community in your prayers during these days.
Congregation of Holy Cross
Feast of the Sacred Heart of Jesus Mass, June 11
A Mass celebrating the Feast of the Sacred Heart of Jesus will be celebrated in the Chapel of Christ the Teacher on Thursday, June 11, at 5 p.m. All faculty, staff, students, and the public are welcome to attend.
The Sacred Heart of Jesus is the patron of the Congregation of Holy Cross and holds great significance to the priests whose character and teachings have long influenced the University of Portland. For more information contact Campus Ministry at 7131 or ministry@up.edu.
Celebrating Congregation of Holy Cross Jubilees
The Congregation of Holy Cross is celebrating jubilee years for a number of priests around the world, including six who served or still serve at the University of Portland. Rev. Thomas Bill, C.S.C., and Rev. Joseph Browne, C.S.C., are celebrating 60 years since ordination; Rev. James Connelly, C.S.C., Rev. Richard Rutherford, C.S.C., and Rev. James Lackenmier, C.S.C., celebrate 50 years since ordination; and Rev. Randall Rentner, C.S.C., celebrates 25 years since his ordination.
Fr. Bill joined the UP faculty as a philosophy professor in 1962, and retired in 1990. For many years he was involved with the Catholic Charismatic Renewal, starting in 1969. He now resides at Holy Cross House in Notre Dame, Ind.
Fr. Browne spent 22 years on The Bluff, serving as director of the Wilson W. Clark Library and as both a department chair and dean of the College of Arts and Sciences. Fr. Browne is a certified professional parliamentarian, a contract bridge enthusiast, and a recipient of the University’s James Culligan award for outstanding service. He is retired and resides at Holy Cross House in Notre Dame, Ind.
Fr. Connelly came to Portland in 1993, following a thirteen year career as archivist for the Indiana Province of Holy Cross at Notre Dame. He has taught church history at Notre Dame, King’s College in Pennsylvania, and Alokolum National Seminary in Uganda. Fr. Connelly helped initiate the annual Holy Cross history conference, and now serves as Religious Superior at Holy Cross House in Notre Dame, Ind.
Fr. Lackenmier has taught high school in Connecticut and Massachusetts, and served for 25 years at King’s College, Wilkes-Bare, Pa., including 18 years as president. His board memberships include the Stonehill College board of trustees and the University of Portland board of regents. He is presently a Provincial Council member of the USA Province of the Congregation of Holy Cross.
Fr. Rutherford joined the theology department at UP in 1976, and retired in 2012. Fr. Rutherford has been a liturgical consultant to the Archdiocese of Portland and National Conference of Catholic Bishops, as well as a key figure in the design of the University’s Chapel of Christ the Teacher. His book, The Death of a Christian: The Order of Christian Funerals, was published in 1990 and is the definitive work on the Church’s revised funeral rites. He has recently been leading expeditions to the ancient Roman city of Pollèntia near Alcúdia in Mallorca, Spain, to conduct archeological research.
Fr. Rentner came to Portland in 2010, and served in the student affairs division. Prior to coming here, Fr. Rentner taught high school and served as an assistant hall director and an assistant vice president for student affairs at Notre Dame. He now teaches at Holy Cross High School in Flushing, N.Y.
For more information contact the Congregation of Holy Cross office at 8024 or doll@up.edu.
Feast Of Saint Joseph Mass, March 19
Thursday, March 19, is the Feast of Saint Joseph, the patronal feast of the Holy Cross Brothers, according to Theresa McCreary, Campus Ministry. Mass will be celebrated in the Chapel of Christ the Teacher at 5 p.m. All are welcome to attend. Campus Ministry will also offer Lenten Reconciliation Service on Tuesday, March 24, at 7 p.m., in the Chapel of Christ the Teacher. For more information contact Campus Ministry at 7131 or ministry@up.edu.
“My Life in Holy Cross,” March 3
Not long ago, Pope Francis declared 2015 to be The Year of Consecrated Life. To honor that declaration, the local Holy Cross community will partner with the Garaventa Center to offer “My Life in Holy Cross” on Tuesday, March 3, at 7:15 p.m., in the Bauccio Commons board room. Rev. Charlie McCoy, C.S.C., will facilitate a conversation among Frs. Claude Pomerleau and Pat Hannon, who will offer compelling vignettes of their priestly vocations and lives in Holy Cross ministry. Following the panel, the priests will take questions from the audience. This is a great way for the UP community to get to know some of the human stories and faces of the religious community with whom we labor. The event is free and open to the public; light refreshments will be served.
