This is a podcast interview with Rev. Craig B. Mousin, an Adjunct Faculty member at DePaul University’s College of Law and The Grace School of Applied Diplomacy. In February, President Biden announced that he would restore the United States partnership in refugee resettlement by inviting up to 125,000 refugees to our nation in the next fiscal year. He also said he would increase the number of refugees previously designated for resettlement in this fiscal year. The Presidential Determination increasing refugee resettlement in this fiscal year to 65,000 has not been yet signed. One workable response to rebuilding would be to resettle refugees to reach those numbers. In the midst of the turmoil, this would be one significant step to protect the vulnerable. The International Rescue Committee (IRC) Report on the few refugees resettled in 2021 can be found at: https://www.rescue.org/sites/default/files/document/5783/ircmid-yearrefugeeadmissionsreport-april2021.pdf
This is a podcast interview with Rev. Craig B. Mousin, founder and former Director of the Midwest Immigrant Rights Center and an Adjunct Faculty member at DePaul University’s College of Law and The Grace School of Applied Diplomacy. As the United States begins to reform immigration law in the midst of a multitude of developments at the nation’s borders, the podcast encourages us to respond to our shared values of living under the rule of law. When our debate focuses on naming individuals as illegals prior to adjudication, it leads to gridlock. By focusing on why we have established a refugee law and the importance of fair and just procedures, we may instead build upon those shared values. The podcast also explains how criminal and civil law addresses those who seek to cross the border without authorization.
For more information and sources on the impact of the Title 42 regulation closing much of our border allegedly on public health concerns, see “Health Inequity and Tent Court Injustice,” at: https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3777549
Muhammad ibn Abdullah(1) was a man living in seventh-century Arabia. Coming from a prominent clan and tribe, he traced his own lineage to the Prophet Abraham through Ishmael, the son of Abraham and Hagar (ar. Haajar). That family history was a source of collective pride for the people of Mecca, where Muhammad lived and where a house of worship built by Abraham and Ishmael served as a place of pilgrimage for tribes from throughout the Arabian Peninsula. At the same time, substantive connection with Abraham’s guidance seemed to be lost to most Arabs, except for a few Jewish tribes and scattered individuals who claimed to be followers of Jesus or of a general Abrahamic monotheism. Muhammad’s father died before he was born, his mother when he was just six years old, and he was raised as an orphan by his uncle. Despite his noble lineage in a society wherein lineage was greatly valued, these circumstances meant Muhammad lived a humble life.
Muhammad’s experience as an orphan left him sensitive to the plight of the vulnerable in society. He felt his society did not live up to the chivalric values it claimed to hold dear and which it celebrated in its self-image and poetry. This was especially true when it came to those who were marginalized, which often included women as well as those who were enslaved or without tribal connections. Muhammad felt a call to do something and yearned for specific guidance from the Creator. He began to spend periods of time in meditation and prayer in solitude in a cave outside of the city. It was while engaged in this practice, in the lunar month of Ramadan, that the Prophet Muhammad received the first of what he understood to be revelations from God, which we call the Qur’an.
Muslim communities worldwide, including thousands of DePaul students, faculty, staff, and alumni, will begin observance of the month of Ramadan with the sighting of the crescent moon this week.(2) Muslims will commemorate the revelation of the Qur’an by fasting from dawn to sunset each day for the next lunar month while also engaging in special night prayers and acts of charity. These spiritual practices serve to develop spiritual discipline, generosity, compassion, and connection to the Most Merciful. Ramadan is filled with many different practices and traditions which make it an eagerly anticipated and joyously welcomed time in Muslim communities. Of course, as was the case last year, this year’s observance will be limited by precautions due to the pandemic. Despite that caution and uncertainty however, there is also a hopefulness this year that better times are coming.
