May 6, 2013 - Diocese of Altoona-Johnstown

Page 6 The Catholic Register, May 6, 2013
Cresson Native New President
Of Franciscan University
SAINT KATERI TEKAKWITHA: Celebrating First Holy Communion
at Saint Kateri Tekakwitha Parish, Spring Mill, were (left to
right) First row: Logan Conrad, Noelle Webb, Cedar Kimler, Miles
Brooks. Second row: Vickie Hazel (teacher), Morgan Shaffer, Adrian
Gover and Father Valentine Bradley (parochial vicar).
St. Peregrine Shrine
At the Church of
The Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary
1127 McKinley Avenue, Johnstown PA 15905-4323
Saint Peregrine is the Patron Saint
of Cancer Sufferers.
He is a powerful intercessor with
God for all those who are seeking
good health.
Saint Peregrine (1260-1345) was
a Servite Friar canonized in 1726.
His feast is May 1.
Father Barry Baroni and the faith community at Visitation
of the Blessed Virgin Mary Parish Invite you to send your
prayer intentions to the new Shrine of Saint Peregrine at
their parish church. The suggested donation for a candle to
burn at the Shrine is $3.00; a novena booklet may be obtained
for $1.00. All intentions will be remembered at every
Mass celebrated at the parish for a period of 30 days.
Please remember my intentions at the Shrine:
Name: _____________________________________
Address: ___________________________________
Intention: __________________________________
___________________________________________
On Friday, April 19, the
Board of Trustees of Franciscan
University of Steubenville (OH)
announced the appointment of
Third Order Regular Franciscan
Father Sean Sheridan, as
the school’s sixth president. He
succeeds Third Order Regular
Franciscan Father Terence Henry,
who has served as president
since 2000.
“Father Sean brings an
excellent blend of academic,
pastoral, legal, and business experience
to Franciscan University.
He has also demonstrated a
strong care and concern for the
good of the University’s educational
and spiritual mission. Together,
these qualifications will
uniquely equip him to lead Franciscan
University according to
the ‘heart of the Church,’” said
Third Order Regular Franciscan
Father Nicholas Polichnowski,
chairman of the Board of Trustees
and minister provincial of
the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus
Province of the Third Order
Regular of Saint Francis of Penance.
Father Sheridan served as
assistant professor in the School
of Canon Law at The Catholic
University of America from
2009 until he joined Franciscan
University’s Theology Department
as a professor in fall 2012,
teaching graduate and undergraduate
courses. A member of
the Board of Trustees of Saint
Francis University in Loretto,
since 2010, he also held a position
on the Franciscan University
Board of Trustees from 2007-
2012, working on the Student
Life Committee and the Academic
Affairs Committee, which
he chaired from 2011-2012.
Before he entered the Franciscan
Third Order Regular, he
graduated in 1985 with a bachelor
of science in pharmacy from
the University of Pittsburgh
School of Pharmacy, working
as a pharmacy training manager
from 1984-1990. In 1990, he
earned his juris doctor from the
University of Pittsburgh School
of Law and spent the next 10
years as a practicing attorney in
FATHER SEAN SHERIDAN
T.O.R.
Sacramento and Pittsburgh, focusing
on healthcare litigation,
primarily with the representation
of hospitals and physicians.
The Cresson native entered
the Franciscan Third Order Regular
in 2000 and made his solemn
profession of vows in 2005.
He was ordained to the priesthood
in December 2006.
In 2007, Father Sheridan
graduated from Washington
Theological Union with his
master of divinity. He obtained a
doctorate in canon law from The
Catholic University of America
School of Canon Law in 2009.
His dissertation, “Ex corde Ecclesiae:
A Canonical Commentary
on Catholic Universities
‘From the Heart of the Church’
to Catholic Universities,” addresses
seven challenges to the
implementation of Pope John
Paul II’s Apostolic Constitution
on Catholic Universities and
suggests solutions to those issues.
“I am honored to serve as
the next president of Franciscan
University. It is inspiring and
truly humbling for me to be here
at Franciscan University with
the students who are pouring
their hearts into their education
and their prayer life, falling in
love with God and the Church,
and striving to become saints,”
Father Sheridan said.
“The University has grown
in every area under Father Terence’s
leadership and increased
its reputation for excellent academics
and faithful Catholicism.
I will build on that strong
foundation, always with a view
to serving the Church and the
new evangelization,” Father
Sheridan said. “I look forward
to working with Father Terence,
the Board of Trustees, and the
entire faculty and staff as we
continue to seek God’s will in
advancing Franciscan University’s
educational and spiritual
mission.”
Since 2009, Father Sheridan
has served on the Editorial
Board and since 2011, as book
review editor for The Jurist
(CUA Press), the only canon
law journal published in the
United States. His scholarly articles
have been published in
The Jurist, Journal of Catholic
Higher Education, and other
academic journals. He has given
presentations at The Catholic
University of America School of
Canon Law, and in June 2012,
he addressed Catholic bishops at
a symposium offered by a committee
of the U.S. Conference of
Catholic Bishops. He advises religious
communities and Catholic
universities as a canonical
consultant and began serving
as judge of the Diocesan Tribunal
for the Diocese of Altoona-
Johnstown in 2012.
Father Sheridan’s pastoral
experience includes Franciscan
University summer conferences,
parish ministerial duties, RCIA,
pastoral care at hospitals, campus
ministry, and residence hall
chaplaincy. He also serves within
the Sacred Heart Province in
many other capacities.
Father Sheridan will assume
the duties of president
June 1, the start of the new fiscal
year for Franciscan University.
He will be formally installed as
the president during the inauguration
ceremony on October 10,
2013.
Franciscan University of
Steubenville was founded in
1946 by friars of the Most Sacred
Heart of Jesus Province of
the Third Order Regular of Saint
Francis of Penance.