College is a time when many students face new challenges. It can also be a time for students to expand their religious interests.
Sister Mary Eileen Jewell of the All Saints Catholic Newman Center wants to provide answers to the everyday challenges students may face with her new program, Catholicism 101. This noncredit course aims to teach students the basics of Catholic religion.
The Newman Center says that Catholicism 101 intends to provide "clarity about the faith," according to its site.
The site goes on to say that questions are welcomed during the class and that students will practice answering and debating the common objections to the Catholic faith.
Jewell said she began the program this year because she felt she could finally dedicate the proper time to it. The series of classes is a way to answer student's questions about the religion and the church.
“It's basically in response to the students that come to the Newman Center constantly asking me questions about Catholicism," Jewell said.
Jewell said one of the sessions in the program this semester will discuss the action of praying and what it means to pray.
"(The students) are also bombarded by new questions, being now young adults on their own," she said in an interview with The Catholic Sun. "They have kept their childhood upbringing in the faith, but they need so much more to really be able to respond to what other students are saying to them and what they’re being told in class."
With nearly 80,000 students currently enrolled at ASU, the university hosts a wide variety of religions. Jewell said she is looking for students who want to explore not only the world of Catholicism, but religion as a whole. She also encourages students who are not affiliated with the Catholic religion to attend classes.
"There's going to be one or maybe two (classes) a semester that are really general that could benefit any student," Jewell said.
Johnny Martin, founder and president of Sun Devils Are Better Together, a club that seeks to unify students of all religions said that his group would support and even promote the course,"if there were assurances that it would be a safe space for students of other world views and that there would be no attempt to proselytize or convert non-Catholic students to Catholicism," Martin said.
Mary Petersen, student leader of the Fellowship of Catholic University Students and a neurobiology junior, said she thinks highly of the course.
"I went to Catholic school all my life and so I know a lot, but still, (Jewell) is able to teach me more and more (about the faith)," Petersen said.
Petersen said she is excited about the program.
"I know a lot of Newman Center kids are excited about it. It's just a time when we all get together and listen to Sister Mary."
Despite the course's formal name, the church does not have any plans to make it a for-credit course through the university in the future.
Catholicism 101 will be held every Thursday from 12:15 p.m. to 1:15 p.m. in the Memorial Union. Lunch is provided during every session.
Related Links:
Newman Center prepares for change in administration
Incorporating religion and spirituality
Reach the reporter at ambice@asu.edu or follow @alliebice on Twitter.
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