SXU Announces 2025 Honorary Degree Recipient
Saint Xavier University (SXU) is pleased to announce the 2025 honorary degree recipient, who will share his knowledge and expertise and congratulate this year's graduates on achieving their high-quality academic degrees.
On Saturday, May 10, Cardinal Blase J. Cupich will address the graduates of SXU's College of Nursing, Health Sciences and Business. SXU will award Cardinal Cupich an honorary degree of Doctor of Laws, honoris causa.
"We are honored to have Cardinal Cupich, Archbishop of Chicago, as Saint Xavier University's Commencement speaker. Cardinal Cupich's leadership in Chicago and beyond has been exemplary. He embodies the Catholic faith," said Keith Elder, Ph.D., SXU president.
Cardinal Cupich, an Omaha native, is one of nine children. He was ordained to the priesthood for the Archdiocese of Omaha on August 16, 1975, and was pastor of two parishes in Omaha. He was appointed Bishop of Rapid City, South Dakota, by Pope John Paul II on July 7, 1998, and was ordained and installed on September 21, 1998. He was appointed by Pope Benedict XVI as the sixth Bishop of Spokane, Washington, on June 30, 2010, and installed on September 3, 2010. Cardinal Cupich was appointed Archbishop of Chicago by Pope Francis on September 20, 2014, and installed as the ninth Archbishop of Chicago on November 18, 2014. On October 9, 2016, Pope Francis named him Cardinal, and he was elevated to the College of Cardinals in a consistory on November 19, 2016, at St. Peter's Basilica in Vatican City.
Cardinal Cupich obtained his bachelor's degree in philosophy from the College of St. Thomas in St. Paul, Minnesota, in 1971. He attended seminary at the North American College and Gregorian University in Rome, where he received his Baccalaureate in Sacred Theology in 1974 and his master's degree in theology in 1975. Cardinal Cupich is a graduate of the Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C., where he received a Licentiate of Sacred Theology in 1979 and a Doctorate of Sacred Theology in 1987 (both in sacramental theology), with his dissertation entitled "Advent in the Roman Tradition: An Examination and Comparison of the Lectionary Readings as Hermeneutical Units in Three Periods."
Additionally, Cardinal Cupich was secretary at the Apostolic Nunciature in Washington, D.C., from 1981-1987 and served as chair for the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops' (USCCB) Committee for the Protection of Children and Young People from 2008-2011.
Throughout his priesthood, Cardinal Cupich has been devoted to promoting the educational mission of the Catholic Church, first as a religion teacher in an Omaha Catholic high school and then in the Creighton University diaconate program. He was president rector of the Pontifical College Josephinum in Ohio and chair of the National Catholic Education Association. He is chancellor of the University of St. Mary of the Lake in Mundelein, Illinois, president of the Chicago Catholic Schools Board of Education, and a member of the Vatican Dicastery for Culture and Education.
Pope Francis appointed Cardinal Cupich to the Dicastery for Bishops in 2016, the Dicastery for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments in 2022, and the aforementioned Dicastery for Culture and Education in 2024. Cardinal Cupich also serves on the USCCB Committee on Migration and the Subcommittee for the Church in Central and Eastern Europe. He is an executive member of the Catholic Mutual Relief Society and chancellor of the Catholic Church Extension Society.
Commencement will be held in the Shannon Athletic and Convocation center, located at 3700 W. 103rd Street. This event requires tickets for admission. For more information about SXU's 2025 Commencement ceremonies, visit SXU's website or contact commencementFREESXU.