Msgr. Christopher Schreck Installed as 16th Rector/President

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“There has been no more blessed time or more fortunate moment in history to become the 16th Rector/President of the Pontifical College Josephinum,” said Reverend Monsignor Christopher J. Schreck, PhD, STD, in remarks offered during his installation Mass celebrated on October 23, 2012. “This is because of our present and because of our past, and with a view toward the future that God has in store for us, which will come about with the cooperation and diligent effort of all of us,” he said.

Most Reverend Frederick F. Campbell, DD, PhD, Bishop of Columbus and Vice-Chancellor of the Josephinum, was the principal celebrant and homilist for the Installation Mass.

Speaking to the role and responsibilities of a seminary rector, Bishop Campbell noted that, “The rector is not only the leader of the seminary but also pater familias – the father of the family. He is both pastor in a hierarchical sense but also father within the seminary.”

In his first year as rector, Monsignor Schreck will be pater familias for 197 seminarians from more than 25 dioceses throughout the United States – the seminary’s highest enrollment in more than 40 years.

During the Installation ceremony, Monsignor Schreck was asked to make a Profession of Faith and to take the Oath of Fidelity on Assuming an Office to be Exercised in the Name of the Church. He was then presented with the Rector’s Medallion, a bronze medal originally presented to the Josephinum’s founder, Monsignor Joseph Jessing, in observance of his 25th anniversary of ordination.

“In becoming the 16th Rector/President of this institution, I join a long line that stretches back to Monsignor Joseph Jessing, our founder,” Msgr. Schreck reflected. “I am grateful for the wonderful gift that has been given, especially by my immediate predecessors, in the foundation upon which I hope to build consistently and with continuity. It is because of their efforts that we are where we are today and that we can look forward to letting God realize for us, with our cooperation, that incredibly bright future that is ahead.” 

Concelebrating at the Installation Mass were many bishops who serve on the Josephinum’s Board of Trustees: Most Reverend Ronald Herzog, Bishop of Alexandria and Chair of the Board; Most Reverend Roger Foys, Bishop of Covington and Vice-Chair of the Board; Most Reverend Terry LaValley, Bishop of Ogdensburg; and Most Reverend Daniel Flores, Bishop of Brownsville. A heartfelt welcome was extended also to Most Reverend Gregory Hartmayer, OFM Conv., Bishop of Savannah.