We invite you to share your thoughts and reflections about Global Ministries University in the "Leave a Comment" box on our special 20th Anniversary Celebration page on the GMU website.

True to his Jesuit education and studies in Buddhism, Jerry Brown has agreed to be the keynote speaker for the upcoming international conference, "Building Bridges for Human Solidarity in the Light of Pope Francis' Encyclical Letter, Fratelli Tutti."

You can access his podcast on the environment, "Climate Dialogues with Jerry Brown" here.

The Maryknoll Office of Global Concerns is collaborating with GMU on the "Building Bridges" Conference. GMU is one of four sponsors of the conference along with Tangaza University in Nairobi, Kenya, and the Muslim-affiliated organizations, Umma University and Harmony Institute. The conference will take place from August 19 to 21, 2021 via Zoom and YouTube. The central hub of the conference will be located at Tangaza University in Nairobi, Kenya with other hubs in Rome, Indonesia, and California.

One of the major programs for the North American hub will be on racial justice with presentations by noted authors in this area of concern as well as participation by activists in social justice movements. A second area of focus for the conference will be the growth of new forms of faith communities including those that have an interfaith character and membership. GMU has pioneered the development of such interfaith communities in the USA and Kenya.   Read the description of the concept of the interfaith conference here.

The future of our planet rests largely with our youth and the care with which we help them to develop and flourish.

President Grudzen is offering a free course for young people who wish to participate in the conference below to develop their own priority issues and submit a vision statement from their perspectives.

The meetings are taking place the first Wednesday of each month through June 2021. They begin at 7 pm (Pacific Time) and last for 90 minutes. Shahinaz El Hennawi's presentation was postponed from April 7 to May 5.

This is a FREE course but registration in advance is required.

President Gerry Grudzen’s statement on the passing of Hans Kung, often considered the most important Roman Catholic theologian of the past century. Hans Kung died at his home in Germany on April 9, 2021, at 93 years of age.

I first learned of the writings of Hans Kung as a college student at Sacred Heart Seminary in Detroit before the start of the Second Vatican Council in October of 1962. I became a keen student of the Protestant Reformation and took additional summer classes in the history of the Renaissance and Reformation at the University of Detroit in addition to my studies at Sacred Heart Seminary.

At my college graduation in June of 1962, I was asked to give the valedictory speech to faculty and students of my seminary. The theme for my presentation was the possible transformational role of the upcoming Second Vatican Council proposed by Pope John XXIII. My preparation for this talk drew heavily from Professor Kung’s book, Council, Reform and Reunion, which had been published in 1961 and led to Kung’s appointment as the youngest Roman Catholic scholar serving as a theological expert for the Second Vatican Council…. Read more

Judy has a Master's Degree in Library and Information Science from UC Berkeley. She was Reference and Instructional Services Librarian at the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley for several years. For many years she was an active member of the American Theological Library Association; she has also worked at UC Berkeley and California State University East Bay, where she was the Music Librarian as well as the Philosophy and Religious Studies Librarian and taught for-credit classes in Information Literacy. In pre-COVID times, she played the violin in several string quartets and orchestras, and sang (soprano) in a couple of local choruses. She fervently hopes these groups will be able to meet again soon. Since retirement, she and her daughter and family, along with three cats and two dogs, live in Penn Valley, California, in the Sierra Foothills. Via Zoom, she's a member of the Magdala Catholic Community in Los Gatos, and a longtime member of FCM. Judy is delighted to join the GMU family and is busy compiling lists of online resources available to GMU students. She looks forward to assisting anyone who needs help with research or other projects.

In an effort to expand outreach, the Community Chaplaincy Program has developed a new advertisement which will be shown on the Sojourners Magazine website and featured in their newsletter in May. We recommend that you enroll now for summer 2021 classes. Click here for a detailed description of the program with bios of the instructors.

​Take a look at what our graduates have to say about our Wedding Ceremony and Funeral Service Training Program!

People's Catholic Seminary offers many new enrichment courses in contemporary theology and programs for spiritual enrichment. Click here to find out more about Global Ministries University & People’s Catholic Seminary's Master of Pastoral Ministry Degree.

Support our brothers and sisters around the world in their educational and ministerial pursuits. Global Ministries University maintains general and individual scholarships to help students in need. Thank you for your generosity!