We are proud to share that Francesco Rahe, one of the Lumen Christi Institute’s Nicklin Fellows, has joined the esteemed ranks of Rhodes Scholars, a group that includes many of the most distinguished leaders, thinkers, and scholars of our time. He is one of only 32 American students selected for the prestigious Rhodes Scholarship this year.
A senior in the College at the University of Chicago, Rahe plans to pursue a master’s degree in classical Indian religions at the University of Oxford next year, with a focus on translating Sanskrit texts.
As a Catholic and a student of ancient Indian religions, Rahe brings a unique perspective on the religious and philosophical traditions that shape life’s great questions. “Because he draws on very different communities and academic traditions, Francesco has the potential to become a highly original scholar and thought leader,” said Lumen Christi executive director Daniel Wasserman-Soler.
At the Lumen Christi Institute, Rahe was part of the first cohort of Nicklin Fellows, a program launched in 2023 at the Institute to support undergraduate students in the pursuit of their intellectual interests. He also has been a regular participant in our Fundamental Questions seminar, which fosters intellectually rigorous conversation around culturally resonant texts and the deep existential concerns that animate our lives. As a Nicklin Fellow, Rahe led a screening and discussion of Martin Scorsese’s Silence. Among the many programs he attended at Lumen Christi, he remembers a course on Modern Mysticism as a highlight: “I was introduced to a whole new way of seeing my faith—through the lens of people like Simone Weil, whom I’d known nothing about before. I also loved the way LCI fostered engagement with spiritually important questions, without necessarily engaging with explicitly religious texts.”
Rahe’s leadership and participation in the Lumen Christi Institute community are a testament to the breadth of his intellectual curiosity. “I’m extremely thankful for the Lumen Christi Institute,” said Rahe. “It has been one of my favorite parts of my experience at the University of Chicago, and I’m hoping to find that sort of passionate, intellectual faith community at Oxford.”