Agape Latte Features Interim President Katia Passerini

On Thursday, January 25, Seton Hall students and faculty gathered in the University Center lounge for the first Agape Latte of the spring semester. This month, the Center for Catholic Studies and Campus Ministry were pleased to welcome Interim President Katia Passerini as the evening’s guest speaker. Reflecting on the ways in which time, place and the people we meet change our perceptions of the role of faith in our lives, she told her story of faith through the theme, "Being, Believing and Becoming: Faith experiences across time and places."
 
Agape Latte is a nationwide, student-led program in which students invite university faculty, staff, or administrators to share their personal stories of faith in a relaxed coffeehouse environment. Now halfway through its second year at Seton Hall, Agape Latte allows students to connect with peers and professors in a non-academic setting and to encounter the vibrancy of faith as a lived experience.  
 
Interim President Passerini’s talk explored the impact of each stage in her life journey—from a childhood upbringing as a "cradle Catholic" to higher education and beyond as an Italian immigrant in the U.S.—on the transformation of her faith from acceptance, to questioning, to a mature belief strengthened by the Church’s witness of caring for the needy and those facing adversity. In rediscovering her Catholic faith as contemplation fulfilled in service and action, she came to view living out the Church’s social teaching as an essential task inherent to the mission of the Catholic university.
 
"Because of this vision, I do believe that our universities are in fact the example of inclusivity… That’s why I love being in a Catholic university. The type of the immigrant, for example their ethnicity or place they come from, should change, but the issues are the same and we’re here to try and help them and support them." Interim President Passerini concluded with an exhortation for students to embrace the challenge of studying languages, traveling the world, and learning about other cultures. "We were founded to embrace people and be open to the world. When we do that, we move from being, believing, becoming, and finally belonging."
 
Lily Hudock, ‘26, a student in the Social and Behavioral Sciences/Occupational Therapy program, said, "Listening to Interim President Passerini’s talk at Agape Latte was both eye-opening and inspiring. Her witness of faith, woven through her captivating life story, was an example of how working hard, trusting in God, and never giving up ultimately leads to achieving incredible things and becoming the person you were made to be. As I also grew up attending Catholic school and am of Italian heritage, her talk particularly resonated with me, but I believe every Seton Hall student who attended the event left inspired and touched by Interim President Passerini." 
 
Looking ahead, the Center for Catholic Studies and Campus Ministry plan to continue the Agape Latte "Faith and Travel" series, launched this past November in partnership with the University Core. The kick-off for this initiative, which featured Kelly Shea, Ph.D., Department of English; Todd Stockdale, Ph.D., University Core fellow; and Father Nick Sertich, Campus Ministry director, engaged students in conversation and reflection on their impactful service and study during the Spring 2023 Rome Connection trip.  
 
Continuing to highlight the depth and breadth of life across the universal church, the second half of the "Faith and Travel" installment promises to be just as animated. At the next upcoming Agape Latte event on February 15, Campus Minister Father John Francis, CSJ (still known to many on campus as Brother John), will speak on his experience making a pilgrimage to Greece "In the Footsteps of St. Paul" with the Community of Saint John.  
 
Agape Latte is held every third Thursday of the month through the fall and spring semesters, with the last three sessions of the 2023-24 academic year scheduled for February 15, March 21, and April 18. Reverend Thomas Shubeck, adjunct professor of Pastoral Theology, and Timothy Fortin, Ph.D., associate professor and chair of Philosophical Theology, will round out the final speaker lineup for March and April, respectively.  

To view a recorded excerpt of Interim President Passerini's talk, please click here.

Categories: Campus Life, Education, Faith and Service