Commencement Addresses

Francis X. Maier: 2025 Commencement Address

Christendom College celebrated its 46th commencement on May 17, awarding 130 Bachelor of Arts degrees to the Class of 2025, the largest graduating class in the college’s history. Francis X. Maier, senior fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Center, delivered this year’s Commencement Address and received an honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters in recognition of his outstanding contributions to Catholic faith, culture, and public life. “The church needs the college that formed you, and she urgently needs each one of you personally because it’s people, not tools or weapons or even resources, that are decisive,” said Maier. “Any effort at restoring all things in Christ, which is the mission of this college and its graduates, begins with conversion, reform, and a personal zeal for discipleship in each of our individual hearts.” Maier, who served for 23 years as senior aide to Archbishop Charles Chaput and 15 years as editor-in-chief of The National Catholic Register, praised the graduates during his address, encouraging them to stay the course that Christendom placed them on as they go forth to “restore all things in Christ." "The proof of an education is the people it produces, and I’ve seen the impact of this college again and again and again over the decades of my own career,” stated Maier. “Simply put, Christendom College is a treasure. Very rare in the academic world because, at its best, it produces whole, fully human beings grounded in something more than intellectual fashion. So, for the parents here today, thank you for the sacrifices you’ve made in giving this gift to the children you love. And for the students, take a moment of pride today in the fact that all of you as graduates, whether you fully understand it yet or not, have the vocation and the ability to be extraordinary men and women in God’s service.”

Professor Tracey Rowland: 2024 Commencement Address

Professor Tracey Rowland received an Honorary Doctorate and delivered Christendom College's commencement address on May 11, 2024. Rowland hails from Australia, where she earned her primary degrees in law and government from the University of Queensland before completing a Bachelor of Letters in philosophy and a Master of Arts in political philosophy from the University of Melbourne. She later won a Commonwealth Scholarship to Cambridge University, where she wrote her doctoral dissertation. In 2001, she was appointed as Dean of the John Paul II Institute for Marriage and Family, a position she held until 2017. While holding this position, Rowland completed a Licentiate in Sacred Theology and a Doctorate in Sacred Theology, both from the Lateran. Rowland is also the author of many books, including Culture and the Thomist Tradition (London: Routledge, 2003), Ratzinger’s Faith: The Theology of Benedict XVI (Oxford University Press, 2008), Benedict XVI: A Guide for the Perplexed (London: Bloomsbury, 2010), Catholic Theology (London: Bloomsbury, 2017), The Culture of the Incarnation: Essays in Catholic Theology (Steubenville: Emmaus Academic, 2017), Portraits of Spiritual Nobility (New York: Angelico, 2019), and more. She was appointed to the 9th International Theological Commission in 2014 and has been honored with numerous awards, including the Archbishop Michael J. Miller Award for the Promotion of Faith and Culture, the Officer’s Cross of the Order of Merit of the Republic of Poland, and the Ratzinger Prize for theology. In 2023, she was appointed to the Pontifical Academy of the Social Sciences.

Dr. John Haas: 2023 Commencement Address

Dr. John Haas delivered the 2023 Commencement Address and was awarded the college’s St. Thomas More Medal for Defense of the Faith and Holy Mother Church. Haas received his doctorate in moral theology from the Catholic University of America and his licentiate in moral theology from the University of Fribourg, Switzerland. He also studied at the University of Chicago Divinity School and the University of Munich in Germany. Before assuming the presidency of the National Catholic Bioethics Center, Haas was the John Cardinal Krol Professor of Moral Theology at St. Charles Borromeo Theological Seminary in Philadelphia and an adjunct professor at the Pontifical John Paul II Institute for Studies on Marriage and Family in Washington, D.C. He retired as president of the National Catholic Bioethics Center in 2019, remaining on as President Emeritus and as a Senior Fellow. He has been a consultant to both the Committee for Pro-Life Activities and the Subcommittee on Health Care Issues under the Committee on Doctrine for the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. He was appointed by Pope Benedict XVI as an Ordinary Member of the Pontifical Academy for Life and later a member of the Academy’s Directive Council. In 2011, the Holy Father appointed him as a consulter to the Pontifical Council for Health Care Workers. Haas and his late wife, Martha, have nine children and a number of grandchildren.

Robert Cardinal Sarah: 2022 Commencement Address

Internationally renowned author and theologian Robert Cardinal Sarah was honored during Christendom College's 2022 Commencement Ceremonies, with the college awarding him an honorary doctorate of humane letters before he delivered this year’s commencement address.

Lou Holtz: 2021 Commencement Address

Christendom College celebrated its forty-second commencement on May 15, awarding 121 undergraduate degrees to the Class of 2021. Legendary college football coach Lou Holtz was also honored during the ceremony, with the college awarding him the Pro Deo et Patria Award for Distinguished Service to God and Country before he delivered this year’s commencement address.