Christendom College President Dr. Timothy O’Donnell was featured on the popular Anchored Podcast recently, speaking on the joy of the Catholic Faith, his 31 years as president, and the importance of beauty in today’s world. Speaking with Jeremy Tate, CEO of the Classic Learning Test, O’Donnell encouraged listeners to “manifest the beauty of Christ’s love” in their lives, helping to restore higher education — and the broader culture at large — in Christ.
The Anchored Podcast is a production of the Classic Learning Test (CLT), with host Tate speaking with leading thinkers at the intersection of education and culture each week. This was O’Donnell’s first appearance on the podcast, with Tate diving into O’Donnell’s life, his tenure at Christendom, his favorite book, and more over the course of a forty-minute conversation.
Beginning with O’Donnell’s own life, Tate asked him about his time in Rome as a graduate student at the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas (Angelicum), where he was the first layman to receive both his licentiate and doctoral degrees in ascetical and mystical theology from the school. O’Donnell shared stories about being in Rome for the election of Pope St. John Paul II, including how he first met the legendary pontiff.
“I’ll share with you one personal encounter that was just amazing when [Pope St. John Paul II] had his meeting with the Pontifical University students,” said O’Donnell. “There were no lay people studying in Rome at this time. So I’m there, surrounded by seminarians, priests and nuns. I’ve got a beautiful wife and I’ve got this girl and John Paul’s walking in and he comes right over to us and he says, ‘My son, what are you doing here?’ I said, ‘Holy Father, I’m studying theology at your alma mater at the Angelicum.’ He grabbed my arm — what a grip he had — squeezed it and said, ‘This is true. This is just what the church needs.’ So, he blessed our daughter and gave me a papal mandate to continue my study of theology.”
During the interview, O’Donnell shared stories about being in Rome for the election of Pope St. John Paul II, including how he first met the legendary pontiff.
Tate continued on, asking O’Donnell about Christendom’s place in American higher education. In a landscape that puts down anything that is not specialization and continues to become ever more secular, Christendom stands in a stark contrast. O’Donnell explained that Christendom was founded for that very reason, as an answer to the problems that were running rampant in higher education — and especially Catholic higher education — in the 1960s and 70s.
“What Christendom did that was really unique is they did something radical in the 1970s: they went back to a traditional Catholic liberal arts education,” says O’Donnell. “There’s a core curriculum that everyone takes. You don’t pick a major till you’re in your junior year, but everyone has to take history, philosophy, theology, literature, classical language, mathematics, political science. The purpose is to form lay leaders, people who are going to go out and have an impact on the larger culture. I think the beauty of Christendom is this idea of forming, through the liberal arts, people who will go out and have an impact on society, whether they go into politics, journalism, teaching, academia, medicine. Whatever you do, you do as a believing committed Roman Catholic who, as St. Peter says, can give a reason for the hope that was in them.”
Before closing the conversation, Tate expressed his enthusiasm for the college’s new Christ the King Chapel, which is set to be dedicated on April 15. Speaking on his own conversion to Catholicism, Tate mentioned how spending time in Lyon, France, particularly in the beautiful cathedrals, helped lead him to the Catholic Faith. Tate asked O’Donnell what the connection is between the love for Christ and building beautiful cathedrals, churches, and chapels, to which O’Donnell responded that “the whole purpose of the building is to give glory and honor to God.”
“What I hope this church is going to do is remind everybody that there is somebody who loves you infinitely, and someone who died for you and has left you this beautiful patrimony.”
“Churches are meant to be appreciated, and God loves beauty,” said O’Donnell. “Look at the sunrise, look at the sunset. There’s beauty everywhere. God is a consummate artist. So, to be able to take that and communicate that in architecture or in painting or in sculpture or in mosaic work, it touches the heart in a deep way and it draws people more deeply in the mystery of God. What I hope this church is going to do is remind everybody that there is somebody who loves you infinitely, and someone who died for you and has left you this beautiful patrimony. When you love, you want to create beauty. If we love Christ and we want to manifest the beauty of his love, we can do that in art.”