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Profile
of Jason Gawaldo, Intern, Diocese of Pittsburgh, 8/06
by Shannon Durkin
PPW/Writing Center Publicity Intern
 Jason
Gawaldo is a PPW intern and senior majoring in Philosophy and Classics.
Why Philosophy and Classics? He says, “I like truth and beauty,
so I am very interested in religion, philosophy, and art.”
Jason interns at the Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh’s Education
Department. The Department’s mission is to educate all Catholics
or anyone interested in the Catholic faith.
After graduating, Jason plans to study in the Seminary to potentially
become an ordained priest. Therefore, he did not have to look very
far to find this internship. His spiritual advisor, Father Brian
Welding, gave him a recommendation that landed him the job. Since
Jason was previously involved with the Church, he already knew several
of the priests working at the Diocese. This familiarity helped him
to feel comfortable right away; it only took him one day to fit
in and start working.
Jason’s main goal at the Diocese is to write an informative
guidebook for those who will convert into the Catholic faith. The
Diocese will distribute this 100-page guidebook to 214 parishes,
and use it to educate all adult converts. Every day, Jason goes
to the downtown office, chats with his coworkers for a while, then
sits down at his desk and starts typing away. While he works alone
most of the time, he likes to interact with the other employees,
and they always eat lunch together.
Although Jason’s project may seem overwhelming, he describes
the job as “laid back with a friendly atmosphere,” and
he wouldn’t change a thing about it. This opportunity has
helped him to meet many priests and laypeople who actually run the
Diocese. He has also learned how a nonprofit organization operates,
which will be beneficial to him no matter what his future holds.
Jason hopes to have a career that will allow him to have a positive
effect on people’s lives. In fact, his life goal is “to
get myself and as many other people as possible into Heaven.”
A very admirable goal, indeed!
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