Featured Testimonial About Creighton University
This new residence is a symbol of our deep commitment to sustaining and enhancing the Catholic, Jesuit character of Creighton for future generations of students, faculty and staff.
Members of the Creighton campus and donor communities came together on Thursday, Sept. 15, to mark the ceremonial groundbreaking of a new residence for the University’s Jesuits.
Expected to open in fall 2023, the Jérôme Nadal, S.J., Jesuit Residence will stand prominently along 24th Street at the east edge of the Jesuit Gardens, behind Creighton Hall and St. John’s Church. The 37,779-square-foot building will house the Jesuits who live, serve and work on campus as instructors, pastors, chaplains and University administrators and staff.
The Jérôme Nadal, S.J., Jesuit Residence will be accessible to students, faculty, staff, alumni and Omaha partners for Mass, spiritual counseling and other mission-based programs. The facility will include 28 bedrooms for Jesuits assigned to Creighton, as well as a 1,015-square-foot chapel, a dining hall, library and several spaces for spiritual activities.
“The new residence will celebrate and support Creighton’s Jesuit legacy and presence, inviting colleagues and guests to share in our lives in myriad ways,” said University President the Rev. Daniel S. Hendrickson, SJ, PhD. “This new residence is a symbol of our deep commitment to sustaining and enhancing the Catholic, Jesuit character of Creighton for future generations of students, faculty and staff.”
The Jérôme Nadal, S.J., Jesuit Residence will also support the Creighton Jesuits’ work in Omaha and the broader global Jesuit Community, hosting meetings and fellowship for those from Creighton Prep high school, the Jesuit Academy middle school, Cloisters on the Platte retreat center and the Creighton University Retreat Center near Griswold, Iowa. Jesuit scholars visiting from around the world will stay in the facility’s guestrooms.
The facility is named for Jérôme Nadal, S.J., who worked closely with St. Ignatius of Loyola. Nadal served the early Jesuits in much the same way as a Chief Operating Officer might and is credited with first using the phrase "contemplative in action," as he described Jesuit life and ministry. Nadal founded the Jesuit College, Messina, the first college opened by the Jesuits, in 1548.
Additionally, the chapel in the new residence will be known as “Our Lady of Montserrat Chapel,” named for the shrine and monastery not far from Manresa, Spain. St. Ignatius visited the Benedictine monastery of Montserrat in 1522. He then led a period of intense spiritual reflection before later founding the Society of Jesus.
The Jérôme Nadal, S.J., Jesuit Residence was initiated with lead gifts from Teri and Ron Quinn, BSBA’70, MBA’76; Mary Pat and Dick McCormick, BS’62, and HON'88, respectively; Physicians Mutual and the Reed Family; Ann and Ken Stinson; and Nancy and Mike McCarthy.
“We are humbled and forever grateful to the donors making this possible,” said the Rev. Nicholas Santos, SJ, PhD, rector of the Jesuit Community in Omaha and associate professor of marketing at Creighton. “They felt called to ensure that our vibrant Jesuit community continues to thrive, serve others and guide our students.”
The project is part of the Forward Blue campaign, which embraces Creighton’s Jesuit identity and emphasizes support for scholarships, programs, services and spaces across the University’s campuses in Omaha and Phoenix. To learn more, visit Creighton.edu/forwardblue.
