Our annual Graduation ceremony took place on Sat Nov. 9th in our historic College Chapel. Master of ceremonies was Dr Gaven Kerr, Academic Registrar, assisted by Rev Dr John Paul Sheridan, Acting Dean of Theology and Rev Dr Michael Shortall, Acting President.
Archbishop Eamon Martin, Chancellor of St Patrick’s Pontifical University, Maynooth addressed the gathering, including graduates, faculty members and staff of the university, family and friends.
Archbishop Martin observed the diversity of the graduating classes of 2024, including different age profiles, single and married people, and a number of different nationalities present. The Chancellor encouraged those graduating to take what they have learned from studying Theology and Philosophy out into the world, not to hold it back for themselves. Graduates were told they can be Pilgrims of Hope , interpreting the gospel within the culture in which they live. Theology linked to prayer is a reflection on and of faith, it helps those of faith to avoid being slaves to changing fashion trends.
In offering congratulations to all, Archbishop Martin wished that graduates would express the gospel in their lives and help restore faith.
The Chancellor also thanked Rev Prof Michael Mullaney for his years of dedication as president. It was noted that Rev Mullaney had guided the College through a period of change and challenge including the pandemic and that he had left the university in a positive position now that it is on the cusp of gaining QQI awarding status recognition.
Archbishop Martin’s full address can be viewed here:
In September 1980 when I arrived here in Maynooth to begin I my studies for the priesthood, the place was still buzzing with the excitement of the visit of Pope John Paul II here the previous year, when he had stood in this College chapel in front of almost 900 seminarians gathered from various seminaries around Ireland. Afterwards the Pope went outside to the top of ‘the Graf’ where he addressed almost 80,000 people including several thousand priests, missionaries, religious brothers and sisters, the staff of the College and University and lay people from the locality. They heard Pope John Paul celebrate the name of Maynooth which he said was widely known and respected, all over the Catholic world.
45 years on we live in a dramatically different Ireland - for both Church and society, but interestingly, when you read the homilies and speeches which Pope John Paul gave back then, he seemed to be anticipating the tectonic shifts which have since occurred on this island- in culture and life, in politics, markets, communications and technology and the environment - shifts which led our own Pope Francis to suggest we are living not just through an era of change, but in “change of epoch”.
Pope St John Paul told those gathered here in Maynooth on that misty October morning,. “This decade of the 1980s which we are about to enter could be crucial and decisive for the future of the faith in Ireland…”
Later that afternoon, the Pope went to Limerick and, in front of 400,000 people at Limerick racecourse, he returned to this theme: “Ireland”, he said, “is at a point of decision in her history… Ireland must choose. Will it be the transformation of all strata of humanity into a new creation, or (will it be) the way that many nations have gone - giving excessive importance to economic growth and material possessions while neglecting the things of the spirit….”
Dear graduates of 2024, friends and colleagues, I leave it to you to reflect on the choices that we in Ireland have been making over the past 45 years. There are those who maintain that Ireland is now a modern, progressive country which rightly chose to leave behind a dark oppressive past. Others differ, saying that Ireland has lost something of its soul, and foolishly opted for rampant and often aggressive secularism, for the primacy of individual choice - and forsaken the faith of our fathers.
Perhaps neither of these perspectives tells the full story. But standing here today, celebrating your outstanding achievements, including seven doctoral degrees in Theology and Philosophy - our highest number for many years - I am filled with hope for Church and Society in Ireland. As we prepare to celebrate a jubilee year, as pilgrims of Hope for the world, your achievements and the gifts you bring are good news for Ireland and for our troubled world.
I’m particularly pleased that the graduation class of 2024 is made up of an international mix of lay, ordained, and consecrated persons, of women and men, younger and older, single, married or celibate. Friends what a difference you can make! Each one of you is now called to “fan into a flame” the particular vocation that God has given you. Your gifts, your energy and enthusiasm, can help to rekindle faith, restore hope, and re-ignite love and charity in the hearts of the people of Ireland and beyond.
