By Autum Dierking
I can count on one hand how many times I've been to church since coming to college. This isn't for lack of faith. But when people ask me what it is I believe in, I continually find myself dishing out some standard response like "Protestant" or saying nothing at all. In the end, I think my Facebook religion status sums it up quite nicely: "It's complicated."
I've spent the past three years attempting to come to terms with what I believe in and repeatedly failing in my quest. It isn't for lack of trying that I've been unsuccessful in defining myself as a spiritual or religious person. The effort is definitely there.
When writing the article "Tentative Spirituality" for The Beacon (9/27/07), I spoke with Matthew Galligan-Stierle, who made me realize that I am not alone in this. In fact, I am simply a part of one giant spiritually confused college-aged family.
I've found this to be especially true of UP for those of us who aren't Catholic. Could it be, perhaps, that we non-Catholics just don't have the proper guidance to help us along the way? I think this is a definite possibility.
This is ironic when juxtaposed with the Catholic tradition of encouraging the cultivation of spirituality as stated by Pope John Paul II in the "Ex Corde Ecclesiae," an apostolic constitution on Catholic Universities.
"(Students) are challenged to continue the search for truth and for meaning throughout their lives, since 'the human spirit must be cultivated in such a way that there results a growth in its ability to wonder, to understand, to contemplate, to make personal judgments, and to develop a religious, moral, and social sense,'" the Pope wrote, quoting the Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World.
Here at UP, we have a multitude of Campus Ministry, um, excuse me, I mean Catholic ministry opportunities. Sure, we also have Fish, the non-denominational fellowship and an opportunity to live in the Faith and Leadership house, but can't UP do a little more to help non-Catholic students find their own spiritual identity?
Notre Dame does.
Its Campus Ministry has Protestant, Interdenominational, Orthodox Christian, Baptist, Latino, Asian and World Prayer resources immediately available to students. In fact, it even has a chaplain specifically for gay, lesbian and bisexual students.
Gonzaga does.
Its Campus Ministry's fundamental viewpoint has found a way to relate Catholicism with other religious traditions.
"After four years, we want our students, because they have been interactive with our Catholic and Jesuit habits and attitudes, to have become better Catholics, better Protestants, better Jews, Mormons, Muslims, and the like," Gonzaga's Web site reads.
Galligan-Stierle says that some Catholic universities and colleges even employ members of other faiths like rabbis or pastors to minister to students whose views may differ.
I'm well aware that the good folks in Campus Ministry are doing their best to reach out to students. In fact, Campus Ministry's mission statement states: "Rooted in the Roman Catholic tradition, we respect and seek to nurture the faith development of Catholics, other Christians and all who seek God with a sincere heart."
The current system seems to be working out well for people like my housemates who regularly go to mass in the Chapel and participate in Catholic events on campus.
As a non-Catholic, however, I feel a bit alienated.
I feel like my education and my own spiritual quest would have really benefited from more inter-faith opportunities on campus. Instead of a rather safe nondenominational (a.k.a Christian) discussion group, let's truly expand our borders. I want to talk spirituality, in the sense that it doesn't equate to religion. I want to have an opportunity on-campus to explore different faiths and find whatever fits me without judgment from the greater UP community.
Without a little spiritual risk-taking, how am I to find out whether or not I feel fulfilled as a Catholic, or Protestant, or perhaps even as a Hindu or Buddhist?
Sure, I can go off-campus to find many different resources to help guide me. But I'm not paying any of those other resources to teach me and help me grow as a person.
Instead, I came to UP.
And I'm still here.
And I'm still waiting.
Autum Dierking is a senior ?communication major.
