Mission and Ministry Prospectus

A Catholic and Jesuit Home for People of All Faiths

Georgetown’s drive to do its very best work in service to the common good has shaped centuries of growth and progress. Today, it animates the university’s $3 billion campaign ambition, calling us to invest in areas of great strength for Georgetown— and even greater opportunity.

Through Called to Be: The Campaign for Georgetown , we will answer, ensuring that we can build on the university’s rich Catholic and Jesuit tradition.

We often hear from recent graduates of various faith traditions that one of the lasting and distinctive experiences they have had while a student at Georgetown was their engagement with the university’s Jesuit values and Catholic heritage. We are a university dedicated to the formation of the whole person, both intellect and spirit, engaging the heart as well as the head.

In the Office of Mission & Ministry, we foster Georgetown’s Ignatian heritage in a network of chaplains and staff, who together embody our care and concern for all of our students, faculty, and staff, whether it be in the classroom, in our sacred spaces, or out in the world. We meet students and faculty where they are, and find ways to accompany them in their spiritual lives. Together, we ask, “How can we engage the world more deeply as contemplatives in action? How can Georgetown’s values help us become the people we are called to be?”

Today, we have an opportunity to expand that presence, reaffirming our core commitment to ministry while exploring new ways to advance our mission through inquiry, dialogue, pilgrimage, worship, and service.

Georgetown’s core Jesuit value of magis—meaning the “more” or the “greater”—calls us to be more, and to do more, for others and for our world. I invite you to join us as we build on our tradition as a Catholic and Jesuit home where, together, we discover the ways that faith supports and builds up the common good of all.

—Fr. Mark Bosco, S.J., Vice President for Mission & Ministry

“Our Catholic and Jesuit identity is a distinctive strength, providing us with extraordinary resources that shape how we pursue our mission and engage our students in the work of formation. We live out our identity through the diverse and vibrant faith communities that thrive here at Georgetown. Each generation is called to deepen our engagement with our identity as a Catholic and Jesuit institution and to uphold the tradition that has defined our community for more than two centuries.”

—JOHN J. DEGIOIA, PRESIDENT, GEORGETOWN UNIVERSITY

Pursuing goodness, truth, and beauty

Our university’s Catholic and Jesuit heritage is a rich, distinctive element of the Georgetown experience. It’s also a vital resource for all humankind as we grapple with contemporary issues and strive to build a more just world.

The Office of Mission & Ministry lives out the value of cura personalis —care of the whole person— through a two-fold commitment: advancing the university’s faithbased academic mission and providing inclusive ministry and pastoral care to students, faculty, and staff of all faiths.

Celebrating and strengthening this work will be crucial as we look to educate leaders grounded by a sense of moral purpose, situated in a global context, and inspired by an authentic humanity as they set out to serve the world.

Georgetown University is a Catholic and Jesuit home for people of all faiths.

Georgetown was founded on the principle that convening people of different faiths, cultures, and beliefs promotes intellectual, ethical, and spiritual understanding. A distinct element of our Ignatian heritage, this commitment has enriched our community for centuries.

COMPREHENSIVE CAMPUS MINISTRY

Thanks to the vision of our university’s founder, Archbishop John Carroll, Georgetown is home to an inclusive, comprehensive campus ministry program that fosters interreligious dialogue. Our Catholic, Protestant, Orthodox Christian, Jewish, Muslim, and Dharmic chaplains collaborate in ministering to our students’ faith and worship needs.

FAITH-BASED ACADEMIC MISSION

The Office of Mission & Ministry also enhances the university’s educational mission, deepening the presence of the Jesuit intellectual tradition— Georgetown’s pedagogical foundation—across departments, schools, and campuses. This work extends beyond our classrooms: we ask students, faculty, and staff to live a faith that does justice, engaging with communities across the country and around the world.

To continue leading in mission and ministry, we must invest in these profoundly important elements of the Georgetown experience. By enhancing our presence, bringing our Ignatian pedagogical heritage alive in the classroom, putting our mission into practice through immersion and pilgrimage, and strengthening the programming in and preservation of our sacred spaces, we will enrich students’ academic pursuits and unique spiritual journeys.

Spiritual journeys and accompaniment

We will enhance our presence along the path of formation

Georgetown’s Office of Mission & Ministry supports the largest and most diverse campus ministry program in the country. Through pastoral care, retreats, and other faith-based programming, our chaplains and resident ministers engage the university’s varied and vibrant communities in dialogue, reflection, and service.