Madame de Gondi once asked Vincent de Paul what has come to be known as the Vincentian question “What must be done?”(3) to confront the widespread material and spiritual poverty of seventeenth-century France. Similarly, the Prophet Muhammad sensed that profound change was needed to address the social and spiritual challenges of seventh-century Arabia. Today, we as a DePaul community must ask the same question in facing the challenges of twenty-first-century Chicago. The spiritual practices of Ramadan serve to remind us that the guidance and inspiration we need to address the most profound challenges can come from being open to signs from the transcendent, being spiritually in touch with ourselves, and being socially connected as a community.
What spiritual and social challenges do you see as most pressing from your vantage point in twenty-first-century Chicago? What spiritual and social practices help you to remain committed to addressing them in your life and work?
1) Commonly referred to as the Prophet Muhammad. This of course spoils our narrative as neither he nor others thought of him in that way when our story begins. It is considered proper etiquette for Muslims to say the Arabic formula ﷺ often translated as “Peace be upon him” after the names of prophets and other sacred figures. I will not write the formula in this reflection, but I encourage those who wish to follow this practice to do so as you read.
2) It is expected that the moon may be visible on the night of Monday, April 12, which would make Tuesday, April 13, the first day of fasting.
As we joyfully embrace the many seasonal, religious, and spiritual celebrations of this beautiful time I would like to share with you a Christian/Vincentian perspective of Easter. This day of life, hope, and connection beyond our own understanding raises a simple question: where is God in everything that is happening?
Thanks to God we are alive! This is the Easter voice that I hear in my heart today. It is a voice I have heard many times in my life from people close to death because of natural disasters, poverty, hardship, violence, etc. And, over the past year I have heard survivors of the pandemic saying again and again… thanks to God we are alive!
I recently heard it said that “more than in other times, our age is characterized by its concern for the future and by wanting to glimpse the human person of tomorrow. Most agree about this: our way of being human needs to be transformed. The real human person is still a project… it is latent in the dynamic of evolution [and transformation]. This search for a new human person has been a recurrent theme in each historic cultural moment.”(1) Today more than ever we are aware that our way of being human is not sustainable. The urgent call for a new person is an Easter call… a call that echoes as a living memory of the resurrection. This is the call from God at the heart of the paschal mystery.
This morning, having endured the pandemic, we begin to see an end to this long day of the passion. The resurrection of Jesus is revealed to us in the real signs of what is happening in our lives, our country, and our world. All can perceive these new signs of life with which God is gracing us. For St. Vincent de Paul one of the primary challenges of Christian faith was to perceive and to live God’s life in our own lives. He expected the members of his spiritual family to conform with essential values that reflected a sustainable human experience. Vincent found these values exemplified in the life of Jesus Christ the evangelizer [humanizer] of the poor, who invites us to awaken dawns of resurrection amid dark nights of history.
“I beg Our Lord, Monsieur, that we may be able to die to ourselves in order to rise with Him, that He may be the joy of your heart, the end and soul of your actions, and your glory in heaven.”(2)
In Christian faith, from a Vincentian perspective, the value of all religious practices depends on their connection with real life. When we celebrate the resurrection, we are invited to experience life in all its forms, and to commit to protecting it. We are asked to defend human life, and all forms of life, now at risk due to our individualistic and consumeristic lifestyle. We recognize God’s life in us, and this life is what we celebrate. This life is what challenges us to change and to give of our own lives.
During these times, the celebration of the resurrection cannot be disconnected from all the essential issues that are challenging our very existence: social and environmental justice, human and communal rights, freedom, racism, and equity in all its forms. All these issues call us to reshape our Vincentian Mission and spirituality. For Christians, then, the celebration of the resurrection is simply a call to advance, giving concrete signs, the agenda of a new humanity and a new world!
“I ask O[ur] L[ord] to be the life of our life and the only aspiration of our hearts.”(3)
1) Cf. Leonardo Boff, La Resurrección de Cristo Nuestra Resurrección en la Muerte, 5th ed. (Editorial Sal Terrae, 2005), p. 9.
2) Letter 1202, To a Priest of the Mission, In Saintes, 27 March 1650, CCD, 3:616.
