2024–2025 Speakers

 

Sister Jean Bellini

Jean Bellini ‘65, SSJ

Bio

Raised on a duck farm on Long Island, New York, Sister Jean sought the larger world. With a double major in Biology and Education and a Master of Arts in Teaching from Duke University, Sister Jean taught in high schools, served in campus ministry at Ithaca College, and in 1976 volunteered for the SSJ mission in Brazil. Living and ministering in southwest Goiás for 6 years, Sister Jean moved to the Prelacy of São Félix do Araguaia, where, for the next 22 years, she lived with the sisters, priests, and lay pastoral agents in 6 different locations while serving the rural communities as a pastoral agent of the Pastoral Land Commission (CPT).

She has been a leader in the National Secretariat of the CPT, elected member of the National Coordination of the CPT, and is presently an elected member of their Board of Directors. During this time she coordinated the team that digitalized the documentation of land and labor conflicts in the state of Goiás, making more than 400,000 images accessible on the internet—the largest collection of land conflicts available anywhere in Brazil.

Event: September 21, 2024

Presentation: My Journey: Shaped by Relationships with People in Each Time and Place

  • 10 a.m. Saturday, September 21, 2024
  • Linehan Chapel
Sister Patricia Schoelles

Patricia Schoelles ’74, SSJ

Bio

Currently the Director of Mission Integration for the Sisters of St. Joseph, Rochester, Sister Pat lives a life of scholarly pursuit as a witty and gifted professor, lecturer, and author. She taught Religious Studies at Nazareth, Social, and Personal Ethics at St. Mary’s Seminary and University in Baltimore, Maryland, presented multiple lectures on social justice for the Archdiocese of Baltimore, and published articles on discipleship and social ethics in prestigious journals: Louvain Studies and the Journal of Christian Ethics. With specialties in ethics and moral theology, Sister Pat is a frequently invited speaker at national conferences. 

She was a member of the Society of Christian Ethics and secretary of the International Bonhoeffer Society.  For more than 10 years she served on the governing board of the Association of Theological Schools, evaluating through personal visitation the quality of theological programs in national universities. As President of St. Bernard’s School of Theology and Ministry in Rochester for 21 years, she expanded the continuing education offerings for the formation of priests and lay ministers of the diocese, while also serving on the Board of Nazareth College for over 10 years.

Event: September 21, 2024

Presentation: From Foundations to Future: 100 Years of SSJ Influence at Nazareth University

  • 10 a.m. Saturday, September 21, 2024
  • Linehan Chapel
Alan Pascuzzi

Alan Pascuzzi ’91

Bio

An accomplished artist in multiple media and a Fulbright scholar in Florence, Italy, Alan Pascuzzi obtained his Ph.D. from Washington University, St. Louis, specializing in Greek/Roman sculpture and Renaissance art. He has been teaching Renaissance art, drawing, painting, and sculpting for more than 25 years. He currently teaches at Florida State University in Florence and is a frequent lecturer at the British Institute in Florence and the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford. Visitors can enjoy his permanent frescos, paintings, and sculptures in the center of Florence, as well as in cities around the world.

In 2018, Alan had a one-person exhibit at the Vatican of 10 life-size sculptures of the Madonna and Child based on the medieval hymn Tota Pulcra es Maria. An expert in traditional Renaissance painting, drawing, and sculpting techniques, Alan has appeared in BBC documentaries on Renaissance art, CBS 60 Minutes, and has just published a book on the early drawings of Michelangelo. Though a permanent resident of Florence for many years, Alan continues his connection with his alma mater lecturing in summer programs of Naz students studying in Florence, semester abroad students studying at the Palazzo Rucellai, and more recently, Nazareth’s summer program in Italy. 

Event: September 20, 2024

Presentation: Nazareth – A Branch that will Bear Fruit: The Cultivation of the Individual, the Beauty, and the Significance of the Nazareth Experience

  • 3 p.m. Friday, September 20, 2024
  • Linehan Chapel