By EMILY ROCHOTTE
STAFF WRITER

Father Mark Zittle, O. Carm., is the newest addition to Fordham University’s Campus Ministry team. Zittle is part of the Order of Carmelites, whose brothers and sisters center their lives on prayer, meditation, scripture and service. He became a Carmelite through the help of his undergraduate institution, Wheeling Jesuit University, and is looking to give the same guidance back to Fordham students.

“I feel very blessed that during that process, they helped me become who I am today. Not a Jesuit, but a Carmelite. They helped me get in touch with who I am, and I’d simply just like to accompany students and perhaps pay it forward, so to speak, to help people, through Campus Ministry, discover who they are and become who they are,” Zittle said.

The new assistant director of Campus Ministry for Faith Formation and Sacraments began on Jan. 9.

Zittle is responsible for coordinating alumni, staff and faculty for weddings and baptisms, as well as organizing and coordinating Theology on Tap, the Faith and Cinema series and student leadership training. He also works with student leaders on the “Kerygma Coffee” series and assists Father John Shea with the RCIA program.

Many students met  Zittle at the spring semester club fair on Jan. 15.  Curious to see what was happening around Fordham and what the interests of the student body are, he walked around to visit all the tables and learn more about students’ interests.

“I think it’s wonderful that there is that great energy to participate in things that are important to people and develop talents and nurture talents and support one another,” Zittle said.

Father Zittle is very passionate about social justice work.  He has worked with Food for the Poor and Cross Catholic Outreach. These experiences have taken him to a number of places, including Haiti, Guyana and Zimbabwe, where he served to help break the cycle of poverty.

Zittle also cited his favorite Bible verse, an excerpt from the book of Micah, as portraying how he lives his life. The quote reads:

“This o man, this o woman, is what your God asks of you. Simply to love tenderly, act with justice, and walk humbly with your God” (Micah 6:8).

In addition to serving the community, Father Zittle was recently named to the Order of the Carmelite’s International Justice and Peace and Integrity Creation Committee to represent North America while promoting the work of social justice and Carmelite spirituality.

Unlike many of Fordham’s commuters, who travel by public transportation, Father Zittle will soon be commuting to Fordham on foot.  Walking from 182nd and Valentine in the Bronx, Father Zittle will be joining his Carmelite brothers when he moves into St. Simon Stock Parish next week.

A rugby player in college, Father Zittle loves music and movies, including Christmas Vacation, which he watches every Christmas season.

“The people are very serious, yet they’re not too serious,” Zittle said. “There’s a nice vibe.”

As Zittle settles into his new role at Campus Ministry in the coming months, it seems that he will be feeling quite at home; he has already come to love Fordham.