Archbishop Grob's Statement on the Future of Marian University

The Congregation of Sisters of St. Agnes (CSA), of Fond du Lac, Wisconsin, has announced that it has approved a definitive agreement with the Bernardine Franciscan Sisters of Reading, Pennsylvania, in the Diocese of Allentown, to begin a formal process of transferring the sponsorship and ownership of Marian University, with the intention that Marian University become a campus of Alvernia Catholic University. The Sisters of St. Agnes founded Marian University in 1936 and have sponsored it for ninety years. 
 
Archbishop Grob has issued the following statement:

For ninety years, the Sisters of St. Agnes have given the people of Wisconsin a Catholic university that formed students in faith, learning, and service. Everything that has flourished from Marian University today grew from their sacrifice, and I am grateful to them, as I am for their schools, hospitals, and parish work across this diocese. I know that the faithful in our local church share in this gratitude with me.   
 
The Sisters have told me that this decision has come after three years of prayer, study and consultation, and that they made this choice so that the mission would continue beyond them. That is what founders do. They build something, and when the time comes, they entrust it to others so that it will last. I respect this decision and I support it. 
 
Furthermore, I welcome the Bernardine Franciscan Sisters of Alvernia Catholic University to Wisconsin. They bring a long record of Catholic higher education, and they come as partners in a mission the Church here shares. Marian University will remain a Catholic university in this diocese, and I look forward to working with its new sponsors to continue its mission in the future. 
 
To the students, faculty, staff and alumni of Marian University: a change in sponsorship is not a change in purpose. The university that welcomed you remains open, remains Catholic, and remains committed to you. I ask the faithful of the diocese to pray for the Sisters of St. Agnes, for the Bernardine Franciscan Sisters, and for everyone at Marian University as this process goes forward.