NEWMAN HALL, A HOME FOR ALL
Whether you are new to Berkeley or have lived here for years, you are welcome here…
Newman Hall-Holy Spirit Parish is a spiritual home to undergrad and grad students at UC Berkeley, and to adults and families from the Berkeley/Oakland area and beyond. This special combination of student and resident parishioners has created a unique community of faith that invites all to the love of Christ.
In particular, we are about serving the students at UC Berkeley as they delve into and take ownership of their faith as young adults.
Students, get the latest news and events on our Slack Channel:
newmanvillage.slack.com
Newman Hall welcomes the Dominican Fathers
Our pastor, Fr. Xavier Lavagetto, OP, arrived July 1st from his post as pastor and director of the Catholic Community at Stanford University. He has made the Imogene Simpson Room (just inside the front doors) his office. Stop by for a visit, or contact him via email at Xavier Lavagetto, (xavierop@calnewman.org ) or cell phone, (650) 291-4590. To make an appointment with Fr. Xavier, you may do so by clicking here: xavierop.youcanbook.me .
Fr. Pius Youn
Associate pastor, Fr. Pius Youn, OP has returned to Berkeley where he undertook his seminary studies at the GTU’s Dominican School of Theology and Philosophy. Ordained in 2018, Fr. Pius most recently served in a parish in Anchorage with ministry also to a parish in Dutch Harbor on Amaknak Island, AK. Click here for a bio. You can make an appointment with him via email at piusop@calnewman.org
Help! We need more students and year-round community members to serve as Liturgical Ministers — -Eucharistic Ministers
-Lectors
-Altar Servers,
-Producers for our livestreamed 10 am Mass, and
-weekday Sacristans
We also need people to advance the overhead sides at Mass, help decorate the church, as well as people who’ll wash and iron the altar linens, and people who’ll clean the chapel.
Do you feel called to help in any of these ways? Sign up here or just come to a training.
Lector trainings are offered at 10am on the first Saturday of the month.
The next Eucharistic Minister Training will be in February.
FOCUS Missionaries for 2024-2025
Click here to check out our 2024-2025 FOCUS Missionaries.
Beware of Internet Scams
Please be aware of scams on the internet with folks pretending to be the pastor or someone you trust. They will be asking for a favor that typically is getting them gift cards and sending the codes over the internet. Before getting the gift cards or sending any info, please verify by using your usually way to talk to the person. It is most likely a scam.
If you choose to interact with the person, you may want to be kind to the person, maybe let them know you’ll be praying for them. They are trying to take advantage of our kindness, so be true to your kindness and be kind and wise. NYTimes had a front page article about people in the FarEast being scammed with the promise of a high paying tech job only to be shipped to a foreign country, locked away, and forced to run internet scams all day long. That would explain how these scams keep on going and keep on changing.
Newman Grads
If you’re a graduate student or young adult, come join Newman Grads. Contact us at grads@calnewman.org for more info or look out for us in front of the church after the 10am Sunday Mass. Here are our regular events:
Sun (11am) - Sunday Social
Thu (7pm) - Women’s Group
Thu (7pm) - Men’s Group
We thank all the donors, volunteers, musicians, and guests who helped make the Christmas Dinner on December 7th a joyful occasion. Thank you for your generosity and good will.
Our next take-away dinner is on Saturday, January 4th, 2025. Service will run from 2:00-4:30 pm. Join us on the patio for the festivities.
VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITY: If you’d like to help out with the Loaves & Fishes dinner contact Joe Burns at lf.newman.hall@gmail.com
Please pray for Parishioners & Loved ones who passed away in 2024.
Richard Cushman - Newman’s Organist (12/26/24)
Bishop Emeritus John Cummins (12/3/24)
Zygmunt (Zyg) Deutschman (9/2/24)
David Gleason (6/3/24)
Daniel Scuiry (6/10/24)
Tom McCarthy (6/2/24)
Philip Catterton - brother of a parishioner
Wanda Luisi - (3/06/24)
“Fitz” John Joseph Fitzgerald
Madeline Jay Chu (2/15/24)
Pope Francis
Messages and Audiences
from the website www.vatican.va
Pope Francis’ Message for 2025, on January 1st, World Day of Peace.
Events & News Outside of Newman
Current Issue of the Diocesan magazine, The Catholic Voice
WINGS, a women’s group at St. Theresa Parish in Oakland, welcomes all women to their weekly meetings and speaker programs. Information coming soon.
Grief Support: An Evening with Sandy (7-8pm, Tue) - peer ministry and drop in session, so come any time and join a group of people sharing our experience of grief along with each other. Sandy Heinisch is a grief trainer with the Diocese of Oakland.
2022 Gallagher Talk: Three Fates of Toxic Polarization and How We Can Deal With Them - Fr. Steven Bell, CSP
Click on the title to watch a presentation
After 117 years of service to the Diocese of Oakland at UC Berkeley, the Paulist Fathers left Newman on July 1st. Due to the decline in the number of Paulist priests, the Paulists made the difficulty decision to close some national offices and depart from two ministry locations. One of these locations was Newman at UC Berkeley. We thank the Paulists for their many years of spiritual leadership and accompaniment.
Paulist VOICE Newsletter - Quarterly newsletter from the Paulist Fathers and the latest news.
Where are the Paulists who left Berkeley in July?
Fr. Ivan is pastor at Old St. Mary’s in San Francisco. You can reach him at
660 California St., San Francisco, CA 94108Fr. Ryan is Parochial Vicar at Cathedral of St. Andrew.
You can reach him at 267 Sheldon SE, Grand Rapids, MI 49503
(https://grdiocese.org/parishes-location/cathedral-of-saint-andrew/Fr. Ken is also at the Cathedral of St. Andrew serving in Senior Ministry.
His address is 267 Sheldon SE, Grand Rapids, MI 49503Zach Turner has returned to the seminary to continue his studies. You can reach him at 3001 4th St NE, Washington, DC 20017
