July 19, 2010
St. John’s University’s 14th graduation ceremonies convened
yesterday at the school’s Rome, Italy campus, as
Rev. Donald J. Harrington, C.M., President of St. John’s,
conferred Master of Arts,
Master of Arts in Liberal Studies and Master of
Business Administration degrees to the 28 graduate students. At
the ceremony, St. John’s University also recognized Joaquin
Navarro-Valls, M.D., who received an honorary Doctor of Science
Degree and Archbishop Joseph Augustine Di Noia, O.P., who received
an honorary Doctor of Laws Degree.
Photo Gallery
“In
a special way, I note the addition and great expansion of our study
abroad program which serves students from St. John’s University in
New York as well as other universities in the United States. Close
to 500 undergraduate students studied on this campus in the past 12
months, so we have much to celebrate this year,” said Rev.
Harrington, C.M., in his speech to students, family and friends
gathered in the Courtyard of the Rome campus. “St.
John’s calls each of us – faculty, students and administrators – to
make a difference in the world. The first step in making that
difference is personal conversation. Let us go forth from this
ceremony and from this University firmly committed to the respect
for and service of our brothers and sisters throughout the
world.”
The 28 graduate students walked down the aisle to accept their
degrees in the areas of:
Master of Arts in Global Development and Social Justice (15);
Master
of Arts in Government and Politics (9): and Master of
Business Administration (4).
Both degree honorees have had successful and distinguished careers.
Joaquin Navarro-Valls, M.D., served as the Director of the Holy See (Vatican)
Press Office from 1984 to 2006, which included the important job of
press liaison to Pope John Paul II. He is a current member of the
Holy See Delegation to international conferences of the United Nations. Most recently Dr.
Novarro-Valls was appointed President of the Advisory Board of the
Universita Campus
Bio-Medico in Rome. Dr. Navarro-Valls excellent work in the
field of medicine allowed him to serve as President of the
Administration Board of the “Maruzza
Lefebvre d’Ovidio” Foundation for terminally ill cancer
patients from 1996 to 2001.
Archbishop Joseph Augustine Di Noia joined the Dominican Eastern Province of
St. Joseph 50 years ago and was ordained a priest of the Order
of Preachers in 1970. He has taught at Providence College, the Dominican House of Studies and as an
adjunct Professor at the Pontifical John Paul II Institute
for Marriage and Family Studies. A prolific writer, Di Noia is
the author of The Diversity of Religions: A Christian
Perspective and The Love That Never Ends: A Key to the
Catechism of the Catholic Church. Most recently, he was named
Secretary of the
Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the
Sacraments and Archbishop of the Titular See of Oregon
City.
The University began operations in Rome with the debut of its new
campus location in 1995 (at via Santa Maria Mediatrice, 24) near
the Vatican. In October 2008, St. John’s dedicated and blessed its
newest location in Rome’s Prati section (at via Marcantonio
Colonna, 21A), a 4-story, 75,000 square foot structure that houses
13 classrooms, 200 resident beds, a chapel, courtyard and
administrative offices. It is owned by the Vincentian community of
priests and brothers, the same faith-based community which founded
St. John’s University in 1870 in the spirit and beliefs of St.
Vincent de Paul.
For more information regarding the graduation ceremony, please
contact Dominic Scianna, Assistant Vice President for Media
Relations, at (718) 990-6185 or via e-mail at sciannad@stjohns.edu.
Italian media may contact the St. John’s Rome Campus at (06) 393
842.