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Fr. Jude DeAngelo at CUA's 2021 Baccalaureate MassYouTube screenshot/The Catholic University of America

WASHINGTON (LifeSiteNews) — The Catholic University of America (CUA) announced Tuesday that Fr. Jude DeAngelo, OFM Conv., will no longer serve as university chaplain starting this summer.

In a letter to the university community, CUA President John Garvey wrote that Fr. DeAngelo, a Conventual Franciscan who has served as chaplain for 12 years, “will be concluding his time as University Chaplain this summer.” “In his order it is customary to move priests to new assignments after a set number of years,” said Garvey, who is stepping down this year as well.

Garvey added that CUA has also declined to renew its contract with the Conventual Franciscans, which ends in the summer.

The coming end of the contract and Fr. DeAngelo’s tenure “moved us to consider a broader conversation about the future of Campus Ministry, and whom we might ask to guide it,” Garvey noted.

Following a months-long process, the university has ultimately tapped the Dominican Order to take over CUA’s campus ministry, he announced. “The Dominicans bring with them a rich heritage of scholarship and spiritual guidance, and as our neighbors they are well acquainted with the University and its mission,” said Garvey.

The transition will happen over the summer, Garvey wrote, and further information will be available after the academic year.

CUA, a papally chartered university in Washington, D.C., is the only university founded by the U.S. bishops.

Fr. DeAngelo’s departure comes after the liberal Franciscan priest took fire last year for blessing an icon that depicted George Floyd as Jesus and pressuring the university’s Students for Life chapter to cancel an event with conservative pro-life speaker Abby Johnson.

The George Floyd icon, condemned by students as “blasphemous,” was installed outside of the chapel at CUA’s Columbus Law School in November. A similar painting was hung outside of the campus ministry office. The icons were stolen late last year.

The Abby Johnson event went on as planned in February 2021 with CUA’s College Republicans, despite DeAngelo’s attempts to derail it.

Fr. DeAngelo has also notably refused to permit the Traditional Latin Mass on campus.

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