For L. Francis III (CAS ’75, LAW ’78) and Kathleen (SFS ’77) Rooney of Naples, Fla., who contributed $6 million toward the ongoing restoration of Dahlgren Chapel, ensuring the future of the sacred space was a cause close to their hearts.

According to Vice President for Mission and Ministry Fr. Kevin O’Brien, S.J., the Rooneys met at Georgetown and frequently attended Catholic mass at Dahlgren. Francis Rooney also served as a U.S. ambassador to the Vatican.

“They were interested in giving back to the community. When the university presented them this idea, they felt it was the perfect chance,” O’Brien said. “Dahlgren was an important place to Francis and Kathleen’s faith. They want to share that gift with future generations of students.”

The university announced the Rooneys’ gift Saturday at the Mass of the Thanksgiving honoring the donors, at which Cardinal Theodore McCarrick, former archbishop emeritus of Washington, presided.

“This chapel is at the center of everything we are. The donation will allow the liturgical life, the prayer life and the worship that goes on in the chapel to continue. It will allow us to maintain the chapel as our spiritual home for another century,” O’Brien said.

Although other gifts have been received, the university will continue to solicit donations in order to cover the $7.5 million dollar cost of construction.

“Donors include those who went to Mass and who were married at Dahlgren,” O’Brien said. “This is just a wonderful way to give back, because the chapel is the university’s spiritual home, the heart of the campus and the symbol of who we are as a Jesuit school.”

The Rooneys’ donation will be used primarily to reinforce the chapel’s eroding foundation and renovate its interior.

The money was donated through the couple’s non-profit, the Francis and Kathleen Rooney Foundation, which supports a variety of charitable causes.

The Rooneys also contributed $10 million to Notre Dame University to create the Center for the Study of American Democracy in 2008. The gift was part of the $1.5 billion “Spirit of Notre Dame” campaign, which was the most extensive fundraising effort in Catholic higher education at the time of its announcement.

Francis Rooney is the majority owner in Manhattan Construction, the firm that is organizing the repairs to the chapel. Rooney was also chief executive officer of Rooney Holdings, an investment and holding firm.

Throughout October, Manhattan Construction has been focusing on utilities and soil erosion work so that future repairs may be conducted, according to an update from the Catholic Chaplaincy. Vegetation was removed from around the chapel, and digging has begun around the perimeter of the building.

Cracks on the chapel’s rose window and falling plaster led the university to temporarily close the chapel in the fall of 2007.The window was removed in 2009 to protect the glass after it was observed that the window was bowed.

Renovations to the chapel’s foundation are scheduled to be completed first to prevent further cracks in interior walls and stained glass windows. Interior repairs including new seating and lighting will follow. The stained glass windows, which have not been cleaned for over a hundred years, will be removed, refurbished and reinstalled in the course of the renovations.

“The chapel will remain open throughout the restoration, except for maybe a few days when we remove the stained glass windows,” O’Brien said.