Information for alumni, donors, and friends of Catholic Theological Union
FALL 2020
A GR A DUAT E SCHOOL OF T H EOL OGY A N D M I N IST RY
VOL .
32 •
ISSUE
01
From CEO to Seminarian: Patrick Bergin, Class of 2020
W
hen Patrick Bergin wakes up each morning, the first thing he sees is a crucifix. It may seem normal for a seminarian to have a crucifix in his room, but what’s remarkable is that this crucifix, like its owner, has deep African roots. The cross was made in Southern Tanzania, hand-crafted by the famous carvers there near the border with Mozambique. And the seminarian is the highly regarded former CEO of the African Wildlife Foundation, headquartered in Nairobi, Kenya. Now he is a student at CTU, living in Chicago’s Hyde Park neighborhood and preparing, at the age of 56, for the priesthood. Patrick J. Bergin grew up in Merna, Illinois, but he’ll tell you he’s a Chicago kid at heart. He had a strong, Catholic family and he embraced the Church’s teachings at a young age, frequently serving as an altar boy or lector, and coordinating “squads” of boys to help out at funerals. But as a teenager and then college student, he started to question the faith. He began to move toward the Baha’i community, and he attributes this change in spirituality to his eventual move to Africa. In 1988 he volunteered as a Peace Corps member in Tanzania, where he became highly proficient in Swahili and then joined the African Wildlife Foundation as a technical advisor. Suddenly, this kid from downstate Illinois was dealing with elephants, rhinos, and giraffes. By 2002, Patrick Bergin was CEO of the African Wildlife Foundation, a position he held for 15 years. He overhauled the organization, growing it by nearly $20 million, expanding it from an East African focus to a global non-profit working in over 20 countries around the world, and raising over $100 million in a five year span. BERGIN continued on page 6
Patrick Bergin
Spiritual First Responders CTU graduates are performing heroic “essential” work in the time of COVID WHILE A HOSPITAL CHAPLAIN is prepared for caring for families in times of tragedy, during the last six months, no one could have imagined the increased pace and intensity of their ministry. Just two weeks after making the sign of the cross in ashes on patients’ foreheads, chaplains were called to find
creative ways to fulfill their role as spiritual guides, in difficult conditions. There are countless CTU graduates performing heroic “essential” work in the time of COVID-19. We share three stories of spiritual first responders here. COVID continued on page 8
INSIDE THIS ISSUE
3
Catholic Common Ground Initiative on Evangelization in the Digital Age
4
CTU faculty honor retiring colleagues in their own words
9
2020 Blessed are the Peacemakers—Virtual Edition