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“I went to Sunday Mass at Hendricks my first semester,” Andrew recalls, “but my first real experience of the community came that spring, when I started going to Thursday night Mass and dinner.” From that point on, the Catholic Center became a second home.

Over the next four years, Andrew’s involvement grew steadily. He became a lector at Mass, led both the Lake Retreat and Kairos Retreat, and ultimately served as rector of the Lake Retreat during his senior year. “The Lake Retreat was something I looked forward to every year,” he says. “It was a great way to disconnect from the busyness of campus life and to recenter myself in my faith.”

More than anything, Andrew treasures the friendships he built there—friendships rooted in a shared belief. “I don’t think there are many schools in the country that have a faith community like the Catholic Center at Syracuse,” he reflects.

Today, Andrew lives in Atlanta, working as a sports broadcaster. After completing a season calling minor league baseball for a Texas Rangers affiliate, he now freelances games during the offseason. His schedule is demanding—often nights and weekends—but the lessons learned at the Catholic Center continue to guide him.

“The Catholic Center helped me learn what it takes to make my faith a priority,” he explains. “That balance between faith and work started in college and continues today.”

Andrew also credits the generosity of donors for making that faith community possible. “College was the first time I was really challenged to pursue my faith individually,” he says. “The Catholic Center helped me learn how to prioritize my faith in a world full of distractions.  Donor gifts ensure that the foundation is there for students—to invite them to explore and grow in their faith while serving the community around them.”

For current students considering getting involved, Andrew’s advice is simple: “Try it out. It’s worth a couple hours of your time to go to a few Masses or small groups. You won’t know if it’s meant for you unless you give it a shot.”

Through the continued support of donors to the St. Thomas More Foundation, Inc., students like Andrew Selover are not only finding faith at Syracuse—they’re taking it with them into the world.

A 2025 report from the Pew Research Center suggests that while Generation Z remains less religiously affiliated than older Americans, interest in spirituality and organized faith is beginning to rise among young adults.

“There’s a beacon of light on the corner of East Adams and Walnut Park that is very tall and great, and I think everybody can see it,” said Father Gerry Waterman, who has led the Catholic Center at Syracuse University since 2016.

Surrounded by fraternity and sorority houses, the newly expanded St. Thomas More Chapel and Catholic Center opened Wednesday, marking the first new Catholic worship space built in the city of Syracuse in nearly two decades.

Neighbors, clergy, and university members filled the new chapel to celebrate the dedication. What began as a small ministry of a few dozen regular attendees has grown to more than 250 in under ten years, prompting a donor-funded expansion that now serves both the university and the city at large.

Chancellor Kent Syverud, who has led Syracuse University for twelve years, called the project both a physical and spiritual investment.

“It’s important that students be able to belong and to find belonging,” he said. “Many find that in different faiths, and we have to support all faiths here. Hopefully this inspires what can be done in all sorts of faith communities.”

Syverud, himself a recent convert to Catholicism, said the chapel also reflects the partnership between campus and city.

“The broader Syracuse community is what helped build it,” he said. “It’s not just a Syracuse University facility—it’s for all the institutions on the Hill, the city, and beyond.”

Bishop Douglas Lucia of the Syracuse Diocese blessed the chapel with holy water during the dedication and said the expansion reflects a broader renewal of connection across the city.

“Faith is alive,” Lucia said. “Our young people are searching—for purpose, for community—and that’s evident across the board.”

That spirit extends beyond the university. Parishioners from across Syracuse often take part in services and community projects, including monthly sandwich deliveries for the Assumption Food Pantry on the North Side. Campus ministry leaders describe these efforts as a bridge between the Hill and the wider community.

Campus Minister Patrick McLaughlin said the new building symbolizes what’s been developing inside for years.

“The building is just a representation of the work that’s being done here,” he said. “We’re fostering a sense of oneness, and we hope to spread that love into the Syracuse community.”

As for Waterman, he said the chapel’s green-lit cross now rising above East Adams is meant to shine for everyone.