3) Letter 2433, To Charles Ozenne, Superior, In Poland, 26 October 1657, CCD, 6:576.
Reflection by:
Guillermo Campuzano, C.M.
Vice President of Mission and Ministry
Sustaining the Mission
Need a different kind of shot in the arm? Join us for Sustaining the Mission and get a mission booster! Sustaining the Mission is a mission engagement program designed for staff and faculty who have been at DePaul for at least a year.
This 90-minute workshop on Thursday, April 15th from 9:30-11:00 am, will invite you to consider how to practically apply DePaul’s mission to your everyday work and life. Together, we will examine how the mission can provide a deeper sense of meaning to your daily activities. As a member of the DePaul community, our goal is to help you reflect on concrete ways you can contribute to the advancement and sustainability of DePaul’s Vincentian mission within your team, department, area, division, etc. We will also help you to develop a mission integration plan. Please note that this program also meets one of the requirements for those interested in becoming a Mission Ambassador. Register Here.
Entering the United Nations Secretariat Building in New York, one is greeted by a large Norman Rockwell mosaic depicting people of many ages, nationalities, religions, and cultures along with the words, “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.” Rockwell’s piece is entitled, “Golden Rule,” and serves as a reminder that communities throughout the world articulate the importance of the Golden Rule in their teachings and practices.
At DePaul, a centerpiece in the Lincoln Park Interfaith Sacred Space (located in the Student Center) is a wall filled with many world religious renditions of the Golden Rule. This wall not only highlights a universal connection between interfaith communities but also reminds us of the importance of mutual respect and caring.
Throughout this quarter, DePaul’s Religious Diversity and Pastoral Care team will be highlighting a Golden Rule from a different faith or spiritual tradition each week. We will not only have an opportunity to recognize the universal wisdom in these golden nuggets, but we will also enter into an interfaith experience together.
As we begin our interfaith exploration of the Golden Rule, our Vincentian values encourage us to focus on the interfaith rules in a new way. As Vincentians we recognize and honor the dignity of all people, which means we do not impose ourselves upon others. As Vincentians, we consider the rule that Rockwell so beautifully portrayed, pondering how we might do unto others as THEY would have us do unto them.
Join us on a journey of engaging with the Golden Rule from many faith perspectives throughout the spring quarter! Follow along on our RDPC social channels (@depaulrdpc) for weekly posts on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.
Peace and blessings,
Rev. Dr. Diane Dardón Director of the Office of Religious Diversity and Pastoral Care (RDPC)
Sunrise over Saint Vincent’s Circle, Thursday, Sept. 24, 2020, on the Lincoln Park Campus. (DePaul University/Jeff Carrion)
After 35 years, DePaul University has fully revised its mission statement. Through a 10-month participatory, historically grounded, yet forward-thinking process, direct feedback was gathered from over 600 community members. The updated concise statement is relevant and apt for the DePaul we all know, and for the DePaul of which we dream.
On March 4th, the revised DePaul University Mission Statement and its supporting document were approved unanimously by the Board of Trustees. The approval process went faster than an expected May timeframe. I believe this demonstrates that the participatory nature of the mission statement review process worked as we had hoped. It proves the value of shared governance in helping us to define a mutual understanding of who we are and how we want to live out our common mission in this historic moment.
The review process was a beautiful, concrete expression of communal discernment. While many may not realize it, our approach of inclusive reflection and community articulation of common dreams and values is very much in the spirit of Vincent de Paul and Louise de Marillac. As this process has achieved with many other institutions of the worldwide Vincentian Family, it both captured and embodied the Vincentian spirit so valued at DePaul.
Invitations to review the mission statement went out on Newsline and social media, through Colleges, departments, student groups, and administrative offices, via SGA and Faculty and Staff Councils. We listened to many voices at over 70 Dialogues. Many were impassioned and advocated for mission-related ideas that they felt were most important. I can say with confidence that great care was given to revising the statement, down to negotiating the meaning and inclusion of individual words. For instance, including “environmental” justice for students and others fiercely dedicated to sustainability. Or, discussing the wording “with special attention to” as all are served and all have agency, yet we must recognize our Vincentian legacy of reaching out especially to those most in need who are not well-served by systems. It is my belief that every word of the statement has deep meaning and that each word illustrates the common themes of DePaul’s mission that emerged clearly from the audiences we relied upon for community input.
