New Leader
PONTIFICAL COLLEGE JOSEPHINUM, June 12 — The Vatican's Congregation for Catholic Education has appointed Msgr. Paul Langsfeld as the Columbus, Ohio, seminary's rector/president. He succeeds Bishop Earl Boyea, an auxiliary of Detroit since 2000.
A priest of the Washington Archdiocese, Msgr. Langsfeld has served as vice rector and dean of formation at Mount St. Mary's Seminary in Emmitsburg, Md., since 1998.
Msgr. Langsfeld has served as an expert in catechesis for the Vatican's Congregation for the Clergy and helped in the early drafting of the Catechism of the Catholic Church.
He holds a doctorate in dogmatic theology from Gregorian University, Rome, and a licentiate in philosophy from the Catholic University of Louvain, Belgium.
Third Term
, June 10 — Dominican Sister Patrice Werner has agreed to serve a third term as president of Caldwell College in Essex County, N.J., in part because there are no suitable candidates in her Dominican community to succeed her.
While the situation is typical of many colleges, the Star-Ledger reports that all five of New Jersey's other Catholic colleges continue to be headed by a priest or religious.
Nuns lead Felician College in Lodi, the College of St. Elizabeth in Convent Station and Georgian Court College in Lakewood, while priests fill the presidencies at Seton Hall University in South Orange and St. Peter's College in Jersey City.
Trouble at Boston College
, June 22 — Boston College's decision to leave the Big East athletic conference to pursue entry into the Atlantic Coast Conference has set off a firestorm of protest from other Big East members, some of whom have filed a lawsuit against Boston College and other would-be jumpers.
Now, after seeking a separation from the Big East, the Jesuit-led college might be left at the altar by the Atlantic Coast Conference, whose members are now studying a plan in which membership is limited to 12 schools. That means it will have to choose between Boston College and Syracuse University to fill the remaining expansion slot.
True Shepherd
FRANCISCAN UNIVERSITY, June 13 — Bishop Stanislaw Rylko, secretary of the Pontifical Council for the Laity at the Vatican, received the 2003 Shepherd's Award from the Steubenville, Ohio, university.
The Polish-born bishop, a pastoral theologian, has championed the cause of renewal movements in the Church, the university's announcement said, and has been highly visible worldwide in promoting lay movements.
Rewarding Service
, June 12 — What often starts as a tactic to improve a high school student's college application forms often turns into a love for community service that far exceeds school requirements, reported the diocesan newspaper of Lansing, Mich.
The newspaper focused on Lumen Christi High School in Jackson, Mich., where students work at soup kitchens and nursing homes, and some even work a hot-line that refers women thinking about abortion to counselors.
“Students first join thinking this will’ look good on my transcript,’” said teacher Paulette Burgess, “and then find out how rewarding the experience is.”
Joe Cullen writes from New York.