Christendom College President Emeritus Dr. Timothy O’Donnell has been honored by Pope Leo XIV with the Cross Pro Ecclesia et Pontifice, one of the highest honors the Holy See grants to clergy and laity. The award recognizes Dr. O’Donnell for his decades of distinguished service to the Catholic Church, with the Diocese of Arlington’s Bishop Michael Burbidge conferring the award to him at a private ceremony.
Dr. O’Donnell, who retired as president of Christendom last year, was the first layman to receive a doctorate in Ascetical and Mystical Theology from the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas in Rome (Angelicum). Following his studies, he joined Christendom College as a professor in 1985, later becoming the college’s third president in 1992.
Under his leadership, the college established two international study abroad opportunities in Rome and Ireland, expanded the campus with new buildings, including Christ the King Chapel, St. John the Evangelist Library, St. Louis the Crusader Gymnasium, St. Lawrence Commons, and several residence halls, and helped grow the college’s endowment from $200,000 to over $28 million while adhering to its commitment of no government funding. Additionally, during his tenure, undergraduate student enrollment increased more than 3 ½ times from 144 to nearly 550. Further under his leadership, Christendom College merged with the Notre Dame Institute to form the Christendom College Graduate School of Theology, expanding its offerings to graduate-level theological and catechetical programs.
In 2002, Dr. O’Donnell was appointed a consultor to the Pontifical Council for the Family by Pope John Paul II. He is a Knight Grand Cross of the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem and is a member of many other organizations, including the Catholic Academy of Sciences and The Fellowship of Catholic Scholars. He is also on the Board of Advisors for the Institute on Religious Life, the Cardinal Newman Society, and the Institute of Catholic Culture. He received the Cardinal Newman Society Award for “Excellence in Catholic Higher Education,” in addition to the 2012 Bowie Kuhn Special Award for Evangelization from Legatus.
Dr. O’Donnell is the author of Heart of the Redeemer, a theological investigation and spiritual guide to the devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, and Swords Around the Cross, a historical investigation of a crucial period in the history of Catholic Ireland. He is a frequent lecturer for EWTN, producing numerous programs of theological and historical interest.
This award from Pope Leo XIV stands as a profound acknowledgement of Dr. O’Donnell’s unwavering leadership, faithfulness, and lifelong commitment to Christendom’s mission to “restore all things in Christ.”