Catholic Life

Catholic Mass
Sunday evenings during the semester, 5:00-6:00 p.m.
Cannon Memorial Chapel

The University of Richmond has a vibrant, diverse Catholic campus ministry program that serves nearly 1,000 Catholic students, staff, faculty, and nearby residents who often attend Mass with the campus community.

Mass is celebrated every Sunday at 5 p.m. in Cannon Chapel during the academic year. CCM students join in the ecumenical Kairos Evening Prayer on Tuesday nights. Scripture and a Slice Bible study on Wednesdays offers a deeper dive into the Sunday lectionary, and various other devotional activities are offered depending on student interests, along with community service and fun fellowship events. Our community is known for being cheerfully Catholic and enthusiastically ecumenical.

Our choir is entirely made up of students and directed by a student music director. Students serve as lectors, hospitality ministers, and Extraordinary Ministers of Holy Communion.

CCM is a ministry of the University Chaplaincy, not a student organization. We are connected to the wider church through nearby St. Bridget parish, which typically sends priests to celebrate Mass with us. Students can get baptized, confirmed, and married through CCM in Cannon Chapel.

Spiritual Life 

Students have multiple opportunities outside of Mass to develop a robust spiritual life. They engage with the Bible through the popular Scripture and a Slice weekly program; pray together at Kairos Evening Prayer; join to pray the rosary; attend Eucharistic Adoration on campus and at St. Bridget, and go on retreats.

Fellowship and Service 

Students frequently enjoying getting together for dinner after Mass on Sundays, or at cookouts and a variety of regular social events. Service projects are typically connected with the University’s Center for Civic Engagement and have also included work with Habitat for Humanity, childcare for ESL classes, and serving as religious education instructors at local parishes.

Connecting to the Wider Church 

Catholic Campus Ministry is connected to the wider church through its relationship with nearby St. Bridget parish, which has historically staffed CCM with priests to preside at Mass on campus. CCM students frequently attend Holy Day liturgies at St. Bridget or one of the other local parishes when Mass is not available on campus. Students also attend various events sponsored by the Diocese of Richmond.

History

CCM was founded in the 1980s by Wendy Wood of St. Bridget parish through an agreement with former University Chaplain the Rev. Dr. David Burhans, who have both since gone home to God after decades of faithful service to their respective traditions and the University. Their remarkable partnership to establish a Catholic presence at a historically Baptist university set the tone for the inclusive and ecumenical approach that characterizes CCM today.

Catholic Chaplain: The Rev. Mr. Tom Mullen

The Rev. Mr. Tom Mullen serves as Catholic Chaplain for the Office of the Chaplaincy at Richmond and happily directs Catholic Campus Ministry at the university. He describes the faith community here as cheerfully Catholic, enthusiastically ecumenical, and incredibly inclusive. Tom, who is a permanent deacon, teaches journalism in the School of Arts and Sciences, serves as a President’s College Fellow, and a first-year advisor to Endeavor students. You can find him moving around campus between classes, coffee stops, and chaplaincy gatherings. He is happy to meet to talk about faith, classes, college life in general, and any variety of sports.  The quickest way to reach him is at tmullen@richmond.edu.