Gregorian University alumnus Fr. Patrick J. McCormick (’69 STL) comes from a diverse background that includes service in the Archdiocese of Atlanta and service in the USA Military Archdiocese as both a US Navy chaplain and for 17 months as a US Army chaplain in Kabul, Afghanistan. He was awarded the Bronze Star for meritorious service in a combat zone.
Fr. McCormick plays a key role as a benefactor of his alma mater. Two years ago he sponsored a full $15,000 scholarship for the Pope Francis Adopt a Scholar (PFAS) Program, covering the actual cost of educating one student as well as basic living expenses for one year. Most people do not realize that the tuition price has been subsidized by the Jesuits for decades. At their three institutions in Rome — the Pontifical Gregorian University, the Pontifical Biblical Institute and the Pontifical Oriental Institute — the Jesuits continually try to keep tuition affordable so that dioceses and religious orders from all over the globe send their best and brightest.
A few months ago Fr. McCormick asked GUF President Fr. Alan J. Fogarty, SJ about the difference between the PFAS Program and the PFAS Endowment. Fr. Fogarty explained that scholarships for the PFAS Program immediately enable a student in need to attend one of the three Jesuit Roman institutions. The PFAS Endowment, established in 2017 with a $100,000 bequest from Barry F. Sullivan of Bronxville, NY, is designed to prepare full funding for future deserving students in need. Fully funded tuitions make it possible for all three institutions to continue to improve both their academic programs and physical facilities. Fr. Fogarty clarified that no gift is too small to help either the PFAS Program or Endowment and that GUF donors appreciate having both options.
Readily seeing the benefit of the PFAS Endowment for helping future students, Fr. McCormick also comments on how it is a true opportunity to give back what he received from the Greg. He remembers, “my tuition was only around $1,000 and I feel that this is a very cheap way to make a big impact, as my grandnieces and grandnephews are happy if they only have to pay $50,000 to $60,000 per year for their US colleges.”
Arriving in Rome in 1965 just as the Second Vatican Council was winding down, Fr. McCormick shared that it was an exciting time to begin his studies at the Greg. He recalled bishops from all over the world being in town. Throughout the year he met several times with his own bishop, who recounted the daily goings-on of the Council sessions.
Asked about his professors he responded, “the teachers were magnificent! They were all theologians and very inspiring.” Sometimes professors would need to use their own room as an office for student meetings, and he took note of these Jesuits’ simple living — a bed, a desk and a single light bulb along with their books and papers. Quarters are still very basic today.
Fr. McCormick found the Greg “a very intense and an inspiring environment,” as his teachers were all true believers in the value of theology. He said the students all learned that every priest should be able to become a theologian. “These professors were producing pastors as well as future teachers for seminaries all over the globe.”
Reflecting on his years at the Greg, Fr. McCormick feels that there are many tremendous advantages to studying there, with the quality of the professors and the ability to be that close to the Papacy at the top of his list. Next, he talks about the advantage of being able to travel at an ideal age. He not only went throughout Europe but journeyed to the Holy Land as well. After he was ordained a deacon in June 1968, he spent three months in Central Africa living at a Catholic mission. Parishioners back home and in the service would later benefit from all these experiences.
Meeting students from all over the world was also key. These global friendships would last a lifetime – the kind of network that builds the universal Church.
Born and raised in Erie, Pennsylvania, Fr. McCormick was ordained in December 1968 and served as a priest in the Archdiocese of Atlanta for twenty-one years. He served five parishes in Atlanta and joined the faculty of the Pontifical North American College in Rome (for priestly formation) for four years. In 1990 he entered active duty as a chaplain in the US Navy. His assignments included stationing aboard two aircraft carriers, serving three years in Italy, five in Japan and a year and a half in Afghanistan. Though officially retired in 2010, Fr. McCormick has continued to serve as a civilian chaplain at the US Air Force at Tyndall Air Force Base in Panama City, Florida, the US Army Kwajalein Atoll and Ronald Reagan Ballistic Missile Defense Test Site in the Marshall Islands and a large parish in the Diocese of Honolulu.
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