If you want to catch a glimpse of the future of American Catholicism - check out College Station, Texas. It’s home to St. Mary’s Catholic Center at Texas A&M University.
Their program is a great glimpse into the future for two primary reasons. The first is that they are actually winning hearts and minds of young people (not losing them) and churning out passionate, orthodox and educated future leaders of the Church. George Weigel said it well in an excellent article about St. Mary’s Catholic Center:
“The program is unapologetically orthodox. There is no fudging the demands of the faith. And yet they come, and come, and come, because [Texas A&M] Aggie Catholicism shows the campus a dynamic orthodoxy that is not a retreat into the past but a way of seizing the future and bending it in a more humane direction.”
Read the full article by Weigel for more great info and some impressive statistics there.
St. Mary’s has also had more seminarians come out of their program in recent times than perhaps any other university system (Catholic universities included). It is also there in College Station where the (now well-known) 40 Days for Life program first began. In other words, they are doing something right.
The other reason they are “winning the future” of American Catholicism is not only because they are successfully orthodox, they’re also impressively organized. They’ve done an outstanding job of not only recruiting the right people from a theological perspective, but in recruiting great organizational leaders that know how to inspire and multiply the limited resources available to them. This is a vital skill sadly lacking in many parishes today.
I actually graduated from Texas A&M and have witnessed all of this at St. Mary’s first-hand. It’s a very special place.
I’ll also note that Texas A&M, a special place in itself, contributes a lot to the success of Texas A&M’s Catholic community. It’s entire educational culture is one that values tradition and unity - over individualism and diversity. It certainly celebrates and values individualism and diversity, too - as we should. But it recognizes something that is often forgotten in our increasingly individual-obsessed culture: That our unity is more important than our diversity and that our lives are about something much greater than ourselves. That is one of the most important lessons I learned from my time at Texas A&M. It’s an important lesson in life and a foundational principle to our Catholic faith. And all of it adds up to St. Mary’s Catholic Center in little, ol’ College Station, TX being a very special place. A place that is winning the future of American Catholicism.
Here’s a recent video some of their students put together:
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I have been amazed and inspired the last few years to learn about the great work being done by Catholic Aggies. My prayer is that their public works of faith will inspire Catholics at other colleges (especially my alma mater, University of Houston) to join the Aggies in leading Catholic young adults.
Whoop!
Catholic parents, clergy, and colleges want to know “more” of the Aggie’s secrets to success. Please, EWTN, go after this topic! All Catholic organizations could greatly benefit from hearing the personal details of “how” this was conceived and executed at Texas A&M. Show us the way…
Father Mitch Pacwa talks about A & M from time to time on his EWTN Live show, so people there do know about it.
Thanks for this information, Mr. Warner. I live in Texas, and my sons talk about going to A & M. God willing, that’s where they will go.
I have no particular issues with the column or the video, but the title of the column does concern me a couple ways - 1) “Winning” the future - suggests that there needs to be losers in some sort of human-controlled zero-sum game as we humans struggle for control of the faith; 2) American Catholicism is a quirky name at best, especially when one reads “Catholicism” as “universal” - while the faith of our culture will be manifested differently than any other culture, it’s probably something not to get so nationalistic (etc.) about.
Another school doing it right - Florida State University. Every hallmark you mention about A&M is shining at FSU as well. Orthodoxy, vocations, holy families, lay ministers, etc. God bless the Brotherhood of Hope and their work on campuses around the country!
This old Aggie, ‘44, just put a sign on his truck’s rear window—
A G G I E C A T H O L I C.
?“It is important to realize that there is no black Church, no white Church,—>no American Church; <—but there is and must be, in the one Church of Jesus Christ, a home for blacks, whites, Americans, every culture and race”. Ioannis Pauli PP. II
I would be interested to know what the Black, Hispanic, Asian, population is at A & M and FSU. One of the things that concerns me, with all that is available to us with new media, is that we are continuing to be more segregated. Pause the video every place you can where there is a crowd. It is mostly all white, middle class, American. It does not represent the makeup of what the true “Catholic” Church,in America, should be.
It really is time that we adapt our culture, to the Gospel, not the Gospel, to our culture. That we truly embrace all that the Church teaches. Then, and only then, we may be able to say, it is truly orthodox.
In Christ, BroJer
As an Aggie, I love seeing the growth at Saint Mary’s. It was big in my day (‘99) compared to what my father saw in 1970 and 1971. Glad to see it continue.
