<p>Well... We're down to the last sprint for acceptance nerves. My solution to this has always been to plan ahead (looking forward beyond what makes me nervous seems to be reassuring), and so I was wondering about Catholic life at Yale. </p>
<p>If you couldn't tell, I'm Catholic. Not the jump down your face and say your going to hell type, but the weekly (at minimum) mass-attending, doctrine-following kind. I've been to both a Catholic elementary/middle school and a public high school (a pretty liberal one, I will add), so I know what it's like to be around those of both similar and dissimilar faith backgrounds. I try to be a good influence, but I understand everyone is on their own spiritual journey and are at different stages.</p>
<p>And so, I was wondering, how is Catholic life at Yale? I noticed that a female was listed as an "Assistant Chaplain" at their Newman Center. True lay chaplains don't exist in the Catholic church, to the best of my knowledge. Indeed, Cannon Law explicitly states (I can give you the full reference if you want, but it's quite long so I'll refrain from doing so now): "Can. 564. A chaplain is a <em>priest</em> to whom is entrusted in a stable manner the pastoral care, at least in part, of some community or particular group of the Christian faithful, which is to be exercised according to the norm of universal and particular law."</p>
<p>Can anyone give me background on her position? Is it just a campus-assigned title so she gets paid well, and she really has more of the duties of a campus minister (setting up events, etc.) than priestly duties? Or, is she a female priest-wannabe? I would just like some background before I visit in two weeks (pending acceptance). I plan on asking for a visit with her, one of the two priests, and/or a student involved with the Newman Center if I am accepted, but wanted to get the "lay of the land" so I know how to phrase my questions when I go.</p>
<p>Many thanks for any advice/info you can give me.</p>
<p>Check out St. Thomas More… I think Catholic students are more involved there rather than through the chaplain’s office. There’s a wide variety of Catholic students on campus, including a very hard line conservative contingent that’s somewhat politically active.</p>
<p>Hey, I heard they have a program of de-Catholicizing all incoming freshmen with a combination of Chinese Water Torture, water boarding, and Bamboo-beating. It’s not a problem if you are Catholic as long as you successfully convert before your body cannot take it anymore and you are begging for death. IT IS possible to remain Catholic, however, as long as you are immune to torture.</p>
<p>I graduated a little over a decade ago, so my comments are not completely current, but I doubt things have changed much. Catholic life at Yale is large and rich. It centers on Saint Thomas More Chapel and the adjacent Catholic Center at Yale. Some students pop in now and again, for others, More House is an almost daily part of their experience. There are very devout and not so devout students. The priests associated with the catholic center are superb, in my experience.</p>
<p>By the way, Catholics form the largest single religious block at Yale. Catholics were about 35% of the student body in my day, slightly larger than the Jewish Community. The days of Episcopalian dominance are long gone at Yale.</p>
<p>There is also another Catholic Church on campus, though not affiliated technically with Yale. It is Saint Mary’s on Hillhouse Ave near Silliman College. It is a very beautiful church with a long history and active community involvement.</p>
<p>Given the large Irish, Italian and Polish communities historically in New Haven, and more recently, a Latino community – there are all kinds of churches and congregations to explore.</p>
<p>Catholics are still the most represented religion at Yale though many are non-practicing. Visit St. Thomas More during BDD or the table at the activities bazaar anyway. It will give you a good impression of Catholic life at Yale. The community is strong, the priests are amazing, and there’s always a lot of great stuff going at STM. There are also smaller prayer group that is outside of STM (though STM has weekly bible study) that is a little more “intense” (i.e. we pray rosaries, do compline every night and liturgy of the hours). if you want more info about that. It’s very easy to stay Catholic at Yale, though you will often be questioned about your beliefs. Most people are just curious because there is a lot of rumor and hearsay about Catholicism. Being in such a liberal community and debating people and learning more about your beliefs definitely strengthens your faith though.</p>
<p>As an ex-Catholic prospective Yalie who has attended a very liberal Quaker school, I think I may be able to put in a helpful two cents. Catholicism is one of the most organized and ritualized of Christian Churches, but it is also one of the most liberal. Catholic doctrine accepts Darwinian Evolution and considers good people who are not part of the Elect as those who will go to heaven. My parents, while still Catholic, certainly support the right of marriage for gays and may disagree with the Church on some other issues as well. I don’t know where you stand on these issues, but I think that your beliefs in a realm such as abortion or gay rights will certainly be challenged if you do follow Church doctrine. That being said, Yale strikes me as a very non-sectarian place. I think that, as long as you don’t rub it in people’s faces or do what you fear might happen to you to others (i.e. disregarding someone because (s)he is an atheist), you will be fine. I know that I try to separate a person and his/her beliefs from the religious doctrine, and I think that the friendly, intelligent student body at Yale will do the same.</p>
<p>The female chaplain is not the head of St. Thomas More, the campus Catholic organization. She is the university chaplain, which means that she runs the chaplain’s office program and (I believe) leads ecumenical Christian services in Battell Chapel. It is a little odd, I think, for that role to be filled by a Roman Catholic layperson–but this will really have no effect on you as a Catholic at Yale, since you will be going to mass, not church in Battell.</p>
<p>It’s true broadly. Catholicism isn’t liberal, but catholics tend to be more liberal than other american christians. Remember that lots of catholics are hispanics, who trend liberal on some issues, and irish and italians that are largely concentrated in the suburbs of liberal metro areas in new york, massachusetts, etc.</p>
<p>Catholics are much more liberal than fundamentalists and evangelicals, who are also more likely to be up-in-your-face. I’d say Episcopalians are more liberal than Catholics, though, at least at the level of church doctrine.</p>
Pretty much. “Social Justice” verges on Socialism when you take the words of Jesus literally when He says “It is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the Kingdom of God.” The likes of Glenn Beck criticize Catholic Social Justice a lot (he recently had tons of Catholics protesting when he said people should quit churches that preach Social Justice).</p>
<p>The Catholic Church is a fierce proponent of human rights and things like the freedom to move across borders, ending the death penalty, ending war, ending poverty and hunger, and protecting the environment. Many Catholic orders raised a lot of support and money for Universal Health Care recently, and wanted it to extend to universal food and shelter and all things necessary for life.</p>
<p>On scientific issues, the Catholic Church has recognized evolution and it was a Catholic priest (Georges Lema</p>
<p>Since you are a “weekly (at minimum) mass-attending, doctrine-following kind” of Catholic, I can tell you some things.</p>
<p>You are probably talking about the “Assistant Chaplain” Katie B. (don’t want her whole name to be google-able from here) at St. Thomas More. I don’t know exactly what she does but she does indeed have that title from the Catholic group on campus – but fortunately, she’s not a female pseudo-priest. There’s also another Catholic laywoman who is the college chaplain, a position completely different and pretty much irrelevant.</p>
<p>Secondly, since you are citing Canon Law, you might notice, when/if you come here, depending on what you’re expecting, that St. Thomas More is a little … er … theologically liberal, IMHO. You might want to see about St. Mary’s which is very nice and is run by Dominicans. If you would like I can PM you to say more, which really isn’t appropriate for a public forum.</p>
<p>Good luck with acceptance and the decision of where to go.</p>
<p>Many Catholics at Yale also go to St. Mary’s Dominican Church on Hillhouse Ave. They are close and have a young adult group. I see many students at the Sunday 5pm mass. They also have a morning mass, 12pm mass and 5pm mass everyday. My daughter says that some students she knows will go once in a while during the day for an hour of peace and “desperate prayer” : )</p>
<p>There were Yale football players who were Catholic on a TV show a few years ago and they found some things hard, but overall were pleased with what they could be involved in.</p>
</p>