Young Catholic Women Invited to Write Pope Francis
Some of the organizers of the Voices of Young Catholic
Women project pose in front of the Our Lady of Wisdom
water well at Saint Mary's College. Judy Fean, director
of Campus Ministry, is far left, and Elizabeth Groppe,
director of the Center for Spirituality, is far right. The
students, from left to right, are Victoria Wilbraham '15,
Ambar Varela '16, Kaleigh Ellis '17, and Kristen Millar '15.
A half dozen students who graduated in May also helped.
For more information, please contact the Campus Ministry office at (574) 284-5382 or jfean@saintmarys.edu or the Center for Spirituality at (574) 284-4636 or kguthrie@saintmarys.edu.
Media contact:
Gwen O’Brien
Director of Media Relations
Saint Mary's College
Notre Dame, IN
(574) 284-4579
September 15, 2014 (Notre Dame, Ind.) — A group of students active in Campus Ministry at Saint Mary’s College are rising to meet a challenge facing the Catholic Church: a significant drop in young women practicing the faith. Students at this Catholic, women’s college are organizing a letter-writing response to Pope Francis’ outreach to youth called “Voices of Young Catholic Women.” They’re inviting Catholic women of the Millennial Generation (born between 1981-1995) to write the pope about their love for the Catholic tradition and ideas for how the Church might better reach their demographic.
Those who take part are instructed to send letters, prayers, poetry, art, and other forms of creative expression to the Center for Spirituality (CFS) at Saint Mary’s. President Carol Ann Mooney will hand deliver the correspondence when she and Bishop Kevin C. Rhoades of the Diocese of Fort Wayne-South Bend, have a general audience with Pope Francis on November 26. Click for deadline and submission guidelines.
CFS sent invitations to campus ministry offices and Newman Centers/Clubs at colleges and universities across the country encouraging college women to take part in the project. A full-page ad also appeared in the September 1 issue of America, a national Catholic magazine. In 2012, America published an article with the headline “A Lost Generation?” about fewer women in the U.S. practicing their faith.
“The Voices of Young Catholic Women project has allowed me to see my academic studies come to life. As a religious studies major and a gender and women’s studies minor, this experience is giving me a tangible experience where I am able to see the intersection of religion and gender,” said Saint Mary’s College student Tori Wilbraham ’15.
Another senior on the project, Kristen Millar ’15, added, “As a student at Saint Mary’s I’ve had the opportunity to be surrounded by other Catholic women who encourage and challenge me to deepen my faith every day. My faith is not only based upon what I believe about God or Jesus. My faith is carried into my values.”
Pope Francis has called on Catholic youth to contribute to the Church’s life and mission. “The Church needs you, your enthusiasm, your creativity, and the joy that is so characteristic of you,” he said at World Youth Day 2013. His call to action comes at a time when an estimated 35 percent of Millennial women who were baptized Catholic no longer practice their faith. (Source: General Social Survey.)
“At a time when many have left the Church, letters that give expression to the beauty, truth, and goodness that young women do find in Catholicism can make an important contribution to the New Evangelization,” noted Elizabeth Groppe, director of the Center for Spirituality.
“Letters may also generate ideas about ways in which the Church could strengthen its support for young women amidst the many challenges they face to their baptismal holiness and human dignity, including epidemic levels of sexual violence and a media culture that degrades women. The intent of this project is constructive and hopeful,” Groppe added.
The project asks for examples of how women can be more involved in the Church and conveys the message that young women are a very vital and important part of the Church's life. The students in this initiative are supported by the College’s Division for Mission, including the Center for Spirituality and Campus Ministry. During the development of this project, the division was headed by Sister Veronique Wiedower, CSC, then-vice president for Mission at the College. This month Sister Veronique was installed president of the Congregation of the Sisters of the Holy Cross, the congregation that founded Saint Mary's 170 years ago.
About Saint Mary’s College: Saint Mary’s College, Notre Dame, Ind., is a four-year, Catholic, residential, women’s liberal arts college offering five bachelor’s degrees and more than 30 major areas of study, such as business, nursing, art, chemistry, and social work. The College’s single-gender environment has been proven, in study after study, to foster confidence, ethical leadership, and strong academic success. Saint Mary’s College ranks among the top 100 Best National Liberal Arts Colleges for 2015 published by U.S. News & World Report. Founded in 1844 by the Sisters of the Holy Cross, Saint Mary’s College’s mission is to educate women and prepare them for postgraduate success whether it’s a first job, graduate school, or postgraduate service.