Catholic
Colleges and Universities A time of prayer and questions on
campus
By MELISSA JONES
As all U.S. citizens struggled to
shake off the shock and sorrow of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on the World
Trade Center and the Pentagon, campus ministers at U.S. Catholic colleges and
universities scrambled to provide spiritual triage and emotional support for
young hearts and minds in their care.
At this early stage, there are lots of questions and few answers.
Campus ministers say its too soon to tell what impact the recent tragedy
will have on Catholic college students. Ministers generally observe the
students turning first to prayer and introspection, then to analysis and social
action.
Spot checks by NCR at Catholic campuses around the country
indicate that Catholic college students may be better equipped to handle the
present crisis than their peers at secular colleges or even their baby boomer
parents. Although sometimes portrayed as pampered, materialistic and
naïve, Catholic members of Generation Y appear to have more spiritual and
moral resources than previously imagined.
These young people learned in high school how to huddle under
desks in lockdown drills. Theyve lived with invasive security
procedures and the threat of zero tolerance suspensions for
carrying everyday items like fingernail clippers. The director of campus
ministry at DePaul University in Chicago, Robert Ludwig noted, It is a
difficult time for them, a sobering time, but in another way theyve been
facing this kind of thing more than maybe the adult community has, with the
level of violent activity that has gone on in their peer groups.
Teach-ins and discussion groups have been packed at campuses
around the country. According to Fernando Moreno, director of campus ministry
at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles, The students
response first is faith, then analysis.
Catholic college students are better able to deal with the
question, Who did this, and why do they hate us so much? Many
Catholic universities and colleges require global studies and support a social
justice curriculum. For example, Notre Dame sends about 30 percent of its
students overseas in the course of their studies, so many of them have
international travel experience.
Somber is the word most often used to describe the
mood on campus in the past few days. Michael McIntyre, director of campus
ministry at the University of San Diego, said, Theyre going about
life, but its definitely a distracted life. Theres not much
laughter and fun conversation around the campus.
Jesuit Fr. Bill Watson, vice president for mission at Gonzaga
University in Spokane, Wash., said, I think there is a tremendous amount
perking underneath the surface. He said, What I sense more than
anything else is a quiet reserve and a deep reflection.
Many Catholic college students appear to understand the
complexities of a Palestinian homeland, the effects of sanctions on Iraq, and
other military and economic issues. Christopher Deal, 18, a government major at
Georgetown in Washington said, A lot of this is based in the callousness
of our actions abroad. He cited weapons sales to certain countries and
the embargo against Iraq.
Boston College peer minister, Jim Spillman, who is working on his
masters in pastoral ministry, said, I think we should all look at
ourselves as individuals and ask ourselves, What is it about our country,
what is it about my role in this country that made these people so angry at us
and filled with so much hate toward us?
These students have the intellectual equipment to understand many
of the underlying reasons for the attack. However, they still fear the future.
Fr. Richard Warner, director of campus ministry at Notre Dame in Indiana, said
his goal has been to help students deal with the unknown. He said this attack
has been a terrific interruption in the normal train of events.
Theres an underlying suspicion on the part of a lot of people that our
way of life is going to change and we dont know exactly what dimensions
it will take.
Boston Colleges Anne McGinness, a 20-year-old theology
major, said, For our generation, especially, this is the first time
were actually writing the history, not reading it.
Claudia Sanchez, a 19-year-old sophomore at Loyola Marymount, said
she felt strange going to classes Sept. 11. It seemed really
insignificant given what was happening, she said. Yet, she also felt a
sense of duty to move forward. She said, You have to mourn for everybody.
You reprioritize, but you have to keep on going.
Most students are feeling a desire to reach out to family and
friends. Sanchez said, You do want to call your parents at home and tell
them that you love them.