That afternoon 45 years ago in Limerick, Pope John Paul II reminded everyone present that we are all called to be the ‘salt of the earth’ and the ‘light of the world’. But he highlighted the specific vocation and mission of lay people to express the gospel in their lives and thereby to “insert the gospel as a leaven” into the reality of the world in which they live and work.
My dear graduates, now that you have accomplished so much, do not hold it to yourself. Be missionary disciples! Using your rich gifts, transform Ireland and the world from within! Share with others what you have learned; continue to explore the great questions of theology, philosophy, education and culture in dialogue with others, and be pilgrims of hope in facing the many new challenges that continue to bombard us from every angle.
This time last year, Pope Francis when speaking to the Pontifical Academy of Theology Pope Francis emphasised that theologians are called to “confront profound cultural transformations” in the world and to “prophetically interpret the present and glimpse new itineraries for the future in the light of Revelation”.
He spoke of a “fundamentally contextual theology, capable of reading and interpreting the Gospel in the conditions in which men and women daily live, in different geographical, social and cultural environments…. “From here”, he continued, “theology cannot but develop into a culture of dialogue and encounter between different traditions and different knowledge, between different Christian denominations and different religions, openly confronting everyone, believers and non-believers alike.”
I like to read those words of our Holy Father alongside those words spoken long ago here in Maynooth when he strongly linked theology with prayer and with the building of a community of faith and love. On that day back in 1979 he stated that theology is a “reflection on faith” and a “reflection in faith”. It is only when the teaching of theologians is in conformity with the teaching of the college of Bishops, united with the Pope, that the People of God can know with certitude that that teaching is “the faith which has been once and for all entrusted to the Saints“. He stressed that this is not a limitation for theologians, but a liberation; because it preserves them from being subservient to changing fashions and binds them securely to the unchanging truth of Christ, ‘the truth which makes us free’ (John 7:32).
Friends this is an exciting time to be immersed in theology, philosophy, education, and I encourage you to go out from here ready for mission, dressed for action, with your lamps lit; to be a light in the darkness and salt for the earth.
Celebrate and give thanks for your achievements - for the gifts you have nourished here in library, lecture hall and study. Accept our congratulations, for we know that none of this could have happened without your dedication, commitment, and determination. Well done.
Be mindful today of the many people who have helped you along the way- your lecturers and tutors, supervisors, mentors and sponsors, not just those who directly assisted your learning process, but also the friends, family members and other loved ones who encouraged you to achieve your full potential. We are all round of you today. Comghairdeas libh go leir!
Acting President Fr Shortall and Members of Staff, on behalf of the Trustees and of all our 200+ graduates and their families, I thank you for all you are doing to assure the continued success and ongoing development of St Patrick’s Pontifical University and National Seminary.
Our vision is to flourish in the service of church, society and culture, nationally and internationally, through a community of research and learning that fosters intellectual, pastoral and professional excellence. To that end I am pleased to see the positive progress we are making to achieve full QQI recognition and validation from Quality and Qualifications Ireland and I thank the entire faculty for the solid work you are already putting into this project - I wish well Fr Shortall our Acting President, our new academic registrar, Dr Gaven Kerr; Moria Crowley, our quality assurance and enhancement manager, in heading up this ongoing important initiative which was begun under the leadership of Professor Michael Mullaney our former President who announced his departure recently. Father Mullaney has given great service to the College and Pontifical University over his eight years as President, steering us through a significant period of change, challenge and opportunity - I thank him for his commitment and dedication, and I wish him many blessings as he prepares to return to full time pastoral ministry.
Similarly I send good wishes and thanks to Dr Philip Gonzales and Dr Suzanne Mulligan as they take up their new appointments in the United States.
And to you, our graduates of 2024, I wish you every blessing for the future, whatever choices you have made about your next steps and whatever paths you will travel next on your pilgrimage of hope: Guim rath Dé ar bhuir saotháir amach anseo. “May the favour of the Lord be upon you and give continued success to the work of your hands”.
(L-R) Jean Fredin Iandry, Adele O'Sullivan, Anthony Moffett, Clare Flynn
(L-R) is Academic Registrar & Lecturer in Philosophy, Dr Gaven Kerr, Dr Karlo Broussard, SPPU Chancellor, Archbishop Eamon Martin, and Acting President, Rev Dr Michael Shortall.
