Elvis Soriano, a Hunter College freshman and biology major, drifted away from the Church in his high school years. But in 2022 he returned to his spiritual home. “Last year I came back to the Catholic Church. I really wanted to be in the Catholic community to help me grow in my faith.”  

Through the Newman Catholic Center at Hunter, he has become part of a community of Catholics again. “I wanted to get to know other Catholics, why they’re Catholic, and learn more about Catholic Apologetics,” said Soriano, 18. “At the Newman Center, we get to know each other outside of the faith, who we are as a person in social events; there are events for us to understand the faith more and be able to defend it; and events where we can learn how to live out the faith – praying together, praying the Rosary, going to Mass together.”      

At secular colleges throughout the Archdiocese of New York, coordinators of Catholic campus ministries offer students gatherings and activities designed to help them stay connected with their Catholic roots amid secular environments.                     

“Campus ministries like the Catholic Center at New York University (NYU) give students a place where they can develop friendship with Christ and friendships based on Christ; it can be very hard to hold onto faith in New York City…Christ is the One who can give them peace,” said Father Isaiah Beiter, OP, chaplain of the Newman Center, explaining how the Newman Center serves as an example of how students can be involved with their faith.                          

“We have Holy Hour, Confessions, and Mass every day,” Fr. Beiter said. He added that the Catholic Center at NYU offers activities including a weekly student dinner; a formation talk every Tuesday; a weekly men’s night; a weekly women’s night (both on Wednesday); faith-related lectures and talks; and party nights. The priest said men’s nights and women’s nights, which are student-run, are designed for attendees “to talk more freely about the issues they face.” 

He leads most of the faith formation meetings, but there are sometimes guest speakers, including nuns from the Sisters of Life. “We also have retreats and a Fellowship of Catholic University Students (FOCUS) Team; they run a lot of Bible studies,” Fr. Beiter noted.            

Sol De Leon Cruz, 23, is a double major in computer science and biochemistry. She serves as the student president of the Newman Club at Hunter College and said the Newman programs are “valuable and important because your college years really are extremely formative, and they have a lasting impact on the lives of students.”

De Leon Cruz said the Newman gatherings have helped a great deal in her intellectual and spiritual growth, and that the same has been true with many other students – in learning more about the Catholic perspective on issues such as social justice, abortion, and euthanasia.

“We have studies on scripture and theology, and we have prayer groups,” she noted, adding that she and her fellow Newman Club students are thankful for the opportunity to “gather together and worship and pray and discuss our faith, to develop conviction and grow in confidence and gain a deeper appreciation of the faith.”    

Sister Barbara Mueller, OP, director of the Newman Catholic Center at Hunter College, said Centers such as Newman allow students “to keep their faith on secular campuses.”

“I plan events, and they come to me for counseling and direction and support…From the very beginning, Cardinal [John Henry] Newman, who is now St. John Henry Newman, said: there are Catholics going to secular colleges and we have to be there to support their faith, to support their enthusiasm.”     

Sr. Barbara noted Newman Center students have also participated in interfaith gatherings. She also oversees Newman programs at Herbert H. Lehman College, Baruch College, City College, and John Jay College of Criminal Justice.             

Other campuses such as SUNY New Paltz also have strong campus ministry programs. Andrew Powers, campus minister of Catholic Campus Ministry at SUNY New Paltz said “We help students discover that if we place our identity in Him, and not something of this world, our identity and joy can never be taken away by the world because the world did not give them to us.” Powers said that this school year the Catholic ministry at New Paltz guided students in attending a retreat with cadets from the U.S. Military Academy, West Point; attending the national SEEK23 conference in St. Louis, run by FOCUS; providing community service to Habitat for Humanity and the Catskill Animal Sanctuary.           

To learn more visit https://archny.org/education/university-apostolate/ on the archdiocese website.