Fausto Franco, a graduate of the MA (Theology) program (Graduate School of Theology, 2019), will teach COSCI 101 Computer Essentials in the Fall II term. In addition to teaching for CDU, Fausto works in Information Technology with a focus on Cyber Security as a business information security officer for state government. He currently resides in Albany, New York, and is a parishioner at the Shrine Church of Our Lady of the Americas.
After earning his M.Eng. in Computer Systems Engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Fausto felt an interior tug to educate himself in theology as he had prepared for his secular career. “I was in a place at that time where being in a traditional school setting was not ideal for me, and I started researching programs I could attend,” he says. “I do not like going to school at night, which is what I did for my first master’s degree, but was willing to do so if the Lord was placing this desire in my heart. One evening while at home, a Google ad for CDU popped up, and without realizing it, I clicked on the ad and was on the CDU page. Upon reading, I came to realize that the Lord had responded to what I had ‘demanded,’ and now it was on me to do my part. I applied, and the rest is history.”
He thoroughly enjoyed the MA (Theology) program. “It was a challenging program, but each course happened at the ‘right’ time for me in my own personal faith journey,” he says. “It turns out that I was applying the material right away in my daily life. At times in ministry, questions or talks on topics would be presented to me that were specifically on the topic that I was currently engaged in. That served for me as a reminder of God’s action in my life in responding to that interior tug, and these were moments of consolation on the journey. Those moments helped me to stay in the program,” he says. “In the journey of faith, obstacles are part of the package.”
Fausto’s degree has been very helpful in his evangelization work, which has led to travel throughout the United States and internationally. “As I started the program, I was called to be the coordinator of the youth/young adult ministry for the Hispanic Catholic Charismatic Renewal for the Archdiocese of New York. It also was during this time that I served as the national coordinator of the US/Canada for youth/young adults in the Hispanic Catholic Charismatic Renewal,” he says. The MA program helped Fausto grow in his understanding of the faith and share it with others in the ministry and those who participated in retreats and events.
“In the workplace, as co-workers found out that I was pursuing this degree, it led to many interesting conversations around faith. It allowed me to go deeper and gain more understanding to build my own relationship with God and, in turn, the desire to want to share that with others. It has allowed me to be part of the CDU faculty as well, teaching and allowing students to realize that even in the world of Mathematics and Computing, God is revealing Himself to us there and what the Church teaches us regarding these subjects,” he says.
The oldest of four children born to immigrant parents from the Dominican Republic, Fausto was raised in the Bronx, New York. He has been involved in youth and young adult ministry for many years and is active on the Diocesan Service Committee for the Archdiocese of New York. He was published in the summer 2018 edition of Pentecost Today magazine and spoke at the Golden Jubilee 50th anniversary of the Catholic Charismatic Renewal in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in July 2017. Fausto also participated in the V Encuentro of Latino/Hispanic Ministry representing ecclesial movements and is a member of the Locos por Jesus ministry that travels to the Dominican Republic and throughout the United States to evangelize.
In his free time, Fausto plays baseball in the Albany Twilight League, one of the oldest amateur baseball leagues in the country, usually as second baseman or shortstop. He played baseball for Siena College as an undergraduate.
