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Fairfield University Students, Staff Celebrate Jesuit Connection With Pope

FAIRFIELD, Conn. -- Students from Fairfield University — and schools across the world — will be following the pope’s visit to the United States as he arrives Tuesday afternoon in Washington, D.C.

Pope Francis

Pope Francis

Photo Credit: Raffaele Esposito via Flickr

But the visit has special significance for Fairfield University students, who attend a school steeped in Jesuit tradition, because Pope Francis is a Jesuit. 

"As a Jesuit institution, we are thrilled and encouraged to have a Jesuit pope at this time," Fairfield University President the Rev. Jeffrey von Arx, S.J., said in a statement. "It is a particularly auspicious moment I think for Jesuit universities around the world."

To celebrate the pope's visit, Fairfield University is setting up several events for students. 

“A number of different activities have been planned — both visits to see the pope and panels as well as some fun activities to create engagement,” Associate Vice President of Marketing & Communications Jenn Anderson told the Daily Voice.

The events kick off Tuesday evening with the Catholic Studies and Public Life Co-Sponsored teach-in event entitled “Ecology and Catholic Social Teaching: The Pope’s New Encyclical.”

A few days later, students can attend a Pope Watch Party, where they can watch on television as Pope Francis as addresses the U.S. Congress. This is the first time any pope has addressed Congress in history, according to the university.

Students will also have the opportunity to travel by bus to Philadelphia to see the pope celebrate Mass on Sunday, Sept. 27, on the Benjamin Franklin Parkway. The event is open to the public — if you can get there. 

The trip has been very well received by the student body, Anderson said.

“We’ll be sending a good number of students down to the papal mass,” she said, adding that the Diocese of Bridgeport has offered bus transportation to Fairfield University students.

And some just-for-fun events are in the works, too. Students on campus will have virtual photo opportunities, including a pope photo booth. The university will also have Instagram photo cutouts, which students can use as props in photos. 

Discussions of the pope’s visit will extend into the classroom as professors encourage students to learn more about the pope’s visit, Anderson said. 

Following all these events, Anderson said she hopes that students take away a feeling of community. She also hopes the visit will deepen their appreciation of a Jesuit education.

“I hope that students take away a strong sense of community and what a Jesuit education does for them in both in the four year experience as a student here at Fairfield and beyond,” Anderson said.

The university has also set up a special website with a schedule of pope-related events, stories from Fairfield alumni and a live feed that monitors the hashtag #jesuiteducated. 

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