(L-R) is Acting President, Rev Dr Michael Shortall, SPPU Chancellor, Archbishop Eamon Martin, and Academic Registrar & Lecturer in Philosophy, Dr Gaven Kerr. 
Address by Dr Aoife McGrath at the Mass on the Occasion of the 2024 Graduation Ceremony
Good morning everyone. My name is Aoife McGrath and I am a member of the Faculty of Theology. It is my privilege this year to offer a word of congratulation to our graduands this morning, on behalf of the staff here in St Pats. We share in your joy today, for all that you have achieved. Some of you might only have been studying with us for a year, others might have been with us quite a bit longer.
But, that you are here, on this day, is a sign that you have cultivated a certain resilience and persistence. Let’s be very honest: there is nothing easy about studying Theology or Philosophy! Not to mention how challenging it can be to continuously explain to others why you are studying theology/philosophy in the first place. But you have made it through, because of all your hard work, the long hours you spent wrestling with sources (and footnotes) – and because you diligently integrated into your work all of the wise feedback from your lecturers! I am sure there were many sacrifices and compromises you had to make along the way. The fact is, it can be challenging to make education a priority. To get to Graduation Day, you showed a determination to continue working; and today you yield the rewards.
University study can seem like a solitary journey. However, I am sure our graduands know well how much of their achievement is owing to the support of their loved ones, family and friends. Today is a good opportunity to offer you our thanks for all you have done to encourage, reassure, and motivate our graduands throughout their time of study. Their success is your success, so I hope today you thoroughly enjoy the well earned celebrations.
As staff, we work hard to create the type of hospitable space that makes learning possible. One of the most valuable features of studying in St Pats is that we are such a diverse community: lay, ordained, and religious; men and women, of all ages and of varying backgrounds, coming from many different cultures and contexts. We all come together – drawn by our shared curiosity – to discover more about our humanity, our God, our faith, and our place in this world.
Your lecturers and supervisors have challenged you in your learning, either with new concepts, or skills, or methods, practices or processes. Wrestling with these has no doubt altered you in subtle yet significant ways, or perhaps in more fundamental, profounds ways.
But you have learned much more than we tried to teach. You have learned from one another; This peer encounter and learning is vital. It fosters within us a greater attention to mutual care; it builds mutual trust, deepens our
awareness of our interdependence, and it makes co-responsibility possible; it helps us overcome fear of difference; and truly experience and appreciate the value of diversity.
Of course, your learning continues beyond the course from which you will graduate today. You go forth from this community and transfer your energy and focus to life and work in our complex world. This day marks a symbolic threshold. Many of you will have begun to transition into the next stage – of your share in God’s work – wherever that may be. But today gives you an opportunity to become aware of that transition, to see what emotions it evokes in you, to take stock of what it might mean to move on to what awaits, what energy, motivation, resources the next stage will require. We hope that your studies in St Pats will continue to yield new learning for you, as you work for the good in our world.
To finish I will share a short extract from a collection called Benedictus: A Book of Blessings, by John O’Donohue. He was a native of my own home-County Clare, who likewise spent his formative college years here in Maynooth.
He wrote:
At any time you can ask yourself: At which threshold am I now standing? At this time in my life, what am I leaving? Where am I about to enter? What is preventing me from crossing my next threshold? What gift would enable me to do it? A threshold is not a simple boundary; it is a frontier that divides two different territories, rhythms and atmospheres. Indeed, it is a lovely testimony to the fullness and integrity of an experience - or a stage of life - that it intensifies toward the end …into a real frontier …that cannot be crossed, without the heart being passionately engaged and woken up. At this threshold a great complexity of emotions comes alive: confusion, fear, excitement, sadness, hope. This is one of the reasons such vital crossings were always clothed in ritual. It is wise in your own life to be able to recognize and acknowledge the key thresholds; to take your time; to feel all the varieties of presence that accrue there; to listen inward with complete attention until you hear the inner voice calling you forward. The time has come to cross.
Congratulations again to our Graduands and your families. Enjoy the day.