HAMMOND – “This trip will impact how I lead and (determine) some of my presidential priorities, and make our charism and uniqueness more visible and understood,” said Dr. Amy McCormack, president of Calumet College of St. Joseph following her memorable trip this spring to attend the Rome (Italy) Seminar of the Association of Catholic Colleges and Universities.
“Creating a Culture of Dialogue: A Dynamic Exchange between Catholic Higher Education and the Curia” was the theme of the May 26-30 seminar, which included meetings, speakers, tours and conversations.
“The intellectual and spiritual benefits I received were priceless at a great time in my presidency,” added McCormack, who became the CCSJ chief in 2017. “Now I will lead with more intentionality, with our charism and Catholicity at the forefront. It was also a great renewal for me personally.”
The highlight of the trip was a private audience with Pope Francis, which lasted about an hour and included a dialogue about the importance of education. “The pope spoke in Spanish, which was translated for us, and he talked with his hands,’ recalled McCormack.
“He said that ‘Thinking is no good if it doesn’t impact how you feel in your heart and what you do with your hands, and what you do with your hands should touch your heart and make you feel and think in your head,’” said McCormack, “and I remember his body language – he touched his head and his heart as he talked.”
Pope Francis also reminded the educators, “We should never look down on people unless we are reaching to lift them up,” said McCormack.
“What I took away from the pope’s remarks is that education can have a real social impact and affect the mobility of people, pulling families out of poverty,” she noted.
McCormack was one of several visitors from the ACCU who responded individually to Pope Francis, telling him “how moved I was by his remarks about the head, heart and hands and reaching down to lift people up. He embodied his remarks in his motions, I said, and I feel that’s very much what Calumet College of St. Joseph does for our students.”
McCormack was also able to get reacquainted with Joe Donnelly, a former U.S. Senator from northern Indiana, the recent CCSJ commencement speaker who stepped down after a two-year stint as Ambassador to the Holy See on July 8. After meeting with Donnelly in his office, he surprised McCormack later in the day by joining her and a group of CCSJ students having lunch at a nearby restaurant.
“During my trip, I was able to meet with our 14 students in the St. Gaspar’s Honors Learning Community, who were spending time in Rome, Florence, Pompeii and Pisa on their annual trip abroad,” said McCormack. “I got to know them better, learn about their plans after college, and spend some one-on-one time with each of them.”
McCormack explained that the St. Gaspar’s program is open to full-time undergraduate students committed to CCSJ’s Five Pillars, with a focus on leadership, initiative and curiosity. Admission is based on merit and requires students to perform at least 10 hours of community service per semester. Those who join as freshmen and maintain a grade point average of 3.33 or higher earn a free educational trip after their junior or senior year.
Destinations have ranged from Alaska to Spain, with Italy selected for this year’s trip. “It was just a coincidence that I was there at the same time as the students, and they were having a wonderful time,” McCormack said.
McCormack said she learned much about different religious orders and gained a keen insight into the history and culture of the Missionaries of the Precious Blood, the order that founded CCSJ in 1951 and is still its patron. “I met with Brother Juan Acuna, a councilor and secretary general of the order.
“I was able to walk the steps of the place where St. Gaspar del Bufalo, our college’s patron, was born and where he first preached,” she explained. “I learned more about the order’s charism and went to the chapel and prayed at St. Gaspar’s tomb.”
After going into Vatican City with Brother Juan and touring the Vatican gardens and a shop where she bought a Rosary ring blessed by the pope, “I walked away with a deep sense of resilience, mercy, reconciliation and second chances.
Catholic Intellectual Tradition was a theme of the seminars and panels that McCormack attended. “Grounded in history, not in books but in the culture of the first Benedictine monks, whose aim was to discover, document and spread knowledge,” she said. “God is always at the center of intellectual work.
“I went on this trip not as a tourist, although we were able to see some beautiful and historically significant places that were inspiring, but as a student,” McCormack noted. “I am very judicious about using our college’s resources, but there were so many intellectual and spiritual benefits of this trip that I felt it was money well spent.
“After seven years as president of this college, I believed I had something to offer and still deepen my understanding and it really was so valuable.”
Caption: Dr. Amy McCormack, president of Calumet College of St. Joseph in Hammond, is greeted by Pope Francis as she participates in a private audience with him at the Vatican during a recent visit to Italy with the Association of Catholic Colleges and Universities. "It was a once-in-a-lifetime experience," said Dr. McCormack, who conversed with the pontiff about educational issues. (Photo courtesy of Vatican Media)