Catholic Students at UW: A Perspective.

© 1997 by Richard Bonomo

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As an undergraduate at Case Institute of Technology in Cleveland, as a graduate student and now as "limited-term" staff here at the University of Wisconsin, I have often taken note of the lack of overt religious practice on the part of the great mass of students. To be quite frank, I found and find this to be quite distressing. I beg the indulgence of those who read this, coming from diverse faiths and religious backgrounds, as I use this platform to make some observations and comments, and to issue challenges which are unavoidably directed principally at a subset of our community. I trust that readers to whom much of what follows does not apply would at least find this article interesting in so far as it explains some of the forces operating on those around them.

People in our University community -- and well beyond -- have developed a love affair with the concept of "progress." People pushing ideas old and new, good and bad, often endeavor to wrap themselves and their causes in the "progressive" mantle. Conversely, the general tendency in our academic community is to avoid -- and to avoid being associated with -- anything which popular culture or academic trend has painted with the dreaded label of "reactionary" or simply "antiquated." We dread being out of date or out of fashion.

Our academic community values the ability to make decisions and to act free of external or internal restraint. If you want to put a damper on a discussion regarding practical courses of action which might be taken in a given situation, it usually suffices to speak of rules of conduct, especially moral rules, or of anything else which involves invoking personal (as opposed to social) responsibility.

Our academic community -- mirroring American culture -- values productivity highly. It is often the case that we tend to "rate" people based on their capacity to achieve a given result, often without substantial concern over the methods they employ, or how their behavior affects other people, or the quality of their characters.

Of course, we -- students especially I suspect -- also want what we do to be fun, if at all possible. "Unfun" school work is grudgingly tolerated because students are bright enough to realize that the consequences of not doing it are severe. Otherwise, if something does not bring us closer to a degree or a paycheck and is not fun, forget it!

This brings me to the topic of this essay: the status of religion in the hearts and minds of University students, especially Christians, Roman Catholic students in particular.

Not long ago, the University asked oneís religious affiliation at registration time. (I think this is still the standard procedure at most large colleges and universities; I have not attempted to take a poll, however.) This is not the case currently, so it is hard to say how many Roman Catholic students there are on campus. However, it is likely that there are between 10,000 and 16,000 at least nominally Catholic students attending classes at the U.W. -- Madison.

Given this, Sunday mornings at student housing sites on and off campus should be times of intense but quiet activity. The halls should be filled with the hustle and bustle of students rousing themselves and heading off to Sunday Mass and to various Protestant services as well. The crowds in the streets of Madison should be, in some places at some times, similar to the crowds walking around campus at class change time.

Permit me to let those of you who normally sleep in on Sunday mornings, and would not get a chance to witness this activity, in on a deep secret: IT DOESN'T HAPPEN. It might be a bit of an exaggeration to say that the campus area on Sunday morning resembles a ghost town, but it would not be much of an exaggeration.

This is by no means a new phenomenon. I recall a conversation I had while living in Witte Hall during my first year of graduate school, nearly 20 years ago. A graduate student from Africa asked if he could stop by and speak with me on Sunday morning. When he came by for his appointment, he remarked that things in Witte felt a little strange. He noted that as the dormitory was extremely quiet on Sunday mornings, he felt the need to make an appointment with me in advance, so as not to risk disturbing me. At his school in his home country he would have felt no need: everyone there is up early on Sunday morning to go to church.

Indeed, religion is not at the forefront of the minds of Roman Catholic students -- and probably not of students of most other denominations as well -- here at U.W. and at many other colleges and Universities, and has not been for quite some time. Lately I have found myself reflecting on this with particular intensity, and wondering why.

Part of the answer lies, I think, in the things I noted at the start of this essay. Religion is not perceived as being in fashion, liberating, a necessary step in the acquisition of professional goals, nor fun. This perception is not entirely unreasonable, if not entirely accurate. The student of history will note that the Christian religion has often not been in fashion (count the martyrs), and does not usually present itself as being "fun" (behold the Cross) even though it actually is much of the time, in fact. For people who have come to (mis)understand "liberty" to mean freedom from even moral restraints, the Christian faith will indeed seem its antithesis, as so much of its moral teachings involve a call to duty and to self-restraint. Regarding professional "productivity," God alone knows how many people have had to put aside career plans and other worldly ambitions to fulfill the demands of the Faith, or simply of natural duties illumined by the Faith over the course of time.

The question then becomes: why is this perception so overpowering that so many of us do not even seriously consider taking the time to think beyond it, that is, to consider if this perception is true, or if and when true, if it should determine our behavior? Why is there so little willingness to make even trivial sacrifices for oneís religion? Why is the popular culture as presented by the mass media (run by generally irreligious people) not resisted more?

Part of this answer to this question, for Catholics, I think has its origins in the chaotic aftermath of the second ecumenical council held at the Vatican in the early sixties. I recall that around 1966, while I was as a grade-school student at St. Anthonyís in Kailua, Oahu, Hawaii, the books which were used in Religion class were exchanged. Gone were the Baltimore Catechisms and other books which actually taught doctrine, morals, history, and devotional practice. In their place were books which taught nothing except that we should be nice to people, and that not very strongly. In my last year in a Catholic school, my Freshman year of high school in San Diego, California, my religion class was used by the instructor (a priest) primarily as a platform for spreading anti-war propaganda. The Faith was not taught. This experience of mine was typical of the time throughout the United States and perhaps in other parts of the world. The Catholic faith was, for all practical purposes, not taught in Catholic schools. The same was true for "CCD" classes offered after hours to public school students. (Of course, there were and are exceptions to this.) Various groups of people within the Church took the Councilís calls for reform within, and to work for unity with Protestant bodies without, as a cue, a license -- or perhaps as an opportunity -- to reduce Catholic doctrine and practice to the least common denominator. Efforts to reverse this began a number of years ago, but the process will take quite some time.

The effects of this have been all too obvious. In the many conversations I have had with Catholic young people (and, often, older people as well) over the past 25 or so years, it has been painfully obvious that the people with whom I spoke knew essentially nothing about the religion to which they belonged. We now have at least 2 consecutive generations of Catholics who have been taught little or nothing, who have been cheated, to put it bluntly, of their rightful Christian education. How can anyone who can not explain his faith -- much less defend it -- be expected to make even ordinary sacrifices for it, or to resist "popular culture" when necessary? He cannot. Is it any wonder, then, that so many Catholic students here and elsewhere often do not even see the point of dragging themselves to Sunday Mass, or understand religious practice to be some sort of "option?"

I have a challenge for those of you who read this who can be described as nominal Catholics who do not bother fulfilling your Sunday obligation (yes, assisting at Sunday Mass is still an obligation), or who perhaps go to church but do not allow your religious affiliation to affect the rest of your life in a conscious way: think again! You are on your own now!

Firstly, as a rational creature, your first duty is to think. Thinking, to be effective, requires knowledge both of facts and of a logical or philosophical system for dealing with those facts. The acquisition of knowledge requires observation and study. This church to which you belong makes many and various claims about herself, about you, and about "reality" in general. As a Catholic intellectual, (not to shock you, but if you are at the U.W., you can make at least some claim to being an "intellectual") you have an obligation to acquire an understanding of that to which you belong and of that which you allegedly confess which is concomitant with your level of intelligence, and to be able to accurately explain these things to other people. Relying on what fragments you might remember from a childhood CCD class (which was probably poorly organized and taught, anyway), what you have "heard," and what you have picked up from reading the newspapers is not only not enough, but may well be harmful.

As a rational creature, having examined what you have taken the time to study carefully, you may then accept it as true or reject it as false (even if only tentatively). One thing you may not do -- especially those of you who walk around bearing the label of "Catholic" (or for that matter, of any type of Christian), is ignore it.

I say you cannot ignore it because:

1. The Church makes claims which, if true, must have a fundamental impact on the way we live our lives. The Church teaches -- for example -- that there is one God, a Trinity of persons sharing one and the same being, who is at the core of all that is, who holds all things in existence by a continuing act of will, and that this God is a deeply personal God who actually cares, and, for reasons known fully only to himself elected to become one of us, and suffer at the hands of his own creatures. The Church asserts that she, though made up of admittedly sinful Man and governed by admittedly sinful men, is founded by this God, the One, the Only, and is not only His spokesman on Earth and entrusted with the ordinary means of salvation (the Sacraments), but is in some way His living body on Earth, the body of Jesus Christ.

2. The Church has been around for 2000 years, and has been, to put it mildly, a major force in the formation of Western civilization and culture. Even the most aggressive of non-believers live and breathe -- often unconsciously -- concepts and modes of behavior which have their origins in or have been heavily influenced by the Church. Whatever one believes or does not believe about the Church or about the Son of God whom she claims as her Founder, the Church cannot be dismissed as unimportant -- as an irrelevancy which is the work of crackpots (even if it were). It is simply too big and too enduring (how many other institutions have been around for 2000 years?) to ignore.

3. You, my young friend (or even not so young friend), are at or are approaching a cross-roads in your life. Now is the time that vocational decisions are customarily made. The friendships you make now will likely affect your professional life, your marital status, your social relationships, where you live, in short, just about everything, in a very direct way. Your Christian faith, if it be true, should logically lie at the foundation of everything you do, say, think, and are. It makes no sense to say "maybe later, I have more important things to do right now." They may be more pressing at a given moment; they are not more important.

I therefore challenge you to take the investigation of your Catholic faith and the formation of your Christian character very, very, seriously. What good will it be to you to be the best in your chosen field, if, in the end, you wind up standing before your God having to explain why you spent so much of your life ignoring Him, His Church, and the people He sent to you in an attempt to get your attention?

I also challenge you to get yourself to Sunday Mass, despite that fact that your folks are not around to bring you. Catholics at U.W. who take the 1-1/2 hours or so between Saturday night and Sunday night, in the course of a 168 hour week, to meet their minimal Sunday obligation have it easy. In church-rich downtown Madison, there are no less than 5 Roman Catholic parishes within an easy walk of campus. I will mention 3 of them.

On campus is St. Paul University Catholic Center, located next to the U.W. bookstore, across from Memorial Library. The building itself is, well, not inspired to my eye, being done in an "early bomb-shelter" style, and lacking the usual artwork or even a decent crucifix. Fortunately, however, though the building may not be inspired, the people there are. If you go you will find priests (the "Fathers Steve"), lay chaplains, student peer ministers, and others who are ready to work their tails off for your benefit, and who are themselves people of deep faith. There are also many activities for the particular benefit of students.

Just east of campus is Holy Redeemer Catholic Church, on Johnson Street, just a half block off of State, recently made quite noticeable by the newly copper-sheathed steeple. There you will find both inspired people and a church with a beautiful interior -- the church having been lovingly build by German immigrants in the last century, and still retaining the traditional decor. The pastor, Fr. Kevin Holmes, is very welcoming of university students, and he also gives relevant homilies which "lay it on the line." If you go to 9:30 Sunday Mass there, be sure to catch me in the back afterwards and say hello. I sing in the choir at that Mass, and can usually be found there. (Needless to say, I am a bit biased as this has been my parish for many years.) Even though it is not a "student parish" per se, there is a student / young adults group there which will welcome you.

South of campus you will find St. James, literally on Charter Street, a few blocks south of Regent. It is a family-oriented parish with a school and a nice looking church. It has little for university students at this time, but a number choose to go to Mass there. You will find the pastor, Fr. Douglas Dushack, very warm and welcoming.

Join us. He is waiting for you.