Above: Xavier President Jack Raslowsky, left, Timothy Cardinal Dolan,
and Rev. Jim Croghan, S.J., Rector of the Xavier Jesuit Community and 
Regis High School President, as they awaited Pope Francis' arrival at John
F. Kennedy International Airport on September 24.

A Q&A with Jack Raslowsky

As Pope Francis traveled through Washington, D.C., New York, and Philadelphia last week, Sons and friends of Xavier were present at every turn. President Jack Raslowsky sat down with the Xavier E-News to share his experience of Pope Francis' historic visit to the United States.

E-News: Which papal events did you attend personally?
Mr. Raslowsky: On September 22, I was at an event in D.C. hosted by Faith in Public Life and Sen. Bob Casey (D-Penn.) in the Hart Senate Office Building. The Pope wasn’t there, but we did watch the Pope arrive on TV! Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) and Sen. Casey spoke. The Jesuit influence on both of those guys and their work was very clear. John Connorton ’61 was there, along with some other friends of Xavier. In New York, on September 24, we had our Pope Watch Party here as Pope Francis addressed Congress, with 800 students and faculty in attendance. Later that day, I was at the Pope’s arrival ceremony at Kennedy Airport with Rev. Jim Croghan, S.J., rector of the Xavier Jesuit community. We spent a lot of time with Cardinal Dolan and Bishop DiMarzio of Brooklyn as well as Port Authority staff members and board members. I also attended the Mass at Madison Square Garden along with our Headmaster, Michael LiVigni. We waited in line for 2.5 hours, but we spent some good time with John Draghi ’63 and his wife, Linda. It was great to catch up with them. I also spent some time with Assemblyman Brian Kavanagh, a Regis grad and friend of Xavier. We saw Xavier parents there as well as Laura Amigone and her husband.

E-News: What was your favorite moment of the papal visit overall?
Mr. Raslowsky: It’s tough to pick a favorite. For me, the address to Congress stands out because we were able to watch that together as a community here at Xavier. It was a Washington event, but it was a Xavier event. And just as it was a Xavier event for the 800+ people in the gym, it was also a similar event for scores of Jesuit high schools and universities and parishes across the nation. I’m grateful for the Pope’s work in giving that address in English. It was a sign of how important it was for him, and I was touched by that. There was an element of surprise in his address with his strong words about eliminating the death penalty, which has long been a position of the church. With all the guessing about what he was going to say, nobody guessed that. I think the highlighting of great American leaders—Abraham Lincoln, Martin Luther King, Jr., Dorothy Day, and Thomas Merton—was powerful and ecumenical in its approach. What struck me here in New York was that our events were true New York events. During the homily at the Garden, Pope Francis spoke about the wonder and the power of a city. There’s something that’s very Jesuit about that. Ignatius went to the cities. The images from the 9/11 Memorial and the interfaith prayer service there were powerful. To have the Pope hugging an imam at the 9/11 Memorial after all that has transpired! He’s trying to model a path forward of understanding between faiths and the best of each faith.

E-News: How do you feel Pope Francis’ message affected students, faculty, and staff?
Mr. Raslowsky: I know with certainty there was an energy and enthusiasm around the visit that was palpable, in students and adults alike—whether it was excitement about bobbleheads or taking selfies with the Pope cutouts. My sense is that there were hundreds of those images taken and tweeted! The energy to get a ticket for the Fifth Avenue parade route was incredible. People wanted to be part of it—students, faculty, parents, alums. It’s great to see energy around things religious, religious leaders, and a faith-justice message, because that’s ultimately the message of the church—faith doing justice.

E-News: How do you plan to carry Francis’ message forward in the coming weeks and months?
Mr. Raslowsky: I think it’s incumbent on those in leadership at religious institutions to continue to keep the Pope’s messages and the themes he raised in the limelight—and to do that with integrity. If we lock on to only our issues, or only what he said that really appeals to us, that feeds into the politicization of the Church and the ongoing strife in Congress and other places. We have to take Pope Francis’ message as a whole. It’s not a middle ground that the pope is proposing. It’s a higher ground. Here at Xavier, students will be discussing the Pope’s visit in their religion classes. Many of the themes the Pope raised are things we already address in those classes. Institutionally, we’re looking at using community periods to host other guest speakers and visitors who will allow us to continue to explore those themes. It expands the context for the work that’s already happening here at Xavier. The Pope’s visit and message and words provided a new lens through which students can understand how God is active in their lives. We labor with God.