However, it saddens me to see a few “poo poo” on their successful ministry. It’s not about a zero-sum game as was mentioned above. Rather, it’s about bringing the Church to the world. It’s about bringing the authentic Catholic faith to others. It’s about sharing the Good News of Jesus Christ. It’s really that simple.
And regarding the American Church, he seems to be talking about the Church here in the USA. If there is no white Church or no black Church, then why bring it up? In my years at Saint Mary’s, no one cared about “representation”. What cared about, was each person. If they were Filipino, sweet! If they were Congan, awesome! If they were French, woohoo! If they were Ecuadorian, neato! If they were non-Texan, yay! The point is, we treated everyone with respect because they were created in the image and likeness of God. And again, it is really that simple. Life is simpler without identity politics.
http://www.aggiecatholic.org/
Orin - I appreciate the thoughts. Of course, ultimately the battle has already been won - by Jesus Christ. But in the very common sense of “winning” meaning success in our evangelization efforts (which we are called to do as the Church), it is a useful expression…in my opinion.
Second, the phrase “American Catholicism” here is a reference to “Catholics in America” where, as a matter of culture, there will be and are unique challenges and solutions…particularly ones that can not be unilaterally applied to the universal Church elsewhere specifically because of cultural differences. It was also a small attempt on my part to not be TOO presumptuous as to suggest an example of a model that would work and/or apply to the universal Church…but that is at least working here in the United States. Recognizing various regional or nationalistic differences within the universal church is helpful for these purposes.
Bro Jer - What evidence do you have that shows we continue to be “more segregated”? From everything I’ve seen and read it is the opposite - while still having some ways to go of course. And I can assure that St. Mary’s at Texas A&M takes in and reaches out to all people regardless of skin color or income level. Your statement seems to imply that these successful campus ministry programs are not “embracing all the that the Church teaches.” Do you have a reason for such an implication other than you don’t like the color of the people in the video?
Matt, Over the last year or so, I have read a lot of what you have written and have a great deal of respect for you. My comment was in no way a personal attack on you. Lets try and keep respect for each other!
Brother, I have been involved in ministry for 25 years, so I have a little bit of life experience trying to bridge the gap, in an amputee church. Evidence?? Look in the pews. Look at the list of folks that are up for nominations for “Best Catholic” in a particular category. Is there even one black Catholic brother or sister? Better than listening to me, I ask you to print the article off below, read it, re-read it, and pray. Pray about what we, any of us who are on the front lines, may do to better work with our black brothers and sisters. They are Catholic, part of our family, and many are hurting. You will see that in the article.
http://www.nbccongress.org/features/vocal-visible.asp
May the Lord Bless you, your family and work!
In Christ, BroJer
BroJer, St. Mary’s Catholic Center is not responsible for the demographics of Texas A&M University, get real. I mean wow, talk about making the good the enemy of the perfect! They are doing so well at St. Mary’s. Yeah, I get uneasy when too much praise is heaped on my alma mater’s Catholic student center, but they do deserve most, if not all of it.
Much of A&M’s diversity is in its graduate students, including the many legendarily unintelligible teacher’s assistants and professors. This is A&M’s problem, NOT St. Mary’s! I mean, we’re talking about a parish with a Korean Mass, multiple Spanish Masses, and a yearly multicultural Mass that involves parishioners from all corners of the globe. They are certainly doing something! The Easter Vigil is always multilingual and the converts, from three different RCIA programs, tend to be equally Korean community, Spanish community, and the rest of the community who receive instruction in English, which includes converts who are White, Hispanic, Black, Asian, etc!
From my experience up until 2009, I suspect St. Mary’s and its student leadership is more diverse than A&M itself. The RCIA small group I facilitated one year was very diverse! I’d say St. Mary’s is doing better than A&M itself in racial and cultural diversity.
Jerry, why try to make a racist thing of the success at A & M? I say racist, because obviously, you don’t like the color of the people in the videos….!
Shall I count the number of men versus women and accuse the Catholic movement there of being sexist in some way?
Geoff’s post is enlightening about the diversity at St. Mary’s center. I ask you too to pray over this issue.
Whoop!
Carson Weber
Class of ‘01
I agree with Anne. The most important thing to evangelization is knowing the facts of the Catholic Faith. Reading the “CCC 2nd Ed” from cover to cover is the only way to make certain that each one of us are teaching accurately. The CCC is the only catechism from the Magisterium. It’s amazing the number of Catholic postings on various sites that are in error due to lack of knowledge. And our own indivdiual Prayer life must always come first and foremost.
Wrong article, Betty
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