Forming a preeminent campus ministry team

230+ years of Jesuit chaplains and Catholic ministry

50+ years of ecumenical ministry with Protestant chaplains

1ST Catholic university in the U.S. to hire a full-time rabbi (196869) and the 2017 recipient of the Hillel International Award for Jewish ministry

40+ years of Orthodox Christian chaplains

1ST university in the nation to hire a full-time imam (1999) and a Hindu priest as a Dharmic chaplain (2016)

25+

resident ministers who live with students and serve as a spiritual safety net in our halls

Whether they’re exploring spirituality, making career choices, or working through personal challenges, members of the Georgetown community turn to our campus ministry team for support and guidance. Our retreats at the Calcagnini Contemplative Center further provide an opportunity for reflection, so crucial to students’ intellectual, emotional, and spiritual formation. With your support, we will expand residential ministry programming, endow new and existing chaplaincy positions, and grow our faith-specific and interfaith retreat programs, extending the Office of Mission & Ministry’s presence in the lives of our students—and strengthening Georgetown’s Catholic and Jesuit identity in the spirit of cura personalis.

Pedagogy and research

We will make our mission come alive in the classroom

Our Jesuit tradition and values are integral to Georgetown’s academic excellence. They have shaped our students’ educational experience from the university’s earliest beginnings—and they fuel our community’s enduring pursuit of truth and justice.

All Things Ignatian Faculty Seminar

Faculty participating in this semesterlong course discuss Georgetown’s educational enterprise through the prism of the Catholic and Jesuit intellectual tradition. They explore contemporary applications of Ignatian pedagogy and learn how Jesuit history and culture can be a resource for social justice and interfaith understanding. Along the way, they reflect on faith, reason, and justice as they pertain to teaching, scholarship, and participation within—and beyond— the Georgetown community.

Readings include works from:

• Saint Ignatius of Loyola

• Pope Francis

• Jesuit Superiors General Pedro Arrupe, Peter Hans Kolvenbach, and Adolfo Nicolás

• Eminent Jesuit historian

Rev. John W. O’Malley, S.J.

• Georgetown faculty member and eminent Jesuit ethicist Rev. David Hollenbach, S.J.

But to make the most of this pedagogical heritage, we have to fully understand it. And integrate it. And activate it.

By providing seminars, research grants, and other programming, the Office of Mission & Ministry helps faculty, staff, and other university leaders engage with Georgetown’s Catholic and Jesuit identity.

The Office of Mission & Ministry is committed to expanding the scope of Georgetown’s faculty expertise and enriching the university’s Catholic and Jesuit heritage by collaborating with academic units, establishing endowed faculty positions, and supporting Jesuit scholars across disciplines.

Georgetown’s Jesuit Bridge Fund has already been effective in recruiting several Jesuits to enrich the College of Arts & Sciences, the School of Foreign Service, the McDonough School of Business, and the Law Center. Serving as both scholars and ministers, these Jesuits invite the Georgetown community to join in a deeper encounter with the Catholic tradition and the Jesuits’ distinctive approach to spirituality and education.

With your support, we will endow the Jesuit Bridge Fund, grow as a strategic partner for Georgetown’s faculty and deans, and celebrate the Ignatian pedagogical heritage that gives students a valuable foundation to draw on as they undertake their academic work and lead lives in service to humankind.

GEORGETOWN’S CATHOLIC AND JESUIT HERITAGE

As a collective history of faith, the Catholic and Jesuit intellectual tradition carries wisdom from one generation to the next. This shared moral framework helps us—both as a university and as individuals— to better articulate a vision for the future.

Magis immersion and pilgrimage programs

We will provide more ways to put our mission into practice

Seeing Georgetown’s Ignatian tradition at work in the world is a transformative experience. Magis immersion and pilgrimage programs led by the Office of Mission & Ministry provide opportunities for students to deepen their understanding of contemporary global issues as they reflect on the role of religion in the world and stand in solidarity with those at the margins of society.

Inside Magis Lourdes

A collaboration between Campus Ministry and Georgetown’s School of Nursing, the Lourdes Magis Immersion Program provides an opportunity for nursing students to put cura personalis into practice through the spiritual care of those who travel to Lourdes, France, in search of healing. The holy site is renowned for water that is said to have curative properties, drawing pilgrims from far and wide.

Students participating in the Spring 2022 program prepared by learning prayers in multiple languages and the history of the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Lourdes. They discussed topics such as health equity, communication, compassion, moral courage, and wellness. Nursing professors Sarah Vittone and Edilma Yearwood and Director of Ignatian Programs Rev. Jerry Hayes, S.J., accompanied students throughout their time in Lourdes, where they engaged with local medical officials, assisted pilgrims upon arrival and in their rituals, and participated in the town’s torchlight processions. By exposing students to the power of presence and spiritual care, the program provided students a new way of relating to patients seeking hope in vulnerable moments.

