Colleges Standing in the Gap

Every so often we hear a chorus that goes like this: “the modern university is hostile to religion and a threat to our civilization.” Recently, Princeton professor Robert P. George spoke about this at a forum alongside Orthodox Rabbi Meir Soloveichik. 

George and Soloveichik argued that there is often, even at some Catholic institutions, an attitude of ambivalence or outright opposition to religion. This can take the form of apolicy that appears to counter Catholic values or the limiting of free speech. 

Wherever you stand in this debate, one thing is clear- it’s not easy to be a faith-seeking student in today’s university system. Coming of age as an iGener is hard enough. Trying to live your faith at the same time, that’s even more difficult. All of this points to a firm reminder of the utter necessity of healthy Catholic campus ministry programs. 

I was happy to see yet another Catholic college using its platform to contribute to thehealing of the Church. Villanova University is hosting a discussion about the global perspective of the clergy sex-abuse crisis. If you have fatigue in trying to keep up with the Church’s efforts to clean up abuse, this event might be useful. More importantly, it might give you hope.

The university environment can be a place of earnest seeking for things higher than ourselves. We play an important role in that.