<p>It looks as if UA has a very vibrant Catholic Student Center. Is it actually right on campus, as the campus map seems to indicate? That would be awesome!</p>
<p>Any Catholic Bamanians: Anything you can tell me about the Catholic Student Group at UA would be much appreciated. Thanks!!</p>
<p>[St</a> Francis - Home](<a href=“http://www.stfrancisuofa.com/]St”>http://www.stfrancisuofa.com/)</p>
<p>Thanks, zap! Again with the dumb question, though: Is it actually, literally on the UA campus itself? (That’s how it looks on the campus map, but I’m having a hard time believing my eyes, LOL.)</p>
<p>LadyDiane, it is, indeed, that close to campus. When you visit, I highly recommend you go to mass at St. Francis. I cannot begin to tell you what an influence that was on son’s decision to go to Bama. My son is not in the choir, or a lector, or a eucharistic minister, but he goes to mass every weekend, and even on Holy Days of Obligation in the middle of the week (like the recent Immaculate Conception Feast Day! So proud of him!) It IS that convenient. </p>
<p>When we bring him to and from campus on breaks, we attend Mass there as a family. It is our parish away from our hometown. There are not only students there, but families with small to teenage children. When we have to attend a Saturday vigil because of travel, there is also Holy Spirit Catholic Church, which we’ve attended once, and is a very nice church as well, and nearby campus, if you can’t make Sunday services. </p>
<p>I know there are student dinners and movie nights and retreats, but there’s no pressure for the kids to do all those, though they are listed in the bulletin and announced during mass. You can be as involved, or not involved, as you want to. </p>
<p>Good luck and enjoy your visit!</p>
<p>WOW–thanks so much!!</p>
<p>If you zoom in on the interactive map ([Interactive</a> Campus Map - The University of Alabama](<a href=“http://tour.ua.edu/map/]Interactive”>http://tour.ua.edu/map/)), it’s certainly not more than a block or two from university buildings. It’s probably not on actual university property, but for all practical purposes it appears to be. It’s that way, for example, at Indiana, Oklahoma, and other universities. At UA, a number of the campus ministries of various denominations are located nearby in the same general area. You could plug in the addresses on Google driving directions to see how far it is from a dorm or other building of interest.</p>
<p>Thanks, zapfino. Thanks. y’all!</p>
<p>I’ve always been told that St. Francis is actually on UA campus property. </p>
<p>I think St. Francis has a very long-term lease with Bama. And, UA is going to let them lease the adjacent property so that the parish can build a larger church because of the tremendous growth in the last 8 years. The new church building will hold over 700 people…good size for a church. </p>
<p>While the south doesn’t have a high percentage of Catholics overall (not counting Louisiana), it does have “pockets” that have greater concentrations. In the state of Alabama, only about 3% are Catholic, but in the “pockets” the concentrations are around 10%. Pockets can be found in Huntsville, B’ham, Mobile, Cullman, and probably T-town. </p>
<p>Holy Spirit church is another parish in T-town. It is not too far away from campus (close to I-20 and off McFarland) and has a brand new church building as well. The parish has a grade school and a high school as well. I think a relative of Dr. Halli (retired Honors College dean) is the principal there (Judith Halli)…both are Boston College grads.</p>
<p>Thanks, mom2collegekids! We were wondering about those pockets. We knew about Mobile (French heritage and all)…and I have a friend who lives in Cullman, near Mother Angelica’s monastery.</p>
<p>When we first moved here to NC about 21 years ago, NC was only 2% Catholic. Since then, Yankee transplants and Hispanic immigrants have boosted the percentage considerably. We’re still a small minority, though – whereas there’s a Baptist church on every corner, almost literally, LOL! (Living in the Bible Belt definitely makes you ecumenical.)</p>