For more information contact Karen Eifler, Garaventa Center, at 8014 or eifler@up.edu.
Welcome Holy Cross Novices
Andrew Higdon, C.S.C., and Vincent Nguyen, C.S.C., arrived at the University of Portland on Wednesday, January 14, and will be here until Thursday, February 12. They are spending a year at the Holy Cross Novitiate in Cascade, Colo., where they and their novice classmates are discerning life as brothers or priests in the Congregation of Holy Cross. Andrew and Vincent are here for an experience of life and ministry with the UP community, and are working with Campus Ministry.
For more information, contact Campus Ministry at 7131 or ministry@up.edu.
Celebrate Feast of Blessed Basil Moreau, C.S.C., Jan. 20
All University community members are invited to celebrate the feast day of Blessed Basil Moreau, C.S.C., founder of the Congregation of Holy Cross, on Tuesday, January 20, at 5 p.m., in the Chapel of Christ the Teacher. Political science professor Gary Malecha will be honored as a recipient of the 2014 Spirit of Holy Cross Award, the highest honor bestowed by the Congregation on its lay collaborators. Malecha was one of six award recipients announced on Sept. 15 by Rev. Thomas O’Hara, C.S.C., provincial superior of the United States Province of Priests and Brothers.
For more information, please contact Campus Ministry at 7131 or ministry@up.edu.
Holy Cross Jubilee Celebrations
The list of Congregation of Holy Cross priests celebrating jubilee years in last week’s upbeat failed to mention Rev. Michael Belinsky, C.S.C., who marks 25 years with the Congregation this year. Fr. Belinsky served at Holy Redeemer parish from 2006 to 2007, and worked in the University’s campus ministry office from 2007 to 2012. His career as a priest has included working at hospice centers and with developmentally disabled adults, serving at Andre House in Phoenix, Ariz., ministering to people with AIDS in San Francisco, and social justice ministry. He is currently associate pastor at Christ the King Church in South Bend, Ind. We regret the omission.
Holy Cross Jubilee Celebrations
The Congregation of Holy Cross is celebrating jubilee years for a number of priests around the world, including three who served or still serve at the University of Portland. Fr. George Bernard, C.S.C. (pictured at left), is celebrating 65 years since his ordination; Fr. James Thornton, C.S.C., is celebrating 50 years; and Fr. Pat Hannon, C.S.C., is celebrating 25 years.
Fr. Bernard came to the University in 1969 and has been a fixture here ever since. Before coming to UP, he served as a theology professor and as vice president for student affairs at the University of Notre Dame; he then served as president of Holy Cross College for seven years. Upon arrival on The Bluff, Fr. Bernard was named as chairman of the theology department (1970-1977) and then as academic vice president (1977-1987). Many faculty and countless students remember him for his tough-minded sense of fairness and integrity, his booming laugh, and his determination to be the best servant to God that he can be. He lives to this day at Holy Cross Court and, when not 
absorbed in praying his Divine Office or offering Mass, can be found walking nimbly for a full 18 holes at local golf courses, shooting at or below his age.
Fr. James Thornton came to Portland in 1972, serving first as head resident in Kenna Hall from 1972 to 1975; associate director of campus ministry from 1972 to 1973; then as associate dean of students from 1973 to 1977. He was assistant to the academic vice president from 1981 to 1982, then moved to Portland’s DePaul Center in 1982, eventually serving there as president from 1986 to 1989. Today his is engaged in the Worldwide Marriage Encounter movement.
Fr. William “Pat” Hannon earned his B.A. at the University of Portland in 1982. It’s hard to imagine a more Catholic upbringing than his: seventh child and fifth son of 10 siblings; taught by Spanish Carmelite nuns and Holy Cross brothers at Moreau Catholic in Hayward, Calif.; said his first Mass at age six in an upstairs hallway at home; retreats, prayers, and more prayers; final vows taken in 1988, ordination on February 11, 1989. Anyone who meets Fr. Pat or is lucky enough to be the recipient of his ministrations is struck by his easy charm and innate sense of holiness and wonder. How often do we encounter someone who has found his one true calling in life?
Please congratulate our jubilarians on their many years of service to the UP community and beyond.
Feast Day of St. Joseph Mass, March 19
A Mass to celebrate the Feast Day of St. Joseph, the patron saint of the Brothers of Holy Cross, will be celebrated in the Chapel of Christ the Teacher on Wednesday, March 19, at 5 p.m., according to Theresa McCreary, campus ministry. All are invited to attend. For more information contact McCreary at 7131 or mccreary@up.edu.