When Newman University President Kathleen S. Jagger, Ph.D., MPH, traveled to Rome in early June, she expected an opportunity for learning and dialogue with Catholic higher education leaders from across the U.S.
What she experienced, she said, “was one of the most meaningful and empowering experiences that I’ve ever had. It was just amazing.”
Jagger joined 20 presidents from the Association of Catholic Colleges and Universities (ACCU) for the June 1-5 Presidents Summit, “Creating a Culture of Dialogue: A Dynamic Encounter Between Catholic Higher Education and the Curia.” The seminar, which was sponsored by ACCU and The Lay Centre in Rome, provided Catholic university leaders with an inside look at the work of the Vatican while exploring the role of Catholic higher education in an increasingly complex world.
The week culminated with a private audience with Pope Leo XIV, where the presidents discussed Catholic education, human dignity and the challenges facing universities today.
“As presidents and rectors of these institutions, I trust that your experience here in the heart of the Church will serve to strengthen your faith and renew your commitment to the Church’s universal mission,” Pope Leo told the group.
The visit marked Jagger’s second significant trip to Rome in less than a year. She also traveled to the Vatican in late 2025 when St. John Henry Newman, the university’s namesake, was formally proclaimed the 38th Doctor of the Church.
A personal encounter with Pope Leo XIV
Among the many experiences of the week, Jagger said meeting Pope Leo XIV was “by far the best thing,” she said.
Unlike the large public audiences often associated with papal events, this gathering was intimate. The ACCU delegation met in a room designed for only a few dozen participants, allowing each president time to personally greet the pope.
“What struck me when meeting Pope Leo was how profoundly serene and present he was to each of us,” Jagger said. “When you approached him, he wasn’t looking around at how many more were in line. He looks you right in the eye as if you’re the only person there.”
Jagger presented Pope Leo with a Newman University medallion, a handwritten card and a uniquely Chicago gift: Frango mints.
“He’s from Chicago, I’m from Chicago,” Jagger said with a laugh. “So when I brought him some Frango mints, he just looked down and said, ‘Oh wow.'”
The ACCU presidents also presented a collective gift to the pope: a pledge of 5,000 hours of service from each of their universities — Newman University included.
Exploring the heart of the Church
The summit immersed participants in the daily life and operations of the Vatican.
Each day began early, often at 6 or 7 a.m., and included presentations from Vatican officials, theologians and Church leaders representing several dicasteries, or departments, of the Roman Curia.
Jagger and the other presidents met with leaders from the Dicastery for Culture and Education, the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development, the Dicastery for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life and other Vatican offices.
Participants also celebrated Mass in locations rich with Catholic history, including the Chapel of St. Monica in the Vatican, where Pope Leo XIV was ordained in 1982. They later celebrated Mass near the tomb of St. Peter beneath St. Peter’s Basilica and concluded the week with Mass at Vatican Radio.
The group visited the Catacombs of Domitilla, where the Pact of the Catacombs was signed in 1965, and toured Castel Gandolfo, the papal summer residence opened to the public by Pope Francis.
“It was so beautiful,” Jagger said.
Human dignity in the age of artificial intelligence
A recurring theme throughout the summit was Pope Leo XIV’s recent encyclical, “Magnifica Humanitas,” which examines artificial intelligence and human dignity.
The encyclical also formed the foundation of the pope’s address to the ACCU presidents.
“One of the challenges that the world of education is currently facing is the increasing fragmentation of knowledge,” Pope Leo said.
The pope emphasized that Catholic institutions must help students pursue not only information but also wisdom and purpose.
“Unless Catholic education instills in students a true passion for the truth — and not only intellectual truth, but the truth that is Christ himself — we can hardly expect people to be willing to put forth the effort required to recognize truth and adapt one’s life accordingly,” he said.
The pope also challenged educators to help students engage responsibly with emerging technologies.
“It is crucial that young men and women learn to engage positively with new technologies, while at the same time truly developing their God-given skills and capacities to reason, to think critically and commit knowledge to memory,” he said.
Participants also explored Pope Leo’s Augustinian spirituality, including themes of interior reflection, the common good, grace and unity.
For Jagger, the summit also offered insights that will help strengthen Newman’s Catholic identity and create new opportunities for students and the university. The trip also fostered relationships with fellow Catholic university presidents and Vatican leaders that could lead to future collaborations — perhaps even with people in Rome, Jagger said.
More broadly, “It was both a cultural and a spiritual experience that enhanced my faith,” Jagger said. “It gave me a lot of ways to think about how Catholic universities set countercultural examples in our world today.”
