Saturday, June 23, 2018, marked the closing of the 114th academic year of the Pontifical Theological Faculty of St. Bonaventure (Seraphicum) in Rome. The faculty is governed by the Order of Friars Minor Conventual.
The festivities began, as usual, with the celebration of a Mass of Thanksgiving. After the Mass, everyone gathered for a friendly, outdoor dinner in the park of the Seraphicum.
The Mass was presided-over by Friar Jerzy NOREL who is both Vicar General of the Order of Friars Minor Conventual and Vice Chancellor of the Faculty. Friar Jerzy, recalling the greeting of the Dean, Friar Đinh Anh Nhuệ NGUYỄN, mentioned that the Mass is a good time to thank the Lord for the many gifts received during the academic year, not only in terms of education, but also in terms of relationships, through the friendships established between students.
“These years of study,” said Friar Jerzy “represent a time of encounter with God. Those who study theology are engaged in the dynamics of not only understanding but also encounter, of experiencing a Person. God is not an idea or a concept or something abstract. Rather, he is a living and true Person who loves us”.
At the end of the Mass, the Dean named and acknowledged those students who, during the course of the academic year, had passed the exams for their degrees: Those who received baccalaureate degrees were Vincent Antony Pragasam INNASIMUTHU; Christopher Michael DUDEK, OFM Conv.; Joseph Dayag-Né-Wendé KADSONDO, OFM Conv.; Franca LIMONGI, Manuel Edgardo NÚÑEZ GALLARDO, OFM Conv.; Téyindé Songré Martin ROUAMBA, OFM Conv.; Ramón Alfredo RUI UREÑA, OFM Conv.; and Mateusz WOJTOWICZ, OFM Conv. Those who received licentiate degrees were Pedro Javier MORA ALVIAREZ, OFM Conv.; Đông Thành HOANG; OFM Conv.; and Alessio SECONI.
Classes for the new academic year will start on Monday October 8, 2018.
Elisabetta LO IACONO
