eter F. Tassini Jr. ’10 admires the Jesuits but says he is not meant to be one. The Jesuits at Canisius College agree.
“You see the greatest results when you help people through service work,” says Tassini. “The situation is never so bad that you can’t make a difference.”
“Peter is very much like St. Peter in the Gospels,” says Rev. Michael F. Tunney, S.J., rector of the college’s Jesuit community and a friend of Tassini’s family. “He has a very pastoral instinct. Peter is an organizer and a leader; traits that will serve him well as a diocesan priest.”
Tassini says his most gratifying service experience took place some 7,000 miles away from Canisius College. During his sophomore year, he participated in a campus ministry service trip to Loyola Higher Secondary School in Chennai, India. Here, Tassini lived and learned among the Jesuit priests who teach and care for 800 of the region’s most poor, oppressed and dalit (untouchable) children.
Tassini took the first formal steps to become a diocesan priest this fall, when he arrived at Theological College, the national seminary of the Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C. The college is owned and administered by the Society of St. Sulpice, an association of diocesan priests dedicated to the formation of priests for the Catholic Church. His choice to pursue a religious vocation is an increasingly rare occurrence in an age when fewer people choose to join the church. “It takes young people like Peter to step up to ordained service in the church, with all of its challenges in our contemporary world,” says Father Tunney. Tassini has faith and a deep confidence that God directed him in his decision. He also praises the Jesuits at Canisius for their guidance in his spiritual, personal and intellectual growth. “The Jesuits at Canisius helped me discern and discover where I would be most happy in my service to God,” says Tassini, who first began to consider a religious vocation as a teenager. “Peter came to Canisius having a very personal relationship with God, a love of the Catholic faith and a desire to make a difference in the lives of people,” recalls Rev. John P. Bucki, S.J., director of campus ministry. “What’s more, he came here ready to share his love of the Holy Spirit with others. We simply provided him with a means to do so.” Father Bucki encouraged Tassini to increase his role as a Eucharistic Minister and to undergo instruction to become a lector. Tassini also volunteered as a sponsor and teaching assistant for campus ministry’s Right of Christian Initiation of Adults (RCIA), which prepares students, staff and alumni to receive the blessed sacraments of baptism, the Eucharist and confirmation. But Tassini’s service ministry always remained paramount. He volunteered in nursing homes, at soup kitchens and in hospitals during campus ministry’s Winter Service Week in New York City. He assisted New Orleans Catholic Charities in the rebuilding efforts for victims of Hurricane Katrina. He also helped repair and rebuild houses in rural Appalachia, as part of the college’s annual Alternative Spring Break initiative.
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CANISIUS COLLEGE MAGAZINE • FALL 2010
“These children have so little yet they are willing to share so much of themselves, their space and even their food,” says Tassini. He explains that the children awakened him to the richness of relationships over material things. The Jesuits guided him on what it means to be truly flexible, tolerant and compassionate. The encounter taught Tassini how to connect his experiences with his faith. “These experiences will help Peter when the time comes for him to guide others through hardships,” explains Father Bucki. Tassini’s India experience also inspired him to initiate new prayer and reflection opportunities for students and the campus community. He researched and produced “The Living Stations of the Cross.” Held during each Lenten season in Christ the King Chapel, the student performance uses scripture and music to follow the journey of Jesus to the cross. Tassini also introduced Eucharistic Adoration at Canisius. This weekly holy hour is a time for individuals to gather outside of Mass to pray and show reverence to the Body of Christ. “What is so significant here is that the campus community really embraced Peter’s ideas, and that when he organized them, he did so with the intention and planning that they continue long after he graduated,” says Father Bucki. “This showed great maturity and leadership, and was another indication of Peter’s priestly formation.” Tassini’s formation actually began at a young age. His parents, Peter Sr. and Margaret, always encouraged the close-knit family to attend weekly Mass together. They placed a priority on Catholic school education, which taught Tassini to recognize the presence of Christ in himself and others. By the time he was a teenager, Tassini became a volunteer at his parish, St. James, and ministered to the sick and elderly. His chaplain at Bishop Ludden High School recognized Tassini’s penchant toward the church and suggested he speak with a vocation director at the Catholic Diocese of Syracuse. The director encouraged Tassini to explore the priesthood further at a Jesuit college, which provides a high-quality Catholic education complemented by prayer and contemplation.