September 1, 2013

Father John McDonagh returns to diocese as coordinator of campus outreach

 

REGIONAL

Story and photo by Rebecca Drake

SPRINGFIELD – For Father John P. McDonagh, faith is just as vital as friendship, football and academics for contemporary college students.

Father McDonagh on Aug. 1 assumed the position of coordinator of campus ministry outreach for the Springfield Diocese, after spending the last five years teaching at Seton Hall University in New Jersey and serving as associate director and campus minister to graduate students at the Catholic Center at Duke University in North Carolina.

In his role as campus outreach coordinator, Father McDonagh said his mission is to enable young people “to trip over the presence of God in their lives.”

He said being present to first year college students is especially important. “They have a lot of anxiety. They’re discerning their place and concerned with making an effective contribution.”

He said his goal in ministering with these young adults is to help them “to grow in their ability to trust God and to enter into a loving relationship with God … to grow in their spiritual lives.”

Guiding young people as they navigate personal and professional paths on campus seems to be a natural fit for a priest who enriched his own faith life – and found a religious vocation – as a college student.

Father McDonagh, a native of Boston and graduate of Boston College High School, nurtured his vocation to the priesthood as student at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, where he was inspired by the Springfield diocesan priests who served at the Newman Center there.

“I became interested in the church … through the excellent diocesan priests,” he told iobserve. “Father Joe Quigley’s presence, Father Merle Lavoie’s preaching and Father Michael Twardzik’s academic interests as well as the strong, believing Catholic faculty at the university.”

He completed his seminary studies at St. John’s Seminary in Brighton, Mass., and the Gregorian University in Rome, Italy, and was ordained at St. Michael’s Cathedral in Springfield on Aug. 7, 1982 by Springfield Bishop Joseph F. Maguire.

As a seminarian, he served as deacon at St. Ninian Parish, Edinburgh, Scotland and at Bambino Gesu Hospital in Rome; and as chaplain at Youville Hospital in Cambridge, Mass., along with completing the clinical pastoral education program at the Hospital of St. Raphael in New Haven, Conn.

Since his ordination, Father McDonagh has served the Springfield Diocese in a variety of roles, including as parochial vicar at Our Lady of the Sacred Heart Parish, Springfield; St. Thomas the Apostle Parish, West Springfield; and St. Thomas the Apostle Parish, Palmer. He completed studies in canon law at St. Paul’s University in Ottawa, Canada in 1994 and later worked in the diocesan Marriage Tribunal. He also completed a master of business administration degree at Western New England College (now Western New England University) in Springfield.

Subsequent positions in the Springfield Diocese have included assistant to the vicar for finance, vocation director, associate rector and rector of St. Michael’s Cathedral in Springfield, director of the Newman Center at the University of Massachusetts Amherst and diocesan director of campus ministry.

As he begins his new ministry with college students, in the diocese where his own college studies began, Father McDonagh brings with him the inspiration and insights of the last five years at Seton Hall and Duke University.

In the university setting, he said the “culture of excellence” impressed him “whether it be on the basketball court or in the medical school or the theater offerings … I saw the desire of students to integrate faith into their chosen career paths.”

Most recently, Father McDonagh resided at Holy Trinity Parish in New York City’s Upper Westside, where Springfield Bishop Timothy A. McDonnell served as pastor. Although he misses the Holy Trinity Parish community, Father McDonagh said he enjoys reconnecting with faculty, students and old friends in western Massachusetts.

“I am glad to be entrusted with the important ministry of this academic apostolate,” he told iobserve.

In particular, the fall 2013 semester is an exciting time for campus ministry.

“There is a renewed interested in faith among college students because of Pope Francis and the way he is making faith accessible to young adults, and his acceptance of the most vulnerable among us,” said Father McDonagh. “And the global nature of the church is intriguing to students.”

Not least of all, for Father McDonagh, is the opportunity to enrich his own faith and field of knowledge as he ministers to students. “I love learning – and I love helping other people learn.”

(Editor’s note: Father McDonagh can be reached at 413-452-0837, 413-302-1494 or j.mcdonagh@diospringfield.org.)