September 28, 2026
What does it mean to heal a wounded world?
That question was answered in uniquely compelling terms by speakers at St. John’s University’s annual Vincentian Convocation held September 24 at St. Thomas More Church on the Queens, NY campus.
The Convocation is the capstone celebration for Founder’s Week, a meaningful time at St. John’s as the University community focuses on the life and legacy of St. Vincent de Paul, the founder of the Congregation of the Mission, offering the entire community a diverse array of opportunities to know him better through lectures, campus tours, and direct service opportunities.
In his welcoming remarks, Rev. Brian J. Shanley, O.P., President of St. John’s, shared that St. John’s had risen 20 spots in the latest college rankings from U.S. News and World Report, and while he was delighted by the news, one of the outputs measured is how much graduates earn. That, he emphasized, while important, is hardly the greatest outcome of a Catholic education.
“What Catholic education wants to output,” Fr. Shanley stressed, “is people that live and flourish in human lives as a whole, to have meaningful jobs that contribute to the economy, but that also have a sense of the common good, a sense of the importance of community, and especially here at St. John's, given our Vincentian charism, people who know that there’s a moral obligation to take care of those in need, and that they give back by serving those in need.”
He added, “The service, the love and humility of the people and organizations we honor here today is so much more important than how much money anybody makes.”
Rev. Patrick J. Griffin, C.M. ’13HON, Executive Director, Vincentian Center for Church and Society, said that during Founder’s Week, “we ask all our students, faculty, staff, and alumni to consider the person that Vincent was, to examine the ways that revealed the strength of his character, and to recognize the depth of his love for God and for his brothers and sisters.”
The theme of Founder’s Week is “Be Vincentian: Be a Healer,” Fr. Griffin noted. “Vincent wrote, ‘If there are any among you who think that they are on a mission to evangelize the poor people, but not to alleviate their sufferings, to take care of their spiritual needs, but not their temporal ones. I reply that we have to help them and have them assisted in every way by us and by others.’”
He added, “The Convocation recognizes how these individuals and organizations witness to the spirit of the gospel and the intent of St. Vincent de Paul. As a healer, each ministers in his or her own way to a world that needs compassion and hands-on healing. These awardees model and encourage action for all of us.”
The following awards were presented:
Caritas Medal
Daughters of Charity
Accepted by Sister Teresa George, D.C.
Visitatrix of the Daughters of Charity
Province of St. Louise, USA
St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Medal
Kerry Alys Robinson
President and Chief Executive Officer
Catholic Charities USA
St. Vincent de Paul Medal
James Walters ’04SJC, ’06M.S.Ed., ’09M.A., ’14Ed.D.
NGO Representative at the United Nations for the Sisters of Charity Federation
Frédéric Ozanam Award
Freedom Farm Community
Accepted by Edgar Hayes ’97SVC
Cofounder
Freedom Farm Community
International Medal
Catholic Medical Mission Board
Accepted by Mary Beth Powers
President and Chief Executive Officer
Catholic Medical Mission Board
Conferral of the Degree of Doctor of Divinity, honoris causa
Monsignor Alfred LoPinto
President and Chief Executive Officer, Retired
Catholic Charities Brooklyn and Queens
Dr. Walters, a four-time alumnus of St. John’s and recent cancer survivor, delivered the Convocation’s keynote address.
He began by asking the audience to close their eyes for 10 seconds and remember the people who helped make them who they are. “We are all here today because of the people who loved us into being. In other words, people who healed us by their love.”
As he explored this year’s Founder’s Week theme, Dr. Walters explained, “how important is it to first be reminded of what it feels like to be on the receiving end of this healing love.”
Dr. Walters related three stories about how the Vincentian charism has healed him “and continues to call of us to be healers in such a divided and wounded world.”
He recalled being an undergraduate at St. John’s when the 9/11 attacks occurred 25 years ago, and the shock and horror that followed. Weeks later, a teacher of Dr. Walters, Br. Michael Sheerin, F.M.S., challenged students to consider who their neighbor was—even asking whether Osama bin Laden qualified. Dr. Walters said he continues to wrestle with the question and argued that violence breeds further violence.
Dr. Walters noted that according to statistics there are more than 110 armed conflicts occurring in the world today. “Violence is overwhelming all parts of the world. In an attempt to feel the magnitude of this reality consider that by the time this short lecture concludes, 36 people will have died from violence related injuries.”
At the UN, Dr. Walters, along with representatives from other Vincentian NGOs, advocates for human rights and dignity. He related a story of eight indigenous people from the Amazon who traveled more than 5,000 miles to the UN to describe losing lives, land, and resources.
“We listened attentively as they spoke of their painful reality as they were losing lives, land, and precious resources. They prayed that the powerful would first, care, and second, act.” Dr. Walters struggled with the realization that nothing would likely come from their pleas.
He said that while leaving the UN that day, saddened and frustrated, he thought about St. John’s and its mission to form students committed to the vulnerable, charity, and justice. “In a moment of sadness and frustration, I found hope because of the mission of this institution.”
Dr. Walters was diagnosed with Stage 4 colon cancer in July 2025, underwent surgery and 24 rounds of chemotherapy. He related that another major surgery was ahead. “It shocked me. It still does.” After receiving this diagnosis Dr. Walters immediately asked, “What good can come of this?”
He posed three questions: What will he learn from this journey? How might it help others who are suffering? How will he continue to know Christ in a deeper way?
Dr. Walters emphasized that both joy and suffering can become paths to spiritual transformation. He spoke of death, accidents, and frightening diagnoses as experiences that can fundamentally change a person. Prayer, he said, helps discern what suffering can reveal.
“In reflecting on this past year, I can see how my prayer has transformed my whole being in a way that is only possible when you start to feel the ticking of life's clock.”
Prayer is essential, Dr. Walters mused. “Prayer reminds us of who we belong to and who we are called to be. Prayer calms our heart, centers our mind, and nudges us further. It is prayer that strengthens this divine relationship with our God who dwells within me and dwells within you. It is prayer that moves us from contemplation to action, especially when we feel the heavy weight of the world's injustice that wounds humanity and creation. It is prayer that keeps bringing us back to that wonderful Vincentian question, ‘What must be done?’”
Dr. Walters recalled how St. Vincent de Paul and St. Louise de Marillac answered that question in their own time.
“Now, my friends, it is our turn.”