July 16, 2010

Rev. Jude De Angelo, O.F.M. Conv., spent July 15 hanging photos and trying to get a feel for his new surroundings. That day was his first as chaplain and director of campus ministry at Catholic University.

This is the second campus ministry assignment for the 53-year-old priest. Prior to joining CUA, he was the Catholic campus minister at Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, N.C., for 12 years.

Father Jude said he expects that his new assignment will be very different from his old one.

He noted that he is moving from "a mid-sized college town in the south" to a major metropolitan area.

"I hope to learn the Metro very quickly," he commented.

At Wake Forest, Father Jude and one other staff person served about 1,000 Catholic undergraduates.

At Catholic University, more than 80 percent of the 3,000 plus undergraduates are Catholic. Father Jude said he looks forward to making sure his staff of eight at CUA "are at total service to building the Catholic community.

Facts About Father Jude

• Hometown: Binghamton, N.Y. • Undergraduate Education: Bachelor of Philosophy from St. Hyacinth College and Seminary in Granby, Mass. • Graduate Education: Master of Divinity from St. Anthony-on-Hudson in Rensselaer, N.Y. • Profession of Vows as a Franciscan Friar: 1977 • Ordination to the Priesthood: 1984

"It's exciting to be in a Catholic environment," he said. Wake Forrest was a "marvelous ecumenical setting," he said, but "it is wonderful to be in a place where so many of us are working toward the same goal."Father Jude said he is excited to join Catholic University, in particular, because "this is the bishops' university." CUA is unique as the national university of the Catholic Church and as the only higher education institution founded by the U.S. bishops."I would like the bishops to realize that we take this responsibility very seriously - forming young people in their faith - so faith becomes the center of both the academic and the lived experience of the students," he said.

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