Catholic leaders connected by focus on care

Abigail O'Rourke, a junior computer science major from Cincinnati, found herself 10 feet from Pope Francis during a pilgrimage with fellow UD students to the Synod on Synodality in Rome last October. He waved to the crowd as the Popemobile made its way through St. Peter’s Square.

“I could see him for myself, this great faith leader, and it helped me to put myself in the shoes of the Church,” she said.

It’s one of the reasons she was heartbroken when she woke up April 21 to messages from her fellow pilgrims that Francis had died.

O’Rourke was among members of the campus community to offer their reflections on the life and legacy of Francis as they awaited news about the next leader of the global Catholic Church.

O’Rourke’s trip was possible because of Francis; he expanded the synodal conversation to include students from 15 U.S. Catholic universities. O’Rourke participated in sessions on the role of women in the Church, a subject she hopes will be furthered by the next pope.

She said she will remember Francis as a comforting and welcoming presence who expanded the tent of the Church: “I’m going to miss the comfort of knowing the person who … front-ran a lot of changes won’t be here with us to see them flourish.”

Francis’ embracing style also influenced how faith leaders on campus carried out their roles.

“I saw in him someone who loved like Jesus did,” said Crystal Caruana Sullivan ’24, executive director of Campus Ministry. “He centered people who are on the margins, and he built bridges pastorally. He gave me courage to aspire to do the same.”

Father James Fitz, S.M. ’68, vice president for mission and rector, noted how Francis’ first trip outside of Rome was to visit the island of Lampedusa in the Mediterranean Sea near where refugees from Africa often were lost by shipwreck. Francis went there to celebrate a Mass in their honor and to raise one of his most important themes —“our obligation to care for these people who are vulnerable and in need.”

“He placed a high emphasis on the Church’s pastoral mission — responding to real people with real needs no matter their personal or social situation,” Fitz said. “I will always remember the first time I read his call for the Church to be a ‘field hospital’ and its role as a place of healing and care for those in need. Pope Francis frequently used this imagery highlighting the Church’s mission to heal both physical and spiritual wounds.”

The “field hospital” metaphor was especially powerful for Zachary O’Connor, a junior mechanical engineering technology major from Pittsburgh, who shared the pope’s call for loving the whole person: “We need his attitude, his courage, his urgency, his hope. We need that more than ever right now.”

As a member of UD’s Interfaith Student Council, O’Connor helped host an interfaith panel conversation and several listening sessions during the spring semester. “We are trying to build those moments of encounter that Pope Francis called for,” he said. “Every moment of encounter is a moment of self-reflection and growth.” 

On May 8, O’Connor had just finished a final exam when he learned of the white smoke above the Sistine Chapel, signaling the election of a new pope. He turned on live news coverage and watched Pope Leo XIV step out onto a balcony draped in burgundy.

“It’s a fresh frontier,” O’Connor said, “and it will be exciting to see what he can accomplish.”

O’Connor found comfort and consistency in Leo’s first public comments that addressed “all of the people, all over the Earth.”

Leo’s speech also repeated the words of the resurrected Lord, “Peace be with you.”

Kelly Johnson, Father Ferree Chair of Social Justice, noted that in a time of expanding warfare, “he named a key way the Church is living its calling of peace — by walking together, building bridges and practicing dialogue, all elements of the synodality Pope Francis championed,” she said.

Timothy Gabrielli, Gudorf Chair in Catholic Intellectual Traditions, shared that the choice of the name Leo is telling. The last pope named Leo served at the end of the 19th century and penned the first modern document of Catholic Social Teaching, focused on workers’ rights.

“Pope Leo XIV may be signaling similar priorities, and we can expect him to carry forward Pope Francis’ strong emphasis on the marginalized and overlooked,” Gabrielli said.

Leo also demonstrated his deep devotion to Mary, the mother of Jesus, as he led the crowd in St. Peter's May 8 in praying the "Hail Mary." 

“He emphasizes Mary as a source of consolation, hope and help for all who seek her, especially in times of illness or suffering,” said Neomi De Anda, executive director of the International Marian Research Institute at UD.

For a Church that felt for a few weeks rudderless, O’Connor feels joy and anticipation for what Leo will accomplish: “Again we have our north star of virtue.”

___________________________________________________________________________________________

A version of this article appears in print in the Summer 2025 University of Dayton Magazine, Page 14. EXPLORE THE ISSUE — MORE ONLINE