Steubenville, Ohio
New university president hopes for ‘unity’
The new president of the Franciscan University of Steubenville has said he hopes the university will be “a source of unity and healing”.
Fr David Pivonka told the Catholic News Agency that the university, like the Church, can be affected by “polarisation”, but that “part of being Catholic is embracing one another and giving one another freedom to do that without judgment, without dismissal”. Fr Pivonka replaces Fr Sean Sheridan, who resigned earlier this year after a series of divisive disputes within the university, which was criticised for its handling of abuse allegations, and for a professor’s decision to teach a novel which included blasphemy.