Past and potential international locations: India; Dominican Republic; Jamaica; U.S.Mexico border; Rome, Italy; Taizé and Lourdes, France; Mexico City, Mexico; Lima, Peru; and Israel and Palestine.

MAGIS SOCIAL JUSTICE IMMERSION PROGRAMS

Open to students of all religious traditions, these week-long experiences put magis, the Ignatian ideal of “the greater, or the deeper,” into practice, asking participants to more fully explore faith, community, service, and social justice.

Domestic Magis trips have focused on issues such as racism, immigration, and interfaith understanding, while international topics have included health care access, income inequality, and international migration—engaging students in the human dimensions of these complex global forces.

MAGIS INTERNATIONAL PILGRIMAGE PROGRAMS

Pilgrimage is central to all major religions. For Georgetown students, faculty, and staff, these new journeys abroad will provide a chance to merge dense layers of past and present with a chance for personal and spiritual reflection.

Whether exploring Rome; traversing the Camino Ignaciano in Spain; or making an interfaith journey to Christian, Jewish, and Muslim sites in the Holy Land, participants will experience the power of pilgrimage to edify and invigorate one’s belief.

With your support, we can ensure that more students and faculty have access to these transformative experiences, deepening our commitment to a faith that does justice across cultures and religious traditions and engaging with pressing world issues.

“A traveler when visiting a town, city, or other locale moves through the place. A pilgrim, on the other hand, will allow the place to move through them.”

—REV. GREG SCHENDEN, S.J.

We will further strengthen the spaces and programming that support worship, reflection, and prayer

Believing that spiritual development is essential to personal growth, St. Ignatius placed prayer and reflection at the center of Jesuit life. Today, Georgetown celebrates this tradition by providing opportunities and spaces for worship, contemplation, and prayer to members of our community across all faith traditions.

For generations, Georgetown students, alumni, parents, faculty, and staff have gathered in the sacred spaces across our campuses to pray and reflect. Thanks to the generosity of early supporters in this campaign, we have taken crucial steps to restore and strengthen those spiritual homes—improvements that are already attracting more students. We now seek to expand programming within these destinations, ensure their long-term care, and establish endowments to forever support music and choir.

PERMANENT SUPPORT AND EXPANDED PROGRAMMING

Main Campus’s newly revitalized worship and gathering spaces include the Copley Crypt Chapel and Servant of God Sr. Thea Bowman Chapel of St. William, which are located in historic Copley Hall and serve Georgetown’s Orthodox Christian, Protestant, and Catholic communities. Part of our campus for more than 85 years, these historic chapels have undergone a series of critical renovations and enhancements.

In addition, we have created a new, treasured space for ecumenical prayer and contemplation. Located within the former Jesuit Community chapel, the new ecumenical chapel serves as a gathering place for student faith groups, individual reflection, and events.

Hindu, Jain, Buddhist, and Sikh students; and a renovated Jewish Makóm.

We hope to create and expand endowments to support the long-term upkeep of these sacred spaces, as well as Georgetown’s iconic Dahlgren Chapel and the John Main Center for Meditation and Interreligious Dialogue, which is located in the oldest building on campus and welcomed more than 800 people for meditation this year.

Student excitement and demand for programming in these beautiful spaces has only grown, calling us to expand and endow the activities that bring together Georgetown’s faith communities.

LITURGY AND MUSIC

Georgetown’s choirs and music ministry programs greatly enhance our worship services, providing our community with an experience of beauty that transcends faith traditions. Recognizing their importance to spiritual life, we seek to host additional organ concerts, launch a choir pilgrimage to Rome, and to establish and enhance a permanent funding source for Catholic Music Ministry and our Gospel Choir.

Also located on Main Campus are a new Masjid (Muslim prayer room) and Dharmālaya: the Dharma Meditation Space for Georgetown’s

With your support, we will preserve these treasured spaces and elevate the programming within them—enriching the university’s religious life for decades to come.

— REV. MARK BOSCO, S.J., VICE PRESIDENT OF MISSION & MINISTRY

“Jesuit education of the whole person means we engage in a transcendental project: to build up a university that fosters a common horizon of the good, the true, and the beautiful—terms that, in the Christian faith, are names for God, but are ideas that can be comprehended and affirmed beyond religion.”

Georgetown alumni, parents, and friends have been essential partners on our journey to create an ever-stronger Catholic and Jesuit home for people of all faiths.

Thank you for your generosity, now and always, as we build on this rich tradition and advance the university’s enduring commitment to religious and spiritual life.

To learn more about these priorities and the difference your gift could make, please contact us at mmgiving@georgetown.edu.