April 10, 2020 // Diocese

Around the Diocese: April 12, 2020

Todays Catholic

Holy Cross College commencement ceremony postponed

NOTRE DAME — The president of Holy Cross College, Father David T. Tyson, CSC, announced recently that the college will postpone all graduation exercises until Labor Day weekend.

The Holy Cross College community will gather early in the fall semester for an official “Welcome Home” celebration that will involve a festival of sorts. At the center of the celebration will be the commencement. “What will be unique is a welcome home weekend celebration where the entire College Community will celebrate its coming home after months of being apart. This also allows the student body to be present for the most significant event of the weekend and the year, which will be the commencement of the Class of 2020,” said Father Tyson. “I am particularly happy that our newest students will be able to witness the ceremony as an inspiration as they begin their college experience at Holy Cross.”

Commencement activities for the Class of 2020 will take place Sept. 4-6. A baccalaureate Mass is scheduled for Sept. 4. The commencement ceremony will take place Saturday, Sept. 5, at 2 p.m. 

Notre Dame commencement to take place online

NOTRE DAME — In a letter March 30 to the Class of 2020, University of Notre Dame President Rev. John I. Jenkins, CSC, announced that the university commencement ceremony on May 17 will take place online rather than in Notre Dame Stadium, and that an on-campus celebration has been scheduled for the spring of 2021.

Father Jenkins made the decision after discussions with experts on infectious diseases, University deans, and student government and class officers as he continued to monitor the spread of the novel coronavirus.

In order to ensure that the graduates’ degrees are conferred and certified in May for the purposes of employment or further studies, Notre Dame will livestream a ceremony May 17. The commencement speaker, His All-Holiness Bartholomew, Orthodox Archbishop of Constantinople-New Rome and Ecumenical Patriarch, and others will be asked to record remarks for the graduates.

After speaking with Class of 2020 officers, Father Jenkins also announced that the University plans to bring this year’s graduates back to campus on Memorial Day weekend 2021 to, in his words, “spend time with your friends, classmates, faculty and others who have been part of your Notre Dame experience … and celebrate your accomplishments.” Details will be announced in coming months.

University of Saint Francis donates PPE supplies

FORT WAYNE – In order to help with needs caused by the spread of COVID-19, the University of Saint Francis School of Health Sciences has donated personal protective equipment to local health care providers.
USF donated more than 1,000 masks and face shields and 500 isolation gowns to Parkview Health and Lutheran Health Network on Thursday, March 26. The donations were made to assist the health care systems in caring for affected patients.

“During this difficult time of dealing with the spread of COVID-19, USF is exploring ways to be of help to the community.” said USF president, Sister M. Elise Kriss, OSF.

USF’s School of Health Sciences offers a variety of degrees in the field, including health services, nursing, physical therapist assistant studies, physician assistant studies, radiologic technology, social work and surgical technology. The USF Nursing Program was the only Fort Wayne program ranked in the state’s Top 10 by RegisteredNursing.org in 2019.

More information is available at sf.edu/academics/health-sciences/. 

John Martin
During a livestreamed event Friday, April 3, Bishop Kevin C. Rhoades prays the Stations of the Cross at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception, Fort Wayne. Thousands of Catholics across the diocese spiritually joined the bishop in the Lenten devotion.

Click here for more on the recorded Stations of the Cross.