The 14th Annual Faithful Citizenship Dinner was an occasion of great celebration for the Nesti Center for Faith & Culture (CFC) at The University of St. Thomas in Houston, TX. After three decades of working to integrate faith with our cultural formation as Americans, the CFC took the occasion to celebrate their founder, Fr. Donald S. Nesti, C.S.Sp., and honor all those who have supported their mission. 

“The Center creates space where people who are seeking deeper meaning in life can gather. Together they explore the richness of the Catholic worldview, learn to dialogue, and journey together as a pilgrim people, both graced and sinful, while discerning how to let the rays of God’s love create a better world for all,” wrote Fr. Nesti in his “Letter from the Founder” for the event. 

Fr. Nesti was inspired by the Second Vatican Council’s call to holiness and unity, when he came up with the idea for the Center of Faith and Culture. He proposed the idea to the then-UST-President Dr. Joseph M. McFadden in 1994. After reaching an agreement with Bishop Joseph Fiorenza, he was hired the same day as a professor of theology and director of the new Center for Faith and Culture. From a single office space on the second floor, the Center for Faith & Culture has grown to a thriving force offering unique graduate-level educational programs and a robust list of events, lectures, and research projects. 

It’s also an exciting time at the CFC as they continue to grow their program. In the last year, they’ve announced their new Master of Arts in Catholic Women and Gender Studies that allows for focus on Catholic Sexuality and Gender, Catholic Feminism, Gender and Family Policy, or Women’s Health and Wellness. 

At the Faithful Citizenship Dinner, many student testimonials from the Masters of Arts in Faith and Culture were highlighted. 

“As soon as I saw the curriculum map for the MAFC program, I knew this was where God wanted me to be. I was expecting the program to be intellectually challenging… What I was not expecting was how spiritually formative the MAFC would be, nor how passionate all my professors were going to be, especially Fr. Nesti, about sharing the love of Christ with us. No one gets out of Father Nesti’s reach without knowing that God loves them with a passionate, merciful love and that their job is to be actively receptive to that love and to share it with others and the wider culture,” said one student. 

“I am so grateful for Fr. Nesti and the MAFC program. My engagement in the program has been a profoundly meaningful experience. Fr. Nesti has helped me to open not only my mind but my heart to see with new eyes the teachings of Christ and His Church as well as the events of my own ongoing faith journey,” said another.  

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