Mission and Ministry

The Office of Mission & Ministry advances the Catholic identity, Ignatian heritage, and Jesuit mission of Georgetown University, the oldest Catholic and Jesuit university in the country. The Office supports the integration of learning, faith, and service through a broad array of programs and partnerships that engage students, faculty, staff, University leadership, and alumni in the understanding and practice of our religious identity, values, and commitments.

Each year, thousands of individuals participate in our programming through  retreats, seminars, lectures, national and international immersion experiences, service projects, and opportunities for worship and spiritual reflection on campus, on location, and on-line.

As a constitutive feature of our Catholic and Jesuit identity, the Office of Mission & Ministry provides a spiritual home at Georgetown for people of all religious and non-religious backgrounds. We strive to represent a “centered pluralism” in our programming and outreach, and respectfully engage the particular traditions represented in and by the members of our Hoya family.

Announcements

The Office of Mission & Ministry hosts the Sr. Thea Bowman Lecture to celebrate the life and legacy of Sr. Thea Bowman. This annual lecture highlights African-American Spirituality within Catholic and Protestant communities and deepens collaboration, support, and unity. We are pleased to welcome Rev. Dr. James Forbes, Jr., as this year’s lecturer.

Rev. Dr. James Forbes, Jr. is the National Minister of the Drum Major Institute, Senior Minister Emeritus of The Riverside Church, the Harry Emerson Fosdick Distinguished Professor at Union Theological Seminary, and president of the Healing of the Nations Foundation. A highly acclaimed author, scholar, internationally renowned speaker, and recipient of 14 honorary degrees, Dr. Forbes is affectionately called “the preacher’s preacher” in national and international religious circles because of his extensive preaching career and his charismatic style.

When we contemplate Christ Crucified, we enter into an encounter with the brokenness and suffering in our lives and our society. Often this encounter can be overwhelming. Who can help us see and make sense of this pain and misery if not Mary, his mother and first disciple? How can she help us endure and even begin to address the injustices that plague our world? Gloria Purvis guides us in this meditation on love and discipleship.

Gloria Purvis is an author, commentator, public scholar and the host and executive producer of The Gloria Purvis Podcast. Through her media presence, she has been a strong Catholic voice for life issues, religious liberty, and racial justice. She has appeared in numerous media outlets, including The New York Times, The Washington Post, Fox News, PBS Newshour, NPR, Newsweek, and Catholic Answers Live, and hosted Morning Glory, an international radio show. She was Our Sunday Visitor’s Catholic of the Year for 2020. She presented a powerful video series entitled Racism, Human Dignity and The Catholic Church through the Word on Fire Institute. She was part of a groundbreaking, exclusive interview with Pope Francis with a delegation from America Media. Most recently, she delivered one of the keynote speeches at the historic National Eucharistic Congress in Indianapolis, Indiana. 

She is the Inaugural Pastoral Fellow at the McGrath Institute for Church Life at Notre Dame University and recently received Honorary Doctorates in Humane Letters from the University of Portland in Oregon and Salve Regina University in Rhode Island. She currently serves on the Board of Directors for Catholic Charities USA.