“It’s all because of them,” he said. “They go out and tell their friends, ‘Come with us. We have a good thing going.’ We wouldn’t need this building without that kind of spirit.”

Originally published by WAER on November 7, 2025

Brendan Worobel ’26 and his twin sister Nicole ’26, seniors from Holmdel, New Jersey, found a home at the University’s Catholic Center. There, they found a welcoming community that helped them settle into life at Syracuse.

Brendan began attending Mass during his first year. Through the years, more of his friends, including his brothers from Theta Chi fraternity, have joined him for Mass and activities each week.

“It is incredible to see how big the community has grown,” says Brendan, a triple major in finance, business analytics and economics. “This community is one of my favorite things about being at this school.”

The Worobels are part of a remarkable surge in participation within the University Catholic community that has transformed the Catholic Center’s 110 Walnut Place location.

Weekend Masses now draw close to 400 people, while Thursday Mass and fellowship dinners attract 130 attendees—numbers that overwhelmed the previous all-purpose room with its makeshift chair setup.

And now the increase in attendance has led to answered prayers.

A transformational gift from Life Trustee and alumnus Daniel D’Aniello ’68, H’20 and his wife, Gayle, through the Forever Orange campaign supported the construction of a new chapel and renovations to modernize and expand the building. The new chapel was blessed and dedicated Nov. 5 by Bishop Douglas Lucia of the Diocese of Syracuse, marking a milestone for the community that dates back to 1908.

The renovations include thoughtful personal touches: a large outdoor column at the front illuminates in colors corresponding to the Catholic church’s liturgical season, stained glass salvaged from the former chapel and a painting of the Sacred Heart of Jesus in the Eucharistic Chapel dedicated to Beatrice D’Aniello, Daniel D’Aniello’s mother.

For Nicole, a biotechnology major, being able to share her faith with her twin brother has been one of the most meaningful parts of her college experience.

“The Catholic Center has given us a space to continue living out the values we grew up with, and to support each other as we navigate this new chapter in our lives,” she says.

Members of the Catholic community will tell you that the growth in Mass attendance, service outreach and fellowship activities can be attributed to Father Gerry Waterman, OFM Conv., the University’s Catholic chaplain since 2016.

“Father Gerry has created such a vibrant and diverse community of Catholic students and has created an environment where students like me feel comfortable and excited to deepen their faith in God,” says Blake Stevens ’27, a data analytics and business analytics major from Chester, New Jersey, and president of Theta Chi.

The growth, while celebrated, strained the physical capabilities of the Catholic Center building. In addition to Masses, sandwiches for the local community are prepared once a month, and numerous activities such as service outreach planning, Bible study and Christian initiation preparation programs are regularly held.

The renovations have resulted in a proper chapel for the celebration of Mass and other sacraments, as well as space to support the community’s outreach and fellowship activities.

Numerous donors, local contractors and the University’s Office of Campus Planning, Design and Construction were integral to the project.

“What a blessing to open the doors to our new Catholic Center and chapel—a sacred space where faith, community and belonging come together,” says Chancellor Kent Syverud. “I am grateful to Father Gerry Waterman for nurturing our students, and to the extraordinary generosity of Life Trustee Dan D’Aniello, and his wife, Gayle. Their transformative gift has made this vision a reality for generations to come.”

A gift from alumna Judith Pistaki Zelisko ’72 and her husband, Paul, enabled renovations to the building’s study lounge and library. She has fond memories of her four years on campus, during which the Catholic Center played a significant role.

“My hope is that the study lounge and library, which my husband and I support, will become a haven for students, a place for study and scholarship, but also a place for reflection,” she says.

The transformed physical space helps to foster the important work that goes on inside the building. Waterman, now in his 10th and final year as chaplain, has worked to feed his students spiritually and physically.

“If you like something, you want to share it with somebody else. I attribute our growth to that,” he says.

Jessica Gutierrez ’26, a computer science major from Los Angeles, has been involved in the Catholic Center since her first year and currently serves as president of the Catholic Student Association.

