New Religion On Campus

Newsweek ^ | Aug. 29 - Sept. 5, 2005 issue | Joan Raymond and Daniel McGinn

[echoBoomer]

...Many of the students here drink, but they generally don't get trashed. They date, but remain fully clothed and often pray as couples. And as befits their age, sometimes they feel torn between the secular and the spiritual. "Sure, there are some nights I'd rather be watching 'Punk'd' than joining the group in prayer," says Audry Raines, 20, a member of the Little Flowers, a sororitylike worship house. "[But] there is beauty in prayer, in contemplation, in doing small things."

Although most of these students were born Catholic, many speak of "converting" to this deeper immersion as teenagers. They'd grown dispirited with routine Sunday masses and wanted a more personal connection with Christ. Some are unapologetically judgmental of the unconverted. "A lot of these kids have a problem with so-called sociological Catholics," says Boston College theologian Stephen Pope. But Franciscan University's president, Father Terence Henry, says conversion is a deeply personal choice, not something by which to measure others. "It's an ongoing experience, a handing over of life more and more to the Lord."...

[Wormwood]

College is where I found MY religion

[Taliesan]

Silly devil playing dress-up. Go drive a herd of pigs down a cliff.

[Cicero]

The dissident, cafeteria Catholics are no longer as dominant as they were, and many younger children are pursuing a deeper faith than they were brought up with. This article gives a false impression, in the opening paragraph, that these students are converting to something that isn't Catholicism. Wrong. They are converting in the sense of turning to Jesus in a fuller way. Meantime, the dissident priests and nuns who tried to lead them astray while they were growing up are getting older and grayer and have failed in their attempt to hijack the Church.

Steubenville has a reputation as a place to send children to be strengthened in the faith, unlike "Catholic" colleges like Georgetown and Boston College which are just as likely to destroy the faith of their students, or at least to try to.

[little jeremiah]

I just sent you a freepmail, and I think it went twice by mistake.

[Gondring]

I just sent you a freepmail, and I think it went twice by mistake.

That's not fair! He got two and I didn't even get one!

[little jeremiah]

I could send you a couple of duplicate ones if that will make you happy.

;-)

[Salvation]

Roman Catholicism: 'Hail Mary' Is More Than a Football Play

Raised in the era of John Paul II, these young people are resurrecting old rituals and hewing to strict doctrine.

Beth Perkins for Newsweek

Praying, not partying: Students play pool in the Knights of the Holy Queen at Franciscan University

[Salvation]

Good news for all Catholics!

[Salvation]

Aug. 29 - Sept. 5, 2005 issue - Marc Sayre looks like a typical college student: baggy jeans, unbuttoned plaid shirt over a grungy tee and a knit black cap. He lives off campus with friends who favor Coldplay, cold beer, pool tournaments—and the Virgin Mary, mother of Jesus. Their fratlike group, called the Knights of the Holy Queen, consists of nearly 40 male students at Franciscan University. They pray together daily and convene once a week to share the long, ritualistic prayer of the rosary, which is more commonly performed by folks their grandmothers' age. "This is what we long for in our faith," says Sayre, 21, referring to a level of devotion that goes far beyond attending Sunday mass. "There was an emptiness before. Now our lives—my life—are full."

[Salvation]

A couple of interesting threads:

Lining up with God: Ex-football player picks priesthood

[LiteKeeper]

INTREP

[Conservative til I die]

Although most of these students were born Catholic, many speak of "converting" to this deeper immersion as teenagers. They'd grown dispirited with routine Sunday masses and wanted a more personal connection with Christ

I.e., the thin gruel of "easy believism".

[Katya]

"They pray together daily and convene once a week to share the long, ritualistic prayer of the rosary, which is more commonly performed by folks their grandmothers' age."

It must skip a generation, that is exactly what I felt a need to escape from in high school.

[aomagrat]

Another feel good do what you like church.