The University of Dallas was fortunate enough to host Bishop Edward J. Burns, Bishop of the Diocese of Dallas and Chancellor of UD, for a Q&A session on Tuesday, Feb. 23. The bishop was able to provide answers to the many questions asked, and the Q&A lasted nearly an hour and a half.
In one of his responses, Bishop Burns voiced what weighs on the minds of many students: “We got lots of work to do.”
Student Government collaborated with the bishop to celebrate mass, followed by a Q&A event with a reception to follow. The plans for such an event began months ago and were on the minds of both Bishop Burns and Student Government President Porter Schmidt, senior politics major.
“It was a combined idea of mine and the bishop’s at the same time. I wanted to ask him and then when he met me he suggested that to me because he did events like this pre-COVID. He wanted to do it. He loves getting to know people from UD,” said Schmidt.
When asked why Schmidt pursued this event, he said, “My whole goal was to reignite a relationship with our chancellor and shepherd on a ground level with the student body. It’s such a rare opportunity, not only as a Catholic to know your bishop, but also know as a student your chancellor personally. Other students aren’t even going to get to know who their chancellor is.”
“I thought that it went really well,” Schmidt said. “The bishop was really happy. He loved to hear thought provoking-answers and answering. I thought his answer to the immigration question was really interesting, Lent as self-improvement, and honestly his opening remarks before he even started the Q&A — all really profound. I’ve been kind of reflecting on them throughout the day.”
In his opening statements, Bishop Burns addressed pressing issues in today’s society — namely abortion, sanctity of marriage, ICE and immigration. He said, “Our world is just made up of a lot of different waves that hit the church in society — cultural, political, etc — all those waves can make a lot of noise. But one thing that is impressive is that the Church is built on the rock of Peter. Rocks don’t make noise. The people around us make a lot of noise, but we don’t. It’s very important to know the essence of our Church.”
The students of UD had a variety of challenging questions prepared for the bishop, including mystics, low Baptism rates in our diocese, healthy dialogue around the liturgy, synods and IVF. However, the bishop retained a happy, calm environment, lacing his well thought out answers to these difficult questions with compassion and bringing the room to laughter with amusing anecdotes.
Schmidt was able to ask about synods, a particularly relevant matter, considering the Diocese of Dallas has had a recent synod.
Bishop Burns responded, “The synod is an opportunity for us and very much a rich tradition of the Church. It is an opportunity to engage as the Body of Christ. It is not to change any teachings of the Church, it is to identify how we can do the things we are called into the Church better. Not one stone was unturned in our synod.”
The event had a positive response from both the bishop and the students. “It completely fulfilled all my expectations,” said Schmidt.
Bishop Burns enjoyed his time at UD. He said, “It is an absolute privilege to be your shepherd at this time of your life. And I want to say as your shepherd, stay close to Him, to the Sacraments and all that Christ gives you. It’s so very important that you stay close to Him.”
Students hope that events like this continue so that we can further our invaluable connection with our shepherd and chancellor, Bishop Edward J. Burns.