Students at mass at St. Joseph Catholic Church

Instead of cramming for classes or watching TV on Sunday nights, some 400 students gather weekly for mass  at St. Joseph Catholic Church in Greenwich Village. The choir, many of them music theater majors, sing contemporary hymns as students  fill the pews. After mass, some students head  to the priests’ quarters to eat a free, home-cooked dinner. The joke at the Catholic Center is, “Go for the food, stay for the community,” according to one member. 

Greenwich Village is “one of the loudest neighborhoods in the world,” said Archbishop Timothy M. Dolan as he addressed the congregation during a recent Sunday mass. Amid the commotion of New York City, the Catholic Center, run by the Archdiocese of New York, provides NYU students a peaceful place to reflect on their lives and their faith. 

Many students speak about the indifference or hostility toward religion that they encounter.. “Here in New York City it’s looked down upon to be a person of faith,” said NYU senior Paolo Larano. In a class discussion of foundational texts, Larano said he”got a lot of heat” from classmates because he interpreted the Bible as a believer. “People wanted to poke fun at religion,” he said. “One part of me wanted to defend it, but the other part didn’t want to single myself out as the crazy kid.”

Shaping religious beliefs and values is a major part of personal development for 18 to 30 year olds, according to Jeffrey Arnett, the author of “Emerging Adulthood.” However, this development doesn’t only happen at church. Many people form personal relationships with God and don’t attend religious services. “To most emerging adults, participating in a religious institution, even a liberal one, requires them to abide by a certain set of beliefs and rules and therefore constitutes an intolerable compromise of their individuality,” he writes.

The students who participate in the campus ministry at St. Joseph’s, however, value the structure and constancy of religious services. “Mass is so traditional,” said NYU student Christina King. “You always know what’s going to happen. It’s home base.”

The weekly mass is not the only draw.  A smaller number of students belong to one of three undergraduate clubs that meet weekly. For these students, the Catholic Center provides them a foundation for their social and spiritual lives. Read the rest of this entry »