The Good 5 Cent Cigar

Issue date: 4/16/08 Section: News

Media Credit: Danielle Oliva Rev. John Soares will leave URI at the end of the academic year to take pastor position at St. Thomas Church in Providence.

Media Credit: Danielle Oliva

04/16/08 - Some members of the University of Rhode Island community know Rev. John Soares from his work with the URI Catholic Center. Others may have attended a Mass led by him at Christ the King Church, or met him at various university events. And some simply know him as the man who can often been seen walking his small dog, Dusty, around campus.

After 12 years of serving as URI's chaplain and director of the Catholic Center, Soares will be leaving URI.

Soares has been appointed pastor at St. Thomas Church, located near Rhode Island College in Providence. He said while he was anticipating the move, the change is bittersweet.

"I will really miss the students just coming into the Catholic Center to chat or play pool or Ping-Pong," he said. "The informal drop-in conversations we have are really enjoyable, and that won't be the same in a rectory setting where people have to ring the doorbell and wait for someone to answer, and it's all the more formal."

Carol Maddock, who is also leaving URI after working as campus minister at the Catholic Center for 14 years, said Soares will be missed by many at URI.

"He never put himself on a pedestal," Maddock said. "He is just wonderful with the students, and he is just as comfortable in the kitchen doing dishes as he is leading ice breakers or doing community service."

Maddock said Soares' availability to students and his fondness of spontaneous visits are what made him so special to many on campus.

"He's just very approachable," she said. "People would just drop in any time, and he loved that. Some people call it interrupting, but for us it's just openness."

While Soares will miss interaction with URI students, St. Thomas also houses a regional Catholic school, which teaches kindergarten through eighth grade.

In addition to this, Soares, who graduated from RIC in 1983, said he is glad his new parish is located so close to another university.

"It is a little like going home for me," he said. "Also, it will be nice to still be close to a college setting. I can still go to a ballgame or see a play."

However, Soares said he will not be as involved at RIC as he was at URI.

"The parish will be my main priority," he said. "Students might come down from the university, but I will have enough going on to keep me busy. I certainly am not there to interfere. They have a great chaplain [at RIC]."

Maddock, who is retiring to spend more time with her children in anticipation of the births of two grandchildren, said she has enjoyed her time at URI and that she has always felt like a second parent to many students.

"It's just great watching the shy freshmen blossom and bloom into fantastic young adults," she said. "We follow their lives and watch them grow and develop."

Maddock said while she is looking forward to being with her family, both she and Soares are sad to leave URI after so many years.

"We are both going to miss URI and the Catholic Center very much," she said. "It has been a very fruitful time for us, and we received as much from the students as we gave."

URI student Brad Lefoley met Soares and Maddock when he joined the Newman Club, a group created to help students socialize and pray together, four years ago. He said the team's energy and enthusiasm kept him and others coming back.

"They created such a feeling of openness in the Catholic Center," Lefoley, a graduate student, said. "The atmosphere was always very welcoming, and that is because Father John and Carol are so interested in the student body and getting them active in the community."

Christ the King's Rev. Joseph Creedon has worked with Soares and Maddock since their arrivals at URI. He wished them luck in their future endeavors.

"John brought a tremendous amount of enthusiasm, caring and concern for students and Carol was excellent at being a spiritual guide," Creedon said. "We are going to miss them both tremendously."

Rev. Matt Glover, assistant pastor at St. Luke's in Barrington, will be replacing Soares as director of the Catholic Center. With energy to spare and four years of experience, Soares said Glover will be a perfect fit for URI.

"He's a great young priest," he said. "He's not one who likes to be chained to his desk, so he will probably be walking around, interacting with students and integrating himself into the campus life. If I had to pick my replacement, he's the one I would pick."

Maddock agreed Glover will relate well to students.

"[Glover] is very social justice-oriented," she said. "He can help with work in the community and also raise the consciousness of students and get them involved."

Creedon said Glover's outgoing personality and youth will help him be successful in his new position.

"He will be his own person in this job," Creedon said. "He doesn't have to do exactly what John did, he can find his own way to be a witness of faith. I'm looking forward to working with him."

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