Comfort for the soul at Southern Utah University

Intermountain Catholic

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From left, Amber Marabella, Miguel Ovis and Brooke Terrones provide the student leadership at Christ the King Newman Center in Cedar City.

CEDAR CITY – As if term papers and tests aren’t enough, Catholic students at Southern Utah University feel another sort of pressure as well: that of their faith. The majority of their peers are members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and socializing isn’t always easy.

The exception is at Christ the King Parish’s Newman Center, where about 40 students gather each Wednesday for dinner.

"I like coming here during the week because everything is so stressful at school," said Brooke Terrones, one of two vice presidents at the Newman Center. "You have everyone who’s part of this big majority, of LDS people, and this is someplace I can come and be comfortable and be myself and talk about things I feel comfortable talking about."

Miguel Ovis feels the same way. Also a Newman Center vice president, he found the Newman Center during his freshman year, when he was "getting pressure from other religions," he said. "I didn’t know what to do, and then came here. It gives me balance. I talk to people about things I like talking about," and he doesn’t feel he has to avoid certain subjects for fear of offending someone.

In addition to the weekly dinners, the Newman Center offers a student Mass on Sunday, Bible study and the opportunity to participate in service projects.

"I really am just driven to get people on this campus to unite and feel that they can feel welcome in a place with other Catholics," said the president, Amber Marabella. "My freshman year, this was the place that I met people."

The Newman Center is Marabella’s connection to her faith, she said.

"Everyone’s Catholic," agreed Phillipe Renaud, who had fallen away from the faith until he joined a friend at the Newman Center two years ago. There aren’t a lot of Catholics in Cedar City, "so it’s more faithful because it’s a smaller group of us, so we have to stay tight, stay together." He has learned enough to be able to answer an LDS person who questions his religion, he said, and "I really like the fact that there is a group out there in Cedar that is Catholic and has been here since I’ve been here and will continue to be here when I’m gone."

The adult advisors to the Newman Center are Eric and Diane Houle, Melissa Buckley, Barbara Shwalb and Holy Cross Sister Yvonne Hatt.

Last year, when applying for a grant from Catholic Extension, Sr. Yvonne collected stories from a number of students who said they would have converted to the LDS faith without the support of the Newman Center. "They need other Catholics to socialize with to stay with the faith," she said.

Catholic extendion approved two grants for Utah, one for Cedar City and the other for Saint Thomas Aquinas in Logan, which serves Catholics at Utah State University.

"We lost a lot of the people who were running our ministry," said Father Clarence Sandoval, pastor of St. Thomas Aquinas Parish. "The reality is we’re starting from scratch."

The $13,000 grant will allow the program to be restarted in Logan, Fr. Sandoval said; in Cedar City, the $12,000 grant goes toward food for the weekly dinners and salaries, Sr. Yvonne said.

"Our Catholic presence on Utah’s college campuses is an extremely vital aspect of our ongoing evangelization," said Monsignor J. Terrence Fitzgerald, vicar general of the Diocese of Salt Lake City. "Young people, often away from home, need a supportive community for their path. The Catholic Extension Society grants have enabled us to reach out with the resources needed to provide staff and programs to assist them."

Participation in campus ministry programs often leads to a lifelong commitment to the faith. According to a 2005 study by the Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate, 82 percent of those who participated in college campus ministry now attend Mass at least once a month and those involved in campus ministry are 150 percent more likely to consider a religious vocation than those who are not.