Prayers for Fr. Sean Sheridan and Franciscan University

For several years, The Cardinal Newman Society has had the honor and privilege of working closely with Father Sean Sheridan, TOR, president of Franciscan University of Steubenville, Ohio. We ask Catholics to join us in prayer for Father Sheridan, who today announced his resignation, and for an outstanding successor to lead Franciscan University, which we are proud to recommend in The Newman Guide as one of America’s best Catholic colleges.

An expert in canon law and Ex corde Ecclesiae, the Vatican constitution on Catholic higher education, Father Sheridan has been steadfastly devoted to the Catholic mission of Franciscan University. Earlier this year, he invited all of the university’s faculty and staff to join in the Oath of Fidelity as an outward sign of their fidelity and commitment to faithful Catholic education.

Looking forward, we hope that the next president—whether another priest or one of the lay men and women whom Franciscan University has served so well—will continue to uphold the vision of Blessed John Henry Cardinal Newman and Pope St. John Paul II for the Catholic university. We trust that Franciscan University will continue to unite faith and reason in the teaching and pursuit of truth, and that it will continue to hire mission-fit professors and staff who are role models for students inside and outside of the classroom.

May God bless Father Sheridan in his next steps, and may God bless Franciscan University as it continues to provide students a thoroughly Catholic education and formation.