DePaul stakeholders agreed that we are Catholic, Vincentian, and anchored in the global city of Chicago, and that our university educates the whole person in a variety of ways that uphold human dignity. Review participants insisted that DePaul commit to addressing the great societal challenges of our day as both an educational institution connected to local and global communities, and through our graduates whom we hope will be change agents for greater good as well as successful in their professions. The umbrellas of Vincentian personalism and professionalism express the culture and approach at DePaul that many feel differentiate it from other institutions. As we served an immigrant population in the late 1800s, so do we continue to educate underserved and underrepresented communities today.
Other values and core commitments that commonly emerged through the review process are summarized in the statement’s supporting document, “Distinguishing Characteristics, Core Values, and Commitments.” I am hopeful this document will be referenced by link in every online presentation of the new DePaul Mission Statement and I encourage you to read it.
The participatory review process was itself an education for the DePaul community. Before preparing for a dialogue or taking our survey, many of the participants had never read the full four-page mission statement. Many had never meaningfully discussed with colleagues or fellow students what DePaul’s mission meant to them or how they believed it must be communicated to remain relevant and compelling. A nearly universal desire became apparent for a new concise mission statement that could be fully known, embraced, and integrated into life at DePaul. This was also recommended to the university during the last Higher Learning Commission accreditation process. I hope the new statement fulfills that wish.
In many ways the statement review process—comprised of a rigorous four-phase approach of historical review, capturing mission in action through Seeds of the Mission videos, over 70 mission statement dialogues and survey responses, and the Board survey—seems completed after a year. But the work of the new mission statement has just begun.
It is time to begin sharing the statement broadly on websites, in syllabi, and on signage where it can be easily seen. Departments and areas need to reflect on their own internal mission and vision statements, and on their website and marketing language. We must integrate the language and ideas of the new DePaul Mission Statement and “Distinguishing Characteristics, Core Values, and Commitments” into our work. We must all attend to the ideals of the statement as more than just words on paper, but as a mission for which we are gathered that provides a central focus for what we do.
Thank you to all who participated in the review process. And thanks to all who will be enlivened by the new statement, making decisions in using it as a guide, holding DePaul accountable for living it, and celebrating our common Vincentian spirit. Together, We Are DePaul.
Rev. Guillermo (Memo) Campuzano, CM
Vice President of Mission and Ministry
DePaul University Mission Statement Adopted by the Board of Trustees on March 4, 2021
As an innovative Catholic, Vincentian university anchored in the global city of Chicago, DePaul supports the integral human development of its students. The university does so through its commitment to outstanding teaching, academic excellence, real world experience, community engagement, and systemic change. DePaul prepares graduates to be successful in their chosen fields and agents of transformation throughout their lives.
Guided by an ethic of Vincentian personalism and professionalism, DePaul compassionately upholds the dignity of all members of its diverse, multi-faith, and inclusive community. Through education and research, the university addresses the great questions of our day, promoting peaceful, just, and equitable solutions to social and environmental challenges. Since its founding in 1898, DePaul University has remained dedicated to making education accessible to all, with special attention to including underserved and underrepresented communities.
Approved unanimously by the Board of Trustees on March 4, 2021
As an innovative Catholic, Vincentian University anchored in the global city of Chicago, DePaul supports the integral human development of its students. The University does so through its commitment to outstanding teaching, academic excellence, real world experience, community engagement, and systemic change. DePaul prepares graduates to be successful in their chosen fields and agents of transformation throughout their lives.