“The Catholic Center has helped me transform, both spiritually and personally, giving me a sense of belonging and purpose,” she says. “With its welcoming design and expanded opportunities for gathering, reflection and service, the new Catholic Center will be an even better place for students to grow in faith and connection.”

Originally published in Syracuse University News on November 13, 2025, By Kelly Homan

First, there is no question that American culture has embraced Christmas.  We see ample evidence of this:  Towns set up Nativity scenes and hang wreaths from lampposts, every retail company under the sun has sales, people in the market for a new car have Happy Honda Days, coffee lovers drink Starbucks from special cups, and the Hallmark Channel churns out one Christmas romance movie after another.  We see Christmas in virtually every aspect of our culture: from music, movies, and TV to the way we dress, decorate our homes, and socialize with friends and relatives throughout the month of December.  In comparison to other Catholic holy days, Christmas has entered the mindset of American culture in a unique way.  In fact, we could even make the argument that, for a certain portion of the year, America is obsessed with Christmas.

Of course, obsession is a bad thing.  America’s embrace of Christmas is a lot like an embrace from the Abominable Snowman in the 1961 Looney Tunes short, The Abominable Snow Rabbit.  Perhaps you remember the line, “My own little bunny rabbit! I will name him George, and I will hug him and pet him and squeeze him!”  As Hugo the Snowman squeezes tighter and tighter, Bugs is nearly killed by his monstrous embrace.  Similarly, while American culture may have embraced Christmas, it’s not hard to see that this embrace, this obsession, is ultimately a strangle-hold.  After all, it’s only a portion of the Christmas message that American culture has embraced, and even that is for questionable motives.

For one thing, all those companies “celebrating” Christmas are actually cashing in on it.  Retail shops and car dealerships don’t have Christmas sales to usher in world peace.  They do it to turn a profit.  The emphasis isn’t really on gift-giving, but on gift-buying.

In part, this is why “Christmas,” or at least its overly commercial American lookalike, keeps coming earlier and earlier.  I’ll admit that I have, once or twice, waited in a Black Friday line from the wee hours of the morning until a store’s doors opened at 8am.  That used to be the “beginning” of the “Christmas” shopping season.  Today, more and more companies have realized they can extend their profit-making by foregoing such sales events, and it’s working.  The American version of Christmas starts almost immediately after Halloween, nearly washing away Thanksgiving in a tidal wave of “Christmas” consumption.

Advent has been similarly swept away.  As I said earlier, American culture doesn’t know what to do with Advent.  After all, this is a season of hope, not of fulfillment; of waiting, not of getting.  American culture isn’t great at waiting or at the patience it requires, so perhaps that’s the virtue Advent is most calling us to cultivate.

If Advent is a season of waiting, of joyful anticipation, what is it that we’re waiting for?  On the one hand, it’s during Advent that we remind ourselves of the time before Jesus was born, when, in the words of my favorite Christmas hymn, “Long lay the world in sin and error pining.”  In other words, before we renew our joy at the birth of Christ, which has already happened, we renew our anticipation.  On the other hand, Advent also calls us to look forward in hope to the day when Christ will return, bringing with him the peace and joy of his heavenly kingdom.

More than either of these alone, though, Advent calls us to marry our two forms of expectation.  While we await Christ’s glorious return, we renew his joyful birth into our world by inviting him to be born anew in our hearts.  While we look forward to the day when his kingdom is fully realized, we take up the charge to treat each other as if it were already here.  While we look backward to his first coming and forward to his second, we also turn our eyes outward toward those in need.

Unlike Happy Honda Days, Black Friday, or the annual airing of It’s a Wonderful Life, we can’t know when our hope will be fulfilled.  We have to wait for it, patiently trusting that the same God who made these promises will fulfill them.  Until then, as every priest says at every Mass, “we await the blessed hope and the coming of our Savior, Jesus Christ.”

-Patrick McLaughlin