Institute for Pastoral Initiatives News

In 2024, Executive Director, Sister Angela Ann Zukowski, MHSH, D. Min., celebrates 60 years of religious life with her community, the Mission Helpers of the Sacred Heart, and 45 years of leadership at the University of Dayton.

She is currently the Executive Director of the University of Dayton (UD)’s Institute for Pastoral Initiatives (IPI), as well as a tenured professor in UD’s Department of Religious Studies, focusing on undergraduate and graduate catechetical and lay pastoral leadership formation. For at least 14 years, Zukowski also taught Honors students for UD’s Chaminade Scholar’s Program and finished teaching in this program shortly after 2020.

Zukowski’s journey began in 1964, when she first met the Mission Helpers while volunteering at a Vacation Bible School in Erie, Pa. This Baltimore-based community of women primarily focuses on evangelization and catechesis, fostering the need for Church formation in their own unique ways. This paved the way for what Zukowski’s journey would look like, and, now, under the Mission Helpers, she was a well-needed force toward this good cause. 

Though her initial hope was to work with a Latin American ministry, she first worked with the Diocese of Pueblo, Colo., and the Archdiocese of Boston, and was eventually assigned to Dayton in 1971, where she only thought she’d be for one year. At the beginning of this assignment, she served the Archdiocese of Cincinnati, and discovered the value of cable TV for adult faith formation through the invitation of a local cable owner who asked her to fill a weekly, half-hour spot with her ministry. Thus, in a rural, one-room schoolhouse, she designed the first Catholic cable TV studio in the country, and produced programs that were distributed to over 40 Ohio counties. She eventually received a Gabriel Award for one of her productions. During these early years, she intentionally grew in her study and implementation of communications, even producing a weekly Catholic young adult radio program on UD’s WVUD-FM station.

In 1979, UD offered her a position as the Director of the Moral and Religious Education Office (MORES). The Marianists encouraged her to apply her expertise to advance the Catholic mission of the university through communications.

In 1983, she founded UD’s Center for Religious Telecommunications, which, in collaboration with the United State Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) and Catholic Telecommunications Network of America (CTNA), produced video teleconferences, organized large symposiums and participated in Catholic education events around the world. This was also around the time when Zukowski was apart of initiating the installation of UD’s first on-campus satellite.

From 1987-93, she also served as the President for the United States' branch of the International Catholic Association for Radio and Television (UNDA-USA), and was eventually elected the UNDA North American President from 1990-94, and, then finally, the UNDA World President of the organization from 1994-2002. Aligning with this role, she was also appointed as a member of the Pontifical Council for Social Communications at Vatican City from around 1989-2002. Her international travels offered her copious opportunities to network and nurture partnerships for UD, one example being the Caribbean School for Catholic Communications (CSCC) in Trinidad, which began in 1994 and Zukowski was the co-director.

In 1995, UD merged several of these previously mentioned centers to form the Institute for Pastoral Initiatives. Zukowski became the Executive Director of this establishment and headed up a dynamic team who designed the first online Catholic adult faith formation program called the Virtual Learning Community for Faith Formation (VLCFF). In 2000, the VLCFF grew enough to begin offering diocesan partnership, expanding its impact and becoming the unofficial start of its service as we know it today. What began as a small, English-only online school has now become an international initiative with courses in English, Spanish and Arabic. This extensive catechetical learning program is now available around the world, with over 5,500 registrations per year.

The VLCFF is just one of several initiatives the IPI has hosted through the years, with others being the Forum for Young Catechetical Leaders (a program where UD students are mentored to be the next generation of catechists) and the bustling Hispanic ministry (which supports Hispanic catechists and offers various youth retreats).

Throughout her time, Zukowski has also co-authored several books, including “Voices of Courage: An International Profile of Women in Catholic Communications” (which was translated in several languages and published in Brussels, Belgium), and served on many national and international Catholic commissions, including eight years of being Councilor and Vice President within the Mission Helpers community from 2000-08. 

This has led to numerous recognitions, some of which include: 

• The Pro Ecclesia et Pontifice medal from Pope John Paul II, 2001
• The Honorary Prize of Julian Kulenty for Catholic Communications and “Multimedia in the Service to Gospel” from the Catholic Film Association, 2005 
• The National Conference of Catechetical Leaders (NCCL) Lifetime Achievement Award, 2012 
• The National Catholic Lay Leadership Award, 2012
• The Monika K. Hellwig Award for Outstanding Contributions to Catholic Intellectual Life, 2019 
• One of the honorees nominated for “Women of UD: Catalysts for our Community,” 2023

In 2025, the IPI will celebrate their 30th anniversary and the VLCFF its 25th. While both will honor all that has come before, they will also continue to look forward and find new ways to contribute to the ever-evolving pastoral communication ministry of the Church. 

In hindsight, it’s funny that Zukowski thought she’d be assigned to Ohio for only one year. Fast forward to 2024, and you’ll see God had different plans. One year blossomed into the foundation of her expansive Catholic education ministry that still exists today. Her interest in religious telecommunications paved the way to many great projects, collaborations and recognitions that can’t be summarized in one blog post. 

In this robust 60 years, Sister Angela Ann Zukowski has lived out the mission of her community, walking in the light God set before her in service to the world Catholic Church and the University of Dayton. Join us in celebrating alongside the Mission Helpers of the Sacred Heart and their other 2024 jubilarians as we see the incredible work God has done through them!  

“As long as I am able, and with the power of the Holy Spirit and the support of the University administration, I will continue to implement an entrepreneurial spirit for exploring new pathways into the future.” - Sister Angela Ann Zukowski, MHSH, D. Min.

Find more on the Mission Helpers of the Sacred Heart on the website, Facebook or Instagram.