About the Parish

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Mission

The Roncalli Newman Parish is a Roman Catholic community of students at the University of Wisconsin - La Crosse and Western Technical College, with their faculty and staff and stationary members from the greater La Crosse area.
Our primary mission is to invite the student community at UW-L and WTC to know God in Christ, to enrich their lives through prayer, to promote Christian values, and to educate for justice and peace.

Parish History

The Roncalli Newman Center was officially opened on May 24, 1964. Designed by Hackner, Schroeder & Associates of La Crosse, the building features a flat-roofed, circular structure with an arcade of arches forming the front facade. Originally built in 1962 to serve the Catholic community at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse, the facility was designed to seat 250 people in a circular plan. Over time, the campus ministry prospered, evolving into a 450-family parish that continues to serve a growing student population.

Black and white photo of the Roncalli Newman Center with an arched facade and a tall cross on top.

Who are “Roncalli” and “Newman”?

Roncalli is the surname of the man who would be St John XXIII - Angelo Giuseppe Cardinal Roncalli. He was the pope from 1958 - 1963 and is known for having convened the Second Ecumenical Vatican Council (Vatican II) that forever changed the Catholic Church in the modern world.  It was on the heels of his papacy, and near the end of the Council in 1964, that the Roncalli Newman Center was built. Plans for the new student chapel and fundraising for the building had begun nearly a decade earlier. The Good Pope John was canonized on April 27, 2014 by Popes Francis and Benedict XVI. His liturgical feast day is celebrate on October 11, the anniversary of his opening of the Second Vatican Council.

Angelo Giuseppe Cardinal Roncalli

A portrait of St John XXIII - Angelo Giuseppe Cardinal Roncalli wearing traditional papal attire and a white zucchetto.

Nineteenth century Englishman Blessed John Henry Newman was a convert to Catholicism from the Church of England who distinguished himself as an avid writer and ardent advocate of Catholic education. His great gift to the Church was his willingness to discuss the interplay between academics and theology, between faith and reason. It is for him that the Catholic presence on state university campuses was named. When he was named a cardinal, he chose as his motto "Cor ad cor loquitur" (heart speaks to heart.) This motto would later be taken on by the Newman Club Federation. On September 19, 2010, Cardinal Newman was proclaimed "blessed" by Pope Benedict XVI. The Church celebrates his feast day on September 24.

John Henry Newman

A painting of John Henry Newman wearing a red robe and a large cross necklace, with white hair and a serious expression, against a dark brown background.

Holy Patrons in Stained Glass

Stained glass window of John Henry Newman in a red wrap with white clothing, holding an open book, set against a blue and green background.

John Henry Newman

In this window, Cardinal Newman is flanked by two buildings. On one side is an image of this Newman Center which bears his name. On the other side you can recognize the administration building of the University of Wisconsin - La Crosse, Graff Main Hall. Cardinal Newman stands between the two representing the bridge between the world of academia on a state college campus and the Catholic home for students studying there. It also serves to remind us of Newman's ability to engage conversation between science and religion, a still a popular subject on campus today.
It is not lost on many that the avenue separating the two institutions is called State Street.
Cardinal Newman is seen holding an open book and a quill pen calling attention to his scholarship and the prolific body of his written theological works.

Stained glass window depicting a seated Angelo Giuseppe Roncalli dressed in white robes with a red cloak, holding a book and a cross, with colorful geometric background.

Angelo Giuseppe Roncalli

In our window, the Pope is seated on a raised platform wearing the traditional white cassock and fascia (sash), the white zucchetto (skull cap) and the red mozzetta, (the elbow length cape). The white of his garments signify innocence and charity while the red signify compassion. As the Bishop of Rome, St. John XXIII also has his pectoral cross, a sign of his ordination and consecration as a bishop. All bishops wear one. The Pope's right hand, when seen from the outside, is raised in blessing, revealing also his papal ring, the Fisherman's Ring.
The inscription in this window is a quote from Robert Frost: "The woods are lovely, dark and deep, but i have promises to keep and miles to go before I sleep." The association of this poem and this Pope is ambiguous.

A stained glass depiction of Sir Thomas More with a sword, set against a blue background.

Sir Thomas More

Sir Thomas More was a 16th c English scholar, lawyer and statesman, a counselor to King Henry VIII and Lord High Chancellor of England. The Lord High Chancellor is the second highest ranking of the Great Officers of State. Thomas More was a very important and influential figure; until he dared to defy the sovereign, King Henry.

St. Thomas More opposed the Protestant Reformation, in particular the theology of Martin Luther and William Tyndale. He opposed the King's separation from the Catholic Church, refusing to acknowledge Henry as the Supreme Head of the Church of England and the annulment of his marriage to Catherine of Aragon. After refusing to take the Oath of Supremacy, he was convicted of treason and beheaded.

The symbolism of this window to the west includes a lamp of knowledge or education placed atop three books, "Science", "Humanity" and "Religion." The large medallion with embellished chain signifies his position as Lord High Chancellor. The sword the young More holds is the instrument of his holy death.
The inscription in the window is said to have been his dying words: "I die the king's good servant, but God's first."
Pope Pius XI canonized Thomas More a saint in 1935 as a martyr for the faith. Pope John Paul II, in 2000, named him Patron of Statesmen and Politicians. His feast day is June 22.

So, why does St. Thomas More have a window in the Newman Center Chapel? According to sources within the diocese, then Newman Club chaplain, Msgr. Anthony Wagener was keen on the idea of naming the new Catholic Student Center in honor of Thomas More. The window was in anticipation of the  St. Thomas More Newman Center.

However, the Bishop has the last word on naming rights. ​
Having convened the Second Vatican Council, Pope John XXIII did not live to close the Council. He died the year before the Newman Center was dedicated. Then bishop, John P. Treacy chose to honor, instead, the memory of the late Pope by giving the new Newman Center his surname, Roncalli.