Posted By The Catholic Free Press June 12, 2015

By Tanya Connor

Assumption College students will face a little dilemma with a deep meaning behind it upon their return to campus next fall. They have to decide what to call the campus minister they knew as “Bro Ro.”

“Bro Ro” was their nickname for Brother Ronald Sibugan. But that’s not who he is anymore. Shortly before summer break – May 2 to be exact – Bishop McManus ordained him a priest.

He’s still an Augustinian of the Assumption, but now he’s a religious priest instead of a religious brother. The two vocations – religious life and priesthood – which have now converged, help him do his ministry.

He’s an Assumptionist first. Some brothers go on to priesthood, if they and their community discern that’s God’s call. Father Ronald, 36, says he thinks the Assumptionists need a young priest here.

 A religious priest is different than a diocesan priest in that he is supported by his community and is to live out the congregation’s charisms, Father Ronald says.

“The friendship with Jesus – to be with him and to be sent out are inseparable,” he says. “We … live in apostolic community. … The community is part of our apostolic work. … The community life is a sign of God’s presence and action in the world. …
“Our charism is to bring the Kingdom of God in us and around us and one way of doing it is being a campus minister. … I represent not only campus ministry, but a religious person in the Church.” That helps him correct students’ misconceptions about religious (like “They pray all day”) and the Church (like “It’s only focus is on what you should not do”).

Every year Assumption students like Molly Sweeney '16 travel across the country, and overseas, to lend a helping hand through the College's SEND Service Immersion trips. Last winter Molly traveled to Guayaquil, Ecuador, a region marked by extreme strife and poverty, where she and 11 other students assisted at worksites ranging from a Catholic school to a women's shelter to an after school program run by the Rostro de Cristo foundation. Everywhere they went they made a difference and learned about the importance of faith, service and compassion.

"I thought that I would be going to Ecuador to help change the lives of others, but it was the people of Guayaquil who changed my life and made me appreciate all of my blessings," Molly remembers. She also remembers the simple joy and profound sense of accomplishment she felt serving those in need-and how it has inspired her to keep on helping

Position Endowed by Donald ’64 and Michele D’Amour

Professor J. Brian Benestad, Ph.D., was formally installed May 1, 2015, as Assumption College’s inaugural D’Amour Chair in the Catholic Intellectual Tradition. The Chair affirms the College’s commitment to its mission as an institution of higher education that is enlivened by the Catholic affirmation of the harmony of faith and reason that aims, by the pursuit of the truth, to transform the minds and hearts of students.

The ceremony was held in La Maison Française Salon and remarks were given by Assumption College President Francesco C. Cesareo, Ph.D., Interim Provost Louise Carroll Keeley, Ph.D., and the chair’s benefactor, Donald D’Amour ’64.

In 2008, Donald D’Amour and his wife Michele made a historic $4.2 million gift to the College—the largest in Assumption’s 111-year history. More than half of this generous contribution was used to establish the Donald and Michele D'Amour Chair in the Catholic intellectual Tradition. As the D’Amour Chair, Professor Benestad’s responsibilities include teaching one or two courses per semester in his field of specialization and leading a faculty workshop or seminar on the Catholic intellectual tradition as part of on-going faculty development efforts.

(As we recall the end of World War II and the incredible stories emanating from the German Nazi concentration camps, the following story recently appeared in a local French newspaper about Fr. Delory and his own experience.)

Liberation from Dachau. "I am at Dachau and in fairly good shape. It was Sunday, April 29 at 5:30 PM that American soldiers liberated us. As you can imagine, it was with absolute delirium that they were welcomed by the 30,000 plus prisoners who were awaiting them! Before they even entered the camp, they saw piles of dead bodies, fellow prisoners that our S.S. guards had executed --- a horror --- a total breach of all international guidelines of accountability. When our liberators did enter the camp and saw with their own eyes scenes that outsiders could hardly believe, they better understood our enthusiasm, our emotion, and our gratitude. All of us appeared before them. Thank God that seeing what was happening within the camp, they stopped to liberate us before marching on to Munich. I am lucky to be counted those in fairly good shape. There are thousands in poor shape, others who are totally exhausted, especially survivors from the last trains that arrived. How many victims and in what terrible condition! Tomorrow we will have a ceremony of thanksgiving as well as a Mass for the dead on the site where roll-call took place every day and where an altar has been set up ... ". Fr. Delory May 2, 1945.

Biography of Fr. Delory, A.A, a member of the Province of Paris.