Saint John Paul II Legacy Society

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For more than 25 years, The Cardinal Newman Society has helped Catholic educators strengthen the Catholic identity of our schools and colleges, defend their religious freedom, and helped Catholic families identify the best Catholic education for their children. But it’s crucial for the souls of young people, and for the future of our nation, that we do so much more!

Every day we hear from college presidents, school principals, superintendents and bishops who are desperate for our help to strengthen Catholic identity, and we are eager to give it to them. A bequest, or naming The Cardinal Newman Society in your will, allows your commitment to Catholic education to live on in your memory, and ensures that we will be able to continue and grow this important work of renewal.

Recently, The Cardinal Newman Society has partnered with MyCatholicWill to allow our members to create a will…for Free, and then include a bequest to The Cardinal Newman Society to help generations of Catholic families. It can take as little as 15 minutes to complete the online form. Check out: MyCatholicwill.com/CardinalNewman.

With a resolute hope in God and your generosity and prayers, we have demonstrated our ability and desire to have an even greater impact in promoting and defending faithful Catholic education. A bequest is your opportunity to make an especially heroic contribution toward the renewal of faithful Catholic education.

What is a bequest?

A bequest is a gift to charity at one’s passing. A bequest is the simplest type of planned gift to make and one of the easiest to implement.

The donor can retain ownership and use of assets while living, but still designate a significant gift to The Cardinal Newman Society in an estate plan. The donor includes a bequest in a will or trust, and/or designates The Cardinal Newman Society as a beneficiary of expected income (such as an individual retirement account).

Gift to Charity: The Cardinal Newman Society receives cash, or cash proceeds from the sale of property.

Estate Tax Deduction: The amount of the donation is not subject to federal estate tax.

Preserves Lifetime Flexibility: The donor is able to use and control property while living.

How do I plan a bequest?

The following language may be helpful in planning a bequest to The Cardinal Newman Society:

I give, devise, and bequeath to The Cardinal Newman Society (tax ID#: 54-1691371), a non-profit corporation in Manassas, Virginia: (1) The sum of $_____; or, (2) ____ percent of my estate; or, (3) all the rest, remainder and residue of my estate, including property over which I shall have the power of appointment at my passing, after all debts and taxes are paid.

Please note: Your tax and/or legal advisor should be consulted to assist you in properly setting up a will or in making any decision to modify your will or estate plans.

The Cardinal Newman Society’s tax ID# is 54-1691371.

Your tax and/or legal advisor should be consulted to assist you in properly setting up a will or in making any decision to modify your will or estate plans.

How can I get in touch?

Joe McLaughlin
Vice President of Program Development
703-367-0333 ext. 132

Email Joe McLaughlin
Vice President of Program Development

The Cardinal Newman Society
Saint John Paul II Legacy Society
10432 Balls Ford Road, Suite 300
Manassas, VA 20109

Legacy Society Member Profile: The Late Monsignor Thaddeus Malanowski

The Late Monsignor Thaddeus Malanowski

The Catholic Church lost a faithful priest. The Army lost a dedicated chaplain. The Newman Society lost a dear friend. And we all gained, God willing, a saint in Heaven with the passing of Monsignor Thaddeus P. Malanowski, who died in Connecticut on January 23, 2020. He was 97 and had been ordained a priest more than 72 years ago.

Brigadier General (Chaplain) Malanowski served for 30 years in the Army and was famously known for being Elvis Presley’s chaplain in Germany in the 1950s. He retired with honors in 1978 as Deputy Chief of Chaplains of the Army. While serving as a parish priest in Florida, Monsignor brought the Eucharist and ministered to the severely ill Terri Schiavo.

Monsignor was also a long-time supporter of the Newman Society and friend of the Society’s Bob Laird. “He had a keen recall of everything that the Newman Society was doing,” Bob recalls. “He always asked me to thank Patrick Reilly and the other staff members for taking on the task of improving Catholic education.”

That love for the Newman Society’s work continues beyond Monsignor’s death.

“I’ve long supported the important work of The Cardinal Newman Society as best I can — and by remembering the Society in my estate plans, I’m able to do much more,” Monsignor wrote in a letter to Newman Society members, urging them to join the Legacy Society. “It’s a singular honor to help impact the minds and hearts of our young Catholic students.”

Saint John Paul II: His Legacy of Renewal in Faithful Catholic Education

With the aid of your Catholic education, you have received the greatest of gifts: the knowledge of Christ.

Throughout his pontificate (1978-2005), Pope John Paul II was a champion of fidelity and authentic Catholic identity in education. Within his first six months, he signaled his intention to rein in dissent with Sapientia Christiana, the apostolic constitution defining discipline for ecclesiastical universities and faculties. He later approved the 1983 Code of Canon Law, which for the first time in Church history included canons specifically governing Catholic colleges, including the mandatum for theologians.

With Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger at the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Saint John Paul II squelched the “liberation theology” movement and silenced several dissident theologians. In 1986, the Vatican forbade dissident Rev. Charles Curran from teaching theology at The Catholic University of America—and the next year, the Holy Father visited Catholic University to deliver an address urging fidelity and reform throughout Catholic education.

His Congregation for Catholic Education issued important guidance in “The Religious Dimension of Education in a Catholic School” (1988) and “The Catholic School on the Threshold of the Third Millennium” (1997). Pope John Paul II gave us the Catechism of the Catholic Church, with great influence over Catholic education and school textbooks. And in 1990, he issued Ex corde Ecclesiae, requiring every Catholic college to demonstrate an “institutional commitment” to the faith, regardless of lay or Church ownership.

With two key encyclicals—Veritatis Splendor (1993) and Fides et Ratio (1998)—Pope John Paul II restored appreciation for what lies at the heart of Catholic education: the absolute compatibility and unity of faith and reason. The first encyclical included a strong message to Catholic educators:

A particular responsibility is incumbent upon Bishops with regard to Catholic institutions. … It falls to them, in communion with the Holy See, both to grant the title “Catholic” to Church-related schools, universities, health-care facilities, and counseling services, and, in cases of a serious failure to live up to that title, to take it away.

Many of John Paul II’s teachings were met with strong resistance from those opposed to strengthening Catholic identity. But inspired by this saintly professor-pope, the Newman Society set out to promote and defend his vision for faithful education. Today, thanks to the Grace of God, the prayers and support of our dedicated members, and a new generation of faithful educators, there is a much needed renewal of Catholic education underway.

To contact The Cardinal Newman Society about the Saint John Paul II Legacy Society, please contact Joe McLaughlin, vice president for program development, at 703-367-0333 ext. 132 or email him.