Daniel Ponsetto, director of ministry for Boston College,
described being swamped with e-mails forwarded to him by students with messages
about valuing life, living for today and openly expressing love. He said,
One student sent a personal note to everyone on her list telling them how
much they meant to her.
Ponsetto said, They are stepping back and reevaluating what
is important and it has led to a greater appreciation of their lives, health
and families.
Not surprisingly, television played a major role in students
lives during this crisis. Denise Phillips, director of campus ministry at the
University of Dallas, a small liberal arts campus in Irving, Texas, said that
on the day of the attacks campus ministers sat with students while they watched
the news. They provided food and comfort, listened and handed out tissues.
Loyola Marymounts Moreno found that students of his campus
required special care. Because a large number of people from Los Angeles were
in the doomed planes, the campus had many persons who were related to or
friends of victims. Television creates a kind of distance, but Ill
tell you when we started to get names of family members and friends,
thats when the shock really hit, Moreno said. Thats
when it came home for all of us.
Warner said nothing in the students pasts had prepared them
for that constant repetition of violent scenes that people were looking
at on Tuesday. Notre Dames campus ministry department scheduled a
community-wide prayer service outside at 3 p.m. to pull the students away from
the televisions and to put that whole visual experience all of us had had
into a different perspective of faith and prayer.
Across the country, campus ministers report overwhelming
attendance at all prayer services offered. The University of Dallas
Phillips said, This is pretty much a praying campus, so for most of
her students the liturgy was their first source of comfort.
Warner said the outside Mass at Notre Dame had about 10,000 people
in attendance.
Ponsetto of Boston College said the liturgy has also become a
teaching tool. In our services we have to be very deliberate and very
careful to make sure that the message were sending includes prayers for
our enemies, prayers for those who consider us their enemies, and for courage,
for greater understanding, for self reflection, for peace.
The attacks have led to spiritual questioning among students.
Ludwig said many students see this as an opportunity for self-examination, not
a time for pointing fingers at others. Students are really beginning to
think more deeply about life, and what theyre here for, and what kind of
world they want to create, he said.
Gonzagas Watson noted that his campus immediately offered
psychological counseling to the students, but relatively few used it. However,
Watson said, There were huge, huge numbers of participants at all the
religious services. He said, It really is a spiritual issue, both
in terms of grief and suffering and then, from a faith perspective, how to turn
the desire for revenge into something akin to gospel justice.
Georgetowns Deal said he prays, that we do what we can
to seek out peace and justice as our true objectives, that whatever path we
embark upon doesnt kill more innocent people and doesnt make us a
nation of murderers.
Phillips at the University of Dallas said, Theyre
nervous about the prospects of war. They werent raised like I was. I ate
dinner and listened to the body counts from the Vietnam War. They dont
have a clear picture of what war means.
Loyola Marymounts Sanchez said shes praying that
violence would be the last resort. She said, Theres a fear
that we all have now that this is just the beginning of a long
journey.
Deal hears the presidents talk of war and wonders who the
enemy is. Who do you declare war on when you declare a war on terrorism?
It doesnt mean anything at this point. Weve had a war on poverty, a
war on drugs -- the word is thrown out so liberally I dont know what it
means anymore.
Even Catholic campuses are not immune to saber-rattling and talk
of retribution. Most campus ministers and students estimated a 50/50 split
between those who think war is the best option and those who favor a different
response. Phillips at the University of Dallas said, I think Im
seeing more nationalism now. Here the notion of defending God and country was
not far behind when the shock wore off.
Phillips noted, however, that many students are channeling their
energies into the local community. She said participation in community service
gives students a chance to say, You can destroy something, but were
still about building something.
Other campus ministers echo that sentiment. DePauls Ludwig
said, Ive seen more of a can do activist spirit than I
can remember in a long time. He said, Theyre really quite
amazing. Sometimes I wish they were in charge right now.
Melissa Jones is a freelance writer with an advanced degree in
religious studies.
National Catholic Reporter, September 28,
2001
|