Catholic Association Channels Faith and Understanding

By Alicia Blackwell, COM 301
Edited and posted by Megan Gilker, COM 303

A small gathering of about 15 people sit in the old wooden pews of Berry College’s Barnwell Chapel. Sunlight shines through the windows as students sing the first Psalm, marking the beginning of Roman Catholic mass.

The Catholic Student Association (CSA) is a religious group that allows Catholic students at Berry to practice their beliefs and educate other students on the nature of the Catholic faith. The CSA sponsored an Explanatory Mass this year for non-Catholic students and holds services throughout the school year for Catholic students.

“We provide experiences for Catholic students to participate in. We educate the Berry community about Catholicism… We are a pretty small group, so we can’t handle a lot,” said Angela