Mount's Bicentennial Class Set to Graduate May 11

Mount St. Mary’s University will celebrate the end of the 2007-08  academic year May 11 with its 200th Commencement Exercises.

The Mount community will join the families and friends of the class of 2008 as approximately 376 undergraduate degrees are awarded during the 11 a.m. ceremony in Knott Arena.

Schedule and parking information here.

Archbishop Edwin Frederick O’Brien will give the commencement address. He was appointed Archbishop of Baltimore in 2007.

“Mount St. Mary’s University is the oldest Catholic university in Maryland and to have Archbishop O’Brien speak at commencement is a privilege and honor,” says Mount President Thomas H. Powell.  “His service to the Church and people of Maryland is a model to us all.”

Archbishop O’Brien was ordained a priest of the Archdiocese of New York on May 29, 1965 by Francis Cardinal Spellman.

His first assignment was as a civilian chaplain at the United States Military Academy at West Point, New York.  He would later be commissioned to become a military chaplain and in 1970, he officially became an Army Chaplain with the rank of Captain, serving with the 82nd Airborne Division.  From 1971 to 1972, he served a tour of duty in Vietnam with the 173rd Airborne Brigade and 1st Cavalry Brigade.  From a base of operations in the middle of a jungle, he and a Protestant minister flew by helicopter to defensive outposts where they would provide for the spiritual needs of the soldiers.

In 1973, he left the military and began his doctoral studies at Rome’s Angelicum University.  While preparing for his doctorate in sacred theology, Archbishop O’Brien was a graduate student at the Pontifical North American College.  He studied moral theology and completed his doctoral dissertation, entitled The Origin and Development of Moral Principles in the Writings of Paul Ramsey, in 1976.

He returned to continue his service to the Archdiocese of New York, serving as vice-chancellor for the Archdiocese and associate pastor at St. Patrick’s Cathedral.  In 1979 he coordinated Pope John Paul II’s visit to New York and for two years served as communications director for the Archdiocese.  In 1986, he was elevated to Monsignor and served two terms as rector of St. Joseph’s Seminary from 1985-1989 and 1994-1997.  From 1990-1994, he served as rector of the Pontifical North American College in Rome.

On February 6, 1996, he was named Auxiliary Bishop of New York and bishop of the titular see of Thizica.  He was consecrated by Cardinal John O’Connor at St. Patrick’s Cathedral on March 25, 1996.  On April 7 of the following year, he was named co-adjutor bishop for the Archdiocese for the Military Services and on August 12, 1997, he succeeded as archbishop.  The Archdiocese for the Military Services serves 1.5 million Catholics including all U.S. Armed Forces and their families as well as 170 Veterans Administration hospitals and U.S. Government employees overseas.

From September 2005 to June 2006, he served as the Holy See’s coordinator for the Papal Visitation of Seminaries and Houses of Priestly Formation and this spring was appointed a member of the Congregation for Catholic Education and Seminaries.

On July 12, 2007, his appointment as Archbishop of Baltimore by Pope Benedict XVI was announced.  He succeeded Cardinal William H. Keeler, who served as the 14th Archbishop of the nation’s oldest diocese from 1989-2007, whose resignation was accepted having reached the age limit.

Founded in 1808, Mount St. Mary’s is the second oldest Catholic university in the United States and considered one of the top universities in the country for fostering a strong Catholic identity for its students.  The Seminary at the Mount is also regarded by many to be one the nation’s leading institution for the formation of seminarians. It is often referred to as the “Cradle of Bishops,” for the large numbers of graduates who have gone on to join the hierarchy of the Church as Bishops, Archbishops and Cardinals.

Commencement exercises are by invitation only, but the media is invited to attend. If you would like a press pass, please contact Kate Charuhas in the Office of Communications at 301-447-5366 or charuhas@msmary.edu.