Nesti Center for Faith & Culture - University of St. Thomas

An amazing initiative: MAFC student Paula Schoof organized a free Wills and Advance Planning Clinic at Richmond’s Sacred Heart Catholic Church on May 30, assisting the elderly with essential end-of-life planning documents prepared on-site by volunteer attorneys, paralegals, and notaries from various Christian ecclesial communities.

"The MA in Faith & Culture had a direct impact on the vision behind the clinic, particularly the emphasis on human dignity, service, and Christians from different traditions working together in service to the community," said Schoof, an attorney, who also enlisted fellow Nesti Center students Jennifer Nutzman and Shannon Powers to serve at the clinic.

"This program has challenged me to think practically about the relationship between faith, culture, the common good, and the ways Christians can unify through works of mercy."

We're so proud of our students for embracing "A Way of Life in the Light of Faith," and grateful to the other volunteers and Fr. Paul Hoang at Sacred Heart for supporting their initiative!

It's always a joy to see Nesti Center students sharing their gifts with the community! Here, UST Associate Director of Residence Life Danna Knight (MAFC '26) speaks to incoming UST freshmen and their families at orientation.

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UST Center for Faith & Culture

There's exactly one month left to apply to one of Nesti Center Master's degrees or Certificates this fall!

Reach out today if you've got questions about our curriculum or making the deadline! FAQs in the comments.

Save the date for our interfaith panel and annual Faithful Citizenship Dinner commemorating the 60+ anniversary of Nostra Aetate!

Wednesday, December 2nd, 2026
at The Ballroom at Bayou Place

Have you ever read the Address of Pope Paul VI to Women at the closing statements of the Second Vatican Council? This statement was delivered on December 8th, 1965. It's worth a few moments of your time today.

It's very short, but includes some incredible gems such as,

"𝐁𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐢𝐬 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐠, 𝐢𝐧 𝐟𝐚𝐜𝐭 𝐡𝐚𝐬 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞, 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐯𝐨𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐨𝐟 𝐰𝐨𝐦𝐚𝐧 𝐢𝐬 𝐛𝐞𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐧 𝐢𝐭𝐬 𝐟𝐮𝐥𝐥𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬, 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐢𝐧 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐜𝐡 𝐰𝐨𝐦𝐚𝐧 𝐚𝐜𝐪𝐮𝐢𝐫𝐞𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐥𝐝 𝐚𝐧 𝐢𝐧𝐟𝐥𝐮𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞, 𝐚𝐧 𝐞𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐜𝐭 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐚 𝐩𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐫 𝐧𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐡𝐢𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐭𝐨 𝐚𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐝. 𝐓𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐰𝐡𝐲, 𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐦𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐡𝐮𝐦𝐚𝐧 𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫-𝐠𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐬𝐨 𝐝𝐞𝐞𝐩 𝐚 𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐬𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧, 𝐰𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐧 𝐢𝐦𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐠𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐩𝐢𝐫𝐢𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐆𝐨𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐥 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐝𝐨 𝐬𝐨 𝐦𝐮𝐜𝐡 𝐭𝐨 𝐚𝐢𝐝 𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐝 𝐢𝐧 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐟𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠."

And this incredible call,

"𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐧 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐚𝐥𝐰𝐚𝐲𝐬 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐚𝐬 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐥𝐨𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐭𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐡𝐨𝐦𝐞, 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐛𝐞𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐚𝐧 𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐟 𝐜𝐫𝐚𝐝𝐥𝐞𝐬. 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐲𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐨𝐟 𝐚 𝐥𝐢𝐟𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠. 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐨𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐫 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐨𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐞𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐝𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐡. 𝐎𝐮𝐫 𝐭𝐞𝐜𝐡𝐧𝐨𝐥𝐨𝐠𝐲 𝐫𝐮𝐧𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐤 𝐨𝐟 𝐛𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐧𝐡𝐮𝐦𝐚𝐧. 𝐑𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐜𝐢𝐥𝐞 𝐦𝐞𝐧 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐥𝐢𝐟𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐯𝐞 𝐚𝐥𝐥, 𝐰𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐬𝐞𝐞𝐜𝐡 𝐲𝐨𝐮, 𝐰𝐚𝐭𝐜𝐡 𝐜𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐟𝐮𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐮𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐞. 𝐇𝐨𝐥𝐝 𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐨𝐟 𝐦𝐚𝐧 𝐰𝐡𝐨, 𝐢𝐧 𝐚 𝐦𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐟𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐲, 𝐦𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐦𝐩𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐝𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐲 𝐡𝐮𝐦𝐚𝐧 𝐜𝐢𝐯𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐳𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧."

We are responding to this call with our Masters of Arts in Catholic Women's and Gender Studies program.

Messages of the Council: To women (December 8, 1965) Second Vatican Council, women

Our heartfelt congratulations to Marlon Barao (MAFC '17, below far right) and his cohort for ordination to the transitional diaconate in the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston this week. Our prayers are with him and all at St. Mary's Seminary & University preparing for the priesthood!

The second picture is a poignant memory from Marlon's MAFC graduation reception in 2017; Dr. Don Frohlich, who is standing behind Marlon with the Nesti Center stole, passed away last week. His memorial Mass will be held Friday, May 22, at 2 p.m. in the Chapel of St. Basil.

Highlights = @ust_cfc 1 Stories. Latest story added on 07 May 2026. See insider moments and handpicked daily stories you won't find anywhere else.

We couldn’t be prouder of the MAFC class of 2026! Congratulations to our wonderful graduates, who are truly living “A way of life in the light of faith.”

The video from our event earlier this month at the Catholic Information Center is available online.

It's a fabulous conversation between Mary Eberstadt, UST Board Member, Dr. Eileen Reuter, NCFC Fellow and Instructor, and Leah Jacobson, MACWGS Program Manager.

The Q & A addresses such questions as "What role do men, especially young men, play in moving forward?" For that discussion and much more, listen in to this hour long conversation.

Party of One: Can a Women’s & Gender Studies Program Be Faithful to the Magisterium? Our presentation will explore the University of St. Thomas’ (Houston) Master’s in Catholic Women’s and Gender Studies through their Nesti Center for Faith an...