Pastoral Council

I’m Chris Daffin, a first-year law student at the University of Maryland Carey School of Law. I was born in New Orleans, LA and raised in South Alabama. I attended undergrad at a Jesuit college, Spring Hill College in Mobile, AL, where I was a Biology Pre-Med student with a minor in Theology, and I was very involved in extra-curricular activities. As time went on, I got more and more involved in politics, so much so that I decided to establish a CollegeDems chapter at Spring Hill. With over 75 active members, we became the biggest College Democrats chapter in the State of Alabama. After my term as CollegeDems chapter president ended, I took a chance on faith and ran for a national position in the College Democrats of America (CDA), the official student arm of the Democratic National Committee. I ran, won, and became the first elected National Faith Caucus Chair of the College Democrats of America. In my capacity as the caucus chair, I represented all College Democrats of faith (all faiths) across the nation. My caucus’s main initiative was advocating for the passage of H.R. 262, the Federal Death Penalty Prohibition Act, by the 117th Congress. If this bill passes through Congress and is signed by the President, it will abolish the federal death penalty. Our caucus hosted letter drives and national programs to generate more passion around this issue. In March, we passed a resolution in the National Council (CDA’s legislative body) to task the CDA Executive Board to advocate for the bill. We also got the other 15 CDA caucuses to sign on to a letter calling for uptake of the bill, and it was sent to Speaker Pelosi, all House majority leadership, and all members of the House Judiciary Committee.

During my freshman year at Spring Hill, I converted to Catholicism after being raised a Baptist. The RCIA program was almost non-existent outside of a few “roundtable” discussions. When I was confirmed at Spring Hill during my freshman year, I quickly saw a need for a more in-depth catechesis. During my sophomore year, a senior friend and I took over the catechism classes to help. We put together a plan for each week and taught for the entirety of the school year until the Confirmation Mass in April. When my senior friend graduated, I knew that I had to continue. Because of increased furloughs of Student Affairs staff, our Campus Ministry was left with one full-time staff person, the Director. She saw a need and created student internship positions to help operate Campus Ministry efficiently and effectively. I was asked immediately to accept the position of Faith Formation Intern. During my junior and senior years, I oversaw all aspects of faith formation, including creating and executing a new catechesis curriculum, supervising student catechists, and helping to create and implement new ideas concerning the spirituality of our campus community. Campus Ministry saw the number of participants in our sacramental preparation classes double. The work that I’ve done for our campus community as an advocate of ecumenism has been labeled life-altering by some, but I believe it was most life-altering for me. I have never felt so at home in any institution as I have in the Catholic Church.

Being a devout member, however, comes with the responsibility to make sure it’s great for others. That’s what I aspire to help do as a Parish Council member. I want to bring my perspective and experience as a convert, a Black man, a gay man, a young man, and a faith leader to St. Ignatius and to the Council. I want to be a voice for each of these communities separately and where they intersect with one another. Once I heard about the Council, something nudged me. I dismissed the nudge because, as a new parishioner, I felt like I couldn’t have too much of a say in parish affairs. However, after talking to some parishioners, I think I could use my talents to help the parish do God’s work for His Greater Glory, whether that be as a member of the council for the next three years, or in one of St. Ignatius’s many ministries.

My immediate reason for applying to serve on the Pastoral Council is my successful treatment for breast cancer and cancer-caused strokes, which have provided me with a perspective that we never know what the future holds and that I, personally, must respond to a call to serve and a commitment to the Church’s social justice teachings and my passion in the here and now, not in some ill-defined future. I see service on the Council as a way to do this.

Our family (me, my husband–Dennis, and our son–Sean, who resides in China) have been parishioners at St. Ignatius since 2013. Dennis and I have had long-standing ties to Jesuit education and spirituality. Dennis’s undergraduate education was at Fordham University in the Bronx and I completed a Master’s Degree in Religious Studies from Regis University in Denver in May 2012. At St. Ignatius before my health problems I was active on the women’s team for the Ignatian Spirituality Project–a ministry to women at risk for homelessness and who are in recovery largely through retreats that minister using the framework of Ignatian spirituality and include witness by women who have attended prior retreats and are incorporating what they experience in their lives, which also include participation in 12 step programs. In our prior parish I was involved with several ministries including serving on the parish school board, the pastoral council and the Archdiocesan Pastoral Council.

I have a Master’s Degree in Public Health and had a 23 year career with the Social Security Administration–entirely in the disability area: policy, legislation, and special projects in the Office of the Commissioner). Subsequent to my retirement from the SSA, I earned a Master’s in Religious Studies (as mentioned) and served as a pastoral care coordinator in a nursing home, including ministry with residents who had dementia (I also volunteered for over 15 years in this ministry in several nursing homes and an inner city parish in Baltimore). I am currently employed at the Maryland Department of Aging where I have had several positions including staffing the state Alzheimer’s and Related Disorders Council, the State Commission on Aging and managing and staffing federal grants–including those designed to serve people living with dementia and their caregivers.

I am very eager to serve. My passions are working with older adults and people with disabilities, especially people living with dementia and their caregivers as well as older adults generally. In addition, I am very interested in intergenerational ministry and how parishioners of all ages may come together in a commitment to ministry and other social justice ministry areas, as well responding to other social justice issues–such as countering demagoguery, and contributing to planning for our parish looking forward.