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Catholic Life
Campus Chaplains
Fr. Cornelius M. Buckley, S.J.
 Born
and raised in California, Rev. Cornelius M. Buckley, S.J. joined
the United States Navy when he was 18 years old. After serving for
two years, he left to attend the University of Santa Clara in northern
California. There he met and forged a lifelong friendship with former
and now deceased Thomas Aquinas College chaplain Rev. Thomas Conn,
S.J., who was also studying at the university.
Fr. Buckley received a B.A. in 1950, after which he entered the
Society of Jesus. He went on to receive two Masters degrees-one
in history and the other in philosophy-from Gonzaga University.
He was ordained to the priesthood in 1962, and completed a Ph.D.
in history from the University of Paris, Sorbonne, in 1967.
In his many years of working with young adults, Fr. Buckley has
taught at the University of Santa Clara, Gonzaga University and
the St. Ignatius Institute at the University of San Francisco. He
also served as president of St. Ignatius College Preparatory High
School in San Francisco, and later as dean of the University of
San Francisco. From 1994-2000 he was director of the Fellowship
of Catholic Scholars and has been a trustee on the boards of the
University of San Francisco and St. Patrick's Seminary in Menlo
Park, California.
Fr. Buckley is also widely published, having authored his own works
and collaborated on others as co-author or translator. His publications
include Your Word, O Lord...Meditations for College Students
and Anyone Else and When Jesuits Were Giants, both published
by Ignatius Press, and a translation of Simon Decloux' The Ignatian
Way, published by Loyola University Press.
In 1999, in recognition of the influence he has had in the Bay
Area during his many years there, the supervisors of the city of
San Francisco dedicated a day of recognition to Fr. Buckley. Some
years earlier, he had been given an honor of recognition and gratitude
by the mayor of the city. He is listed in Marquis' Who's Who
in America.
In recent years, Fr. Buckley has turned his focus to spiritual
direction. He enjoys working with college students, helping them
develop their relationship with Christ and grow in their love for
God. Fr. Buckley joined the College in August 2004.
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Rev. Paul K. Raftery, O.P.
 Born
and raised in the small Northern California town of Dixon, just
outside of the state's capital, Sacramento, the young Paul Raftery
attended public schools through the twelfth grade. During those
years, the Faith was always foremost in his heart and mind. After
attending the University of California at Davis for a couple of
years, he began to consider a vocation to the priesthood and religious
life. He investigated a number of orders, but in talking with and
receiving encouragement from his uncle, a Dominican priest, he decided
to enter the Order of Preachers.
Fr. Paul earned a Masters of Divinity degree at St. Albert's College,
commonly known as the Dominican School of Philosophy and Theology,
in Oakland, California, and was ordained to the priesthood in 1984.
Having had his first two assignments at Newman Centers on the campuses
of the University of Arizona in Tucson and the University of Oregon
in Eugene, Fr. Paul is no stranger to campus ministry. Following
on these, he began an extended period of parish work in Portland,
Oregon, and in Northern California. In 1998, he earned a licentiate
degree in the history of liturgy at the Jesuit School of Theology
in Berkeley. Most recently, he served as an associate at St. Dominic's
parish in Eagle Rock, California.
Early in his priesthood, Fr. Paul heard about Thomas Aquinas College.
"When I was a student at St. Albert's," he explained,
"I read about the College in Christopher Derrick's book, Escape
from Scepticism; I also read the Blue Book, [the College's founding
document]." In 2004, while assigned to a parish somewhat near
the campus, Fr. Paul was asked to serve as chaplain for the College's
Chapter of Third Order Dominicans. His association with faculty
members in that Chapter occurred at just the time the College was
seeking a new chaplain.
"Now that I'm here," he says, "I find it a wonderful
environment for coming to know God at the level of His natural revelation
through the great books curriculum. The program is all so wonderfully
ordered to and in harmony with the study of the Faith."
Fr. Paul is now busy offering daily Mass, administering the sacraments,
and providing spiritual direction to the students. Having a keen
interest in Gregorian chant, he is delighted with the College's
Chant Schola that enhances the liturgical life on campus. An avid
hiker, he is also enjoying the trails and the natural beauty of
the Los Padres National Forest above the campus. "I like to
get together with some students," Fr. Paul explains, "and
walk down a trail so I can just be in their presence and share in
their lives."
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Rev. Charles Willingham, O.Praem.
 Thomas
Aquinas College is deeply grateful to the Norbertine order both
for allowing Fr. Michael Perea to serve as a chaplain at the College
for eight years, and for now sending Fr. Charles Willingham, to
take his place in helping serve the spiritual needs of its students,
faculty, and staff.
A native of San Pedro, California, Fr. Charles was well on his
way toward the life of a Catholic layman when a series of events
caused him to think God might have a different path planned for
him. While attending a junior college, working his way toward an
engineering degree, Fr. Charles was caught by surprise at the intense
media coverage of the passings of Pope's Paul VI and John Paul I,
followed so quickly by the election of John Paul II and his subsequent
visit to the United States. "There seemed to be about a year
and a half of solid media coverage of these incredible events in
the Church," he recalls. "It was so impressive to me that
I just said, 'I have to be a part of that!'"
He entered the diocesan seminary, but after two years of study,
wondered whether he might instead have a vocation to a religious
order. It was then that Fr. Charles discovered the Order of Praemontre,
commonly known as the Norbertine order of priests. He visited St.
Michael's Abbey in Orange County, California, and began conversations
with one of the Norbertine priests there that resulted in his entering
their order. During preparations for the priesthood that included
study both at the Abbey and in Rome, he earned an M.A. in spiritual
theology. He was ordained to the priesthood in 1995.
For the past 18 years, he has called St. Michael's Abbey home.
He has especially loved the Order's devotion to the Office, whereby
priests and fraters (brothers) gather seven times a day to pray
together the timeless prayer of the Church.
Fr. Charles has had a number of assignments over the years, including
parish work, the chaplaincy at a facility for developmentally disabled
persons, and teaching in the Order's high school, located on the
grounds of the Abbey. "I taught morality and sometimes freshman
religion," he recalls. "It was a really great experience.
By the time these boys are seniors they have a solid foundation
for their faith."
Fr. Charles believes his teaching experience will serve him well
in his new capacity as chaplain at Thomas Aquinas College. Admittedly,
as he says, "There's a difference between high school students
and college students; one does not feel as free to call older students
on something and tell them what they should be doing because the
point is that they should be responsible. But the caliber of the
students at the College and their spirituality and devotion are
amazing."
Never having lived apart from his community of Norbertines, Fr.
Charles has adjusted to his new home at the College, in particular,
learning to fit the prayers of the Office into the new rhythm of
daily life at Thomas Aquinas College. In making the transition,
he found the camaraderie of his fellow College chaplains a tremendous
blessing.
Noting his penchant for gardening, Fr. Charles' superiors assigned
him to care for the grounds at St. Michael's Abbey for many years.
On taking up his new post at the College, he passed those duties
on to one of his fellow Norbertine priests and Thomas Aquinas College
graduate, Fr. Sebastian Walshe ('94). Fr. Charles now has other
gardens to tend as he helps to cultivate the souls of the students,
faculty, and staff in his care.
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