A new study on the faith of Catholic college students produced a Rorschach moment in today’s church that was neatly typified by contrasting headlines in the Catholic media:
“Catholic colleges weakening students’ faith, new study finds,” declared the conservative-leaning Catholic World News.
“Study: Catholics at Catholic colleges less likely to stray from church,” went the headline from Catholic News Service, the media outlet of the American bishops.
So which is it? Are Catholic colleges undermining the faith? Or are they an effective if leaky levee against the growing tide of secularism? The study, “Catholicism on Campus,” was released on Jan. 31 by the Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate (CARA), at Georgetown University, which compiled the data from national surveys of more than 14,000 students at nearly 150 U.S. colleges and universities. Students were surveyed as freshmen in 2004 and then in 2007 as juniors.
In the second to last paragraph is this key sentence, “Parents and families are the greatest single influence on a young person’s faith, experts note. . . .”
As I look at my own family, I take this a step further and highlight my leadership responsibility as a Christian husband, father, and spiritual head of the household (as both St. Paul and St. Peter seem to make clear in their teaching on the Christian home). And this not in some sort of authoritarian command & control sort way. But in prayer, the fruit of the Spirit, and a life of Christian character (though very imperfectly and with many restarts . . . per day, it seems).
This, to me, is all quite hopeful. For I’m taught that there are things that I really can do (and must do) that bring myself, my family, and others more fully into participation in the benevolent sovereignty Kingdom of God.
If there is a drift towards approval of legalized abortion among students at Catholic colleges, then I think that it’s fair to conclude that Catholic colleges are failing to teach their students the fundamentals of justice.
I imagine that responses also vary between different types of Catholic institution. The outlook of students at Steubenville is going to be very different from those at, say, Georgetown. I also suspect – on the family principle – that it is easier for a small college to inculcate a Catholic ethos than for a major university.
Faith, as one of the three theological virtues in Christian Philosophy in which character qualities associated with salvation. Faith is the confident belief or trust in the truth or trustworthiness of a person, idea, or thing. Faith is best associated to a couple who solemnly swear to be loyal with each other forever. But of course, life isn’t everlasting. No one can tell how long does one’s life. Dealing with the loss of a spouse is never easy, and truth be told, it’s something you should have someone to help you with that can remain objective. Those couples that pass away concurrently are rare, but a plan for the estate and its financial affairs should be in place, especially if any children are in place. For one, life insurance is critical, as the average funeral costs far more than most payday loans. A last will and testament has to be in place, and perhaps an executor should be in place as well, to deal with the assets– family squabbles over trinkets of a loved one get ugly. Not giving up on the challenges you will be facing alone for your family is not hard, as long as there is hope.
Elves,
The last post appears to be unrelated to the topic under discussion.