Catholic Students at UW: A Perspective -- abridged
By Richard Bonomo
© 1997 by Richard Bonomo
Warning: This item is in the process of being posted and is going through initial revisions, and correction of errors caused by the translation to HTML.
What follows is a greatly condensed version of an essay written by Mr. Bonomo. The text of the full-length essay may be viewed with a Web browser. URL: http://homepages.cae.wisc.edu/~bonomo/opinions/uwcatholics1.html.
I beg the indulgence of those who read this, as I use this platform to make some observations and comments, and to issue challenges which are unavoidably directed principally at a subset (Roman Catholic students) of our academic community. I hope that readers to whom much of what follows does not apply would at least find this article interesting in so far as it describes some of the forces operating on those around them.
Judging from the lack of crowds on Sunday morning, it seems that religion is not at the forefront of the minds of the 10,000+ Roman Catholic (and other) students here at U.W. The same is no doubt true at many other colleges and Universities. Why would this be the case?
I suspect that part of the reason is that religion is often not perceived as being pertinent to life, or at least not life at the academy. Why is this perception so overpowering that so many of us do not even pause to consider if this perception is true? Why is there so little willingness to make even trivial sacrifices for one's religion? Why is the popular culture as presented by the mass media (run by generally irreligious people) not resisted more? Part of the answer to these questions, 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 in Hawaii, the books which were used in Religion class were exchanged. Gone were the books which actually taught doctrine, morals, history, and devotional practice. In their places were books which taught nothing except that we should be nice to people, and that not very strongly. Religion class in my freshman year of high school 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 not unusual. Various groups of people within the Church took the CouncilÕs calls for reform within, and for reconciliation 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.
We now have at least two consecutive generations of Catholics who have been taught little or nothing. 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 have come to understand religious practice to be some sort of Òoption?Ó
If I may be so bold as to address certain of the readers directly:
As a Catholic intellectual you have an obligation to acquire an understanding of your faith concomitant with your intelligence. Relying on what fragments you might remember from a (probably badly taught) childhood CCD class, what you have Òheard,Ó and what you have picked up from random sources is, at best, not enough.
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 is ignore it.
I say you cannot ignore it because:
1. The Church makes claims regarding the nature of God and of ourselves which, if true, must have a fundamental impact on the way we live our lives. The Church asserts that she, though made up of and governed by admittedly sinful men, is founded by 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. Whatever oneÕs beliefs, 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, are at or are approaching a cross-roads in your life. 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 Òmaybe later, I have more important things to do right now.Ó Those things 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.
I also challenge you to get yourself to Sunday Mass, to take the 1-1/2 hours or so between Saturday night and Sunday night, in the course of a 168 hour week, to meet your minimal Sunday obligation. There are no less than 6 Roman Catholic parishes within an easy walk of campus.
On campus is St. Paul University Catholic Center, located across from Memorial Library. The building is not inspired; the people there are. There are many activities for the particular benefit of students.
Just east of campus is Holy Redeemer Catholic Church, on Johnson Street, 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. 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). Even though it is not a Òstudent parishÓ per se, there is a student / young adults group there which will welcome you.
Also near the square are St. PatrickÕ s on East Main, and St. RaphaelÕs on West Main. South of campus is St. James, literally on Charter Street. West of Campus is Blessed Sacrament, on Rowley Avenue.
Join us. He is waiting for you.