Guided by an ethic of Vincentian personalism and professionalism, DePaul compassionately upholds the dignity of all members of its diverse, multi-faith, and inclusive community. Through education and research, the University addresses the great questions of our day promoting peaceful, just, and equitable solutions to social and environmental challenges. Since its founding in 1898, DePaul University has remained dedicated to making education accessible to all, with special attention to include underserved and underrepresented communities.
♦ ♦ ♦
What would DePaul University be without its mission? Would it be like wearing a pair of glasses without lenses, our vision blurred? Would it be like piloting a ship without its rudder, drifting aimlessly with no sense of direction? Or, would we be like a tree without its roots, slowly dying until no longer able to withstand the first strong wind that comes its way? None of these metaphors are very rousing or hopeful, are they? They are certainly not the kind of symbolic images you would want applied to your mission-based institution.
Fortunately, however, DePaul is far from being a university without a mission. In fact, one could argue that the spirit behind our mission is stronger and more heartening than ever. This is thanks, in no small part, to our newly adopted mission statement which came to fruition during the fall and winter quarters. The document was accepted unanimously by DePaul’s Board of Trustees on March 4, 2021.
Drawing from the best of our Vincentian tradition, guided by our institutional identity and history, and shaped by the voices of our present-day community, DePaul’s new mission statement emboldens us to face current opportunities and challenges with an eye towards the future. Yet, for all the documents’ import, we cannot forget that a mission is only as strong as the commitment of those entrusted to keep it. Now that we have gone through the process of creating a new mission statement, the task in front of us is to bring it to life. We must find ourselves and help others find themselves within it. Doing so will ensure that DePaul University can, more fully, become a community gathered for the sake of our mission.
Take a few moments and re-read DePaul’s new mission statement. Read the words slowly and ask what they mean to you? Does any word or phrase stand out? How are you inspired? Where do you find yourself in our mission?
“(P)lease be steadfast in walking in the vocation to which you are called.”1
Spring Break may give us a little space to pause and reflect. So, let me ask: how much of your life’s journey has been due to your choice, and how much of it has been something not of your own making?
In the United States, at least, the narrative we often tell ourselves is that we are independent and “self-made” people who can overcome every obstacle to achieve our dreams. We trust all things are possible. This sustained optimism can indeed enable us to work through difficulties and continue to believe–and that is a good thing.
However, life often throws us curveballs. The coronavirus pandemic is not something anyone would have chosen. Nor is the unexpected death of a loved one, or other such difficult life challenges that leave us upside down. Even something minor like the untimely arrival of bad weather during an outdoor walk or picnic can be such a curveball. Much of our lives amount to responding to circumstances out of our control.
Furthermore, few of us are world class athletes, though we may have dreamed of hitting the perfect “10” on the balance beam, swimming a championship level butterfly, or hitting a game winning shot. And, few of us will author an award-winning novel, become a nuclear physicist, win an Academy award, or win a million dollars even though we may have fantasized what it might be like. Our lives are probably somewhat less remarkable. They are typically characterized by some degree of human limitation that is not of our making, nor our desire.
Further tempering the narrative of the “self-made” person, consider that our identity and the choices we make are shaped by our families, communities, and relationships. We are often required to balance our own needs and wants with those of others.
Learning to be led through the events and relationships that shape our lives, then, is at the heart of living with a sense of vocation and mission, both individually and as an institution. The dreams we have for our lives are tempered, shaped, and redirected by the realities and circumstances we face. Most of these are outside our control or making and not of our choosing.
Living with a sense of vocation, or mission, is a way of being, a way of journeying through our lives. We are not simply choosing our personal playlist, making everything exactly how we would like it. Our personal hopes and dreams are an important part of the big picture. But so is being receptive to what life offers and to what our reality enables us to do and to be as we respond to the challenges that unexpectedly arise along the way.
Being steadfast in living our mission and walking in our vocation may not mean that things work out exactly as we planned, or in a predictable manner. It does mean faithfully discerning each step we take along the way as circumstances allow. The story of our lives is as much about being led, about being receptive to what emerges on the journey, as it is about forging a path of our choice.
Perhaps this is what Vincent meant when he said: “Wisdom consists in following Providence step by step.”2
1 Letter 1824, To a Priest of the Mission, 2 January 1655, CCD, 5:256. 2 Letter to Bernard Codoing, in Rome, 6 August 1644, CCD, 2:521
Reflection by: Mark Laboe, Associate VP for Faculty and Staff Engagement, Division of Mission and Ministry
Given the context of the conversations occurring over the past week, I want you to know of the continued support for the LGBTQ community by myself and the Division of Mission and Ministry.
An essential principle of advocacy of the LGBTQ community, and one that we embrace together, is that love is love – and love is not a sin. It is a gift from God and an opportunity. Love is the way of human fulfillment and we pray that each person finds love in their own life.
In his encyclical, Fratelli Tutti: On Fraternity and Social Friendship, Pope Francis invites us to reflect on love and reminds us that our mission is not to impose doctrine, but to simply spread the love of God. To all people, without exception. The Vincentian spirit calls us to love and ennoble the God-given dignity of all, and we will continue to follow that spirit in all that we do.
One of the ways we wish to publicly show our support is through the signing of a statement made by a group of Catholic Bishops affirming the LGBTQ community. The statement declares that, “All people of goodwill should help, support, and defend LGBT youth; who attempt suicide at much higher rates than their straight counterparts; who are often homeless because of families who reject them; who are rejected, bullied and harassed; and who are the target of violent acts at alarming rates.” It tells LGBTQ community members “we stand with you and oppose any form of violence, bullying or harassment directed at you. Know that God created you, God loves you, and God is on your side.” DePaul University Mission and Ministry has added our name to the list of the statement signers: https://tylerclementi.org/catholicbishopsstatement/
For LGBTQ community members at DePaul and beyond, we see you, we love you, and we are with you.
Fr. Guillermo Campuzano, CM
Vice President, DePaul Division of Mission and Ministry
If you missed our “Remembering the Year Past: Transitioning to Hope” Program… Watch it above.
It’s been a year! Over the past few days and weeks, many have engaged in reflection on the long year we have just endured together. Thoughts have swirled around hardships, sacrifices, broken dreams, lost moments, loss of life, on-going illness, virtual classrooms, vaccinations and all the realities that we’ve experienced due to the COVID pandemic.
It has been a long, arduous year and, at times, many have wondered if we would ever get past the turbulence. But, today there is a glimmer of light at the end of this pandemic tunnel as vaccinations become more abundant. We are hearing hopeful chatter about returning to campus, returning to gatherings, and returning to life as we once knew it. There is hope, and yet, we are cautioned to continue distancing, wear masks and SLOW DOWN!
As we move forward, much more slowly than we’d like, we are certain to be engulfed in the on-going struggles of these times. Indeed, these waning days of the pandemic may truly be some of the most challenging. It is in such times that we return to our wisdom figures, those who have endured so much in their own lives and in their own ways, and we find encouragement. St. Vincent, through the echoes of time, encourages us as we keep our eyes on the light:
“Trust firmly in God’s guidance and encourage your people to have this trust in the present disturbances; the storm will abate, and the calm will be greater and more pleasing than ever. “[ Vincent de Paul (Volume: 5 | Page#: 454) To Charles Ozenne, 15 October, 1655 added on 6/28/2011]
In the weeks and months ahead, please know that DePaul’s Mission and Ministry staff is here to encourage you and accompany you along the way. If you find yourself weary, please do not hesitate to reach out to the ministers in your midst who will bring you words of hope and cheer you on as we all wait for the storm to abate and the light to shine brightly.
FACULTY & STAFF
Individual Pastoral Support for Faculty and Staff
Mission and Ministry’s Faculty and Staff Engagement Team (FASE) is available to provide a listening ear and pastoral support for individual faculty and staff. Appointments can be scheduled using the following links:
Available Mission and Ministry staff who accompany students are available to provide a listening ear and pastoral support for all students. Appointments can be scheduled using the following links:
