secularism that celebrated the autonomy of reason separate from the question of religious truth. This presents a host of ever new challenges. Evangelization in the university context requires a wide ranging approach, but one well founded in the value of philosophy, the pursuit of knowledge, and the power of grace. It must appreciate opportunities for evangelization as well as the real challenges to faith found in a heightened secularized society. The Christian insight is that the whole quest for knowledge and wisdom must find its final fulfillment in Jesus Christ who is the Wisdom of God. It is Jesus who reminds us of our profound dignity as children of God and our immense potential because only in Christ Jesus is the mystery of human existence fully revealed. This paper was delivered as part of the Albert Cardinal Meyer Lecture series on April 7-8, 2016 at the University of St. Mary of the Lake/Mundelein Seminary. 1 John Henry Newman, The Idea of a University (conclusion of Discourse 3). http://www.newmanreader.org /works/idea/discourse3.html. 2 Arizona State University would be an example of where FOCUS replaced the existing Newman ministry. J.D. Long-García, “New man on campus: A new approach to Catholic campus ministry,” US Catholic: Faith in Real Life. http://www.uscatholic.org/culture/environment/2012/01/new-man-campus-new-approach-catholic-campusministry. 3 The typical distinction is this: A Newman Center is often a satellite of a parish, or under the auspices of a particular diocese. Its funding will come either from the parish or from the diocese, but it will cater almost exclusively to the students found on the college campus. A Newman Parish is distinct because it has a core year-round membership that supports the parish’s primary mission to foster the faith of students and faculty and staff of the college or university. 4 United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, “Empowered by the Spirit: Campus Ministry Faces the Future,” A Pastoral Letter on Campus Ministry, 1985. http://www.usccb.org/beliefs-and-teachings/how-we-teach /catholic-education/campus-ministry/empowered-by-the-spirit-table-of-contents.cfm. This article contains several themes from this pastoral letter, along with practical applications. 5 Catholic Campus Ministry Association, 2016. http://www.ccmanet.org/. 6 The percentages vary from poll to poll, but one trend is that the number who self-identify with specific religions has declined. See Catholic Campus Ministry Association, 2016, http://www.ccmanet.org/; and Pew Research Center, “America’s Changing Religious Landscape,” May 12, 2015. http://www.pewforum.org/2015/05/12 /americas-changing-religious-landscape/. 7 See Vatican II, Lumen gentium: The Dogmatic Constitution on the Church, no. 9. 8 “According to an AP-GfK poll of 1,044 adults, three out of ten (29 percent) Americans under the age of 30 agreed that citizens have a ‘very important obligation’ to volunteer, a significant increase from the 19 percent who said the same thing in a 1984 survey conducted by NORC at the University of Chicago.” “More Millennials Value Volunteering Than Previous Generation Did,” Philanthropy News Digest, January 5, 2015. http://philanthropynewsdigest.org/news/more-millennials-value-volunteering-than-previous-generation-did 9 Secular Student Alliance, https://secularstudents.org/. The Secular Student Alliance is only one of the umbrella organizations that allows for campus affiliates but shows the rapid growth of atheist organizations on college campuses. 10 Thomas Aquinas, Summa Contra Gentiles, Book One: God, trans. Anton C. Pegis (Notre Dame: University of Notre Dame Press, 1975), 1.4. 11 See Thomas Joseph White, “Whether Faith needs Philosophy,” First Things (July, 2011). https://www.firstthings.com/article/2011/07/whether-faith-needs-philosophy. 12 From the Christian perspective, the tolerance of objectively evil conduct is not a virtue, except as an exercise of patience. Mere tolerance of a human being, rather than a love that may be simultaneously challenging, is sinful.
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