At the time, there was talk of shutting down the school for financial reasons, Thierfelder recalled. Despite the lack of resources, one of his first major initiatives was the construction of a new, wood-and-glass eucharistic adoration chapel on campus to show that Christ is the center of Belmont Abbey.
“About 90% of all the money that came for the adoration chapel came from people who had never heard of Belmont Abbey before, had never been here before, but they knew what an adoration chapel was, and they thought it was really important,” Thierfelder explained.
The lesson, for Thierfelder, was that great things are possible when God comes first.
“At our essence is our faith in Jesus Christ, and it’s in following the teachings of the Catholic Church that we hopefully provide our students with an education and formation that will prepare them to bring the light of Christ to the rest of the world,” he said.
Marking a further commitment to its Catholic identity, Belmont Abbey in 2011 became the first higher education institution to file a lawsuit against the U.S. government in opposition to the Affordable Care Act’s contraception mandate, which forced Catholic colleges and universities to cover birth control and abortifacients in their employee health plans in violation of their religious beliefs.
The litigation, which led to a successful class-action lawsuit, eventually forced the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to change its rules to broaden the ACA’s exemption for religious employers.
Stepping out in faith
Since then, Belmont Abbey’s enrollment has grown steadily, and the college is perennially included among the two dozen or so Catholic colleges and universities The Cardinal Newman Society recognizes for having a commitment to providing students with a faithful Catholic education.
The only Catholic college on the East Coast between Northern Virginia and Florida, Belmont Abbey now offers nearly 50 undergraduate, graduate, professional, and pre-professional fields of study, and boasts of having a 95% acceptance rate to medical schools. About half the student body is Catholic, the college says.
In 2021, the school opened Belmont House in Washington, D.C., as a center for Benedictine hospitality and Catholic community and advocacy on Capitol Hill. And last year, Belmont Abbey entered into a contract with Caromont Health to build a public hospital on abbey-owned land — a boon for the college’s nursing and science programs.
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Meanwhile, even before the start of the Made True campaign, two new dormitories, a new sports complex, and improvements to the science center already were underway.
“The kind of individuals that are coming from Belmont Abbey [have] never been more needed in the culture that we live in today,” Thierfelder told CNA.
Thierfelder likened the college’s ambitious fundraising efforts to “repairing the wing of the plane while you’re flying it.” But Belmont Abbey is ready to embrace the challenge.
“We’re called to trust absolutely in God and all that he has in store for us, and at the same time to use all of our skills, talents, and abilities to their full,” he said, “and so that’s what we’re doing.”
Peter Pinedo is a DC Correspondent for CNA. A graduate of Franciscan University, Peter previously worked for Texas Right to Life. He is a first lieutenant in the U.S. Army Reserve.