CDU Remembers Jesuit Fr. Bill Kaifer

By Mary Frances McCarthy
HERALD Staff Writer
(From the issue of 11/21/02)

The Board of Trustees of the Catholic Distance University, (CDU) celebrated the life and work of Father William J. Kaifer, S.J., with a dinner at the Pope John Paul II Cultural Center last Saturday. The annual dinner serves as a fundraiser for CDU.

Bishop Thomas J. Welsh, founding Bishop of Arlington and chairman of the board at CDU spoke about Father Kaifer and his impact on the university and its students.

Marianne Mount, the director of CDU, also spoke at the event. She has served as director since the university was founded in 1983.

Nearly 250 people gathered to honor Father Kaifer and to support CDU. The crowd was composed of clergy, benefactors of the university and students.

Father Kaifer taught theology at Georgetown University for 36 years and he was the administrator of Notre Dame Graduate School from 1981-83. He was honored posthumously on Saturday night for the many years he served CDU. He was involved with the university from 1984 until his death in 2000. He served as a founding member of the board of trustees, a faculty member, academic director and provost.

Arlington Bishop Paul S. Loverde said, "Father Kaifer has been described as ‘a great hero,’ a ‘man’s man and a priest’s priest’ thus exemplifying the Jesuit motto, ‘For the greater glory of God."

According to its founder, Father John A. Hardon, S.J., CDU is a "Pontifical Institute of education providing home study instruction in the Catholic faith." The university, based in Hamilton, Va., was established May, 13, 1983, as The Catholic Home Study Institute. The institute was created so that adults all over the world could learn more about the Catholic faith through correspondence courses.

In 1983, the Vatican Congregation for the Clergy officially recognized CDU as a catechetical institute with the authority to award the Catechetical Diploma.

The school was named as fully accredited by the Accrediting Commission of the Distance Education and Training Council in Washington, D.C. on Jan. 4, 1986, and the school’s accreditation has been renewed every five years without stipulations.

Approximately 1,000 students are enrolled at Catholic Distance University each year. Programs include: noncredit Continuing Education, Undergraduate Credit, the Catechetical Diploma, Graduate Degrees in Religious Studies and Online Interactive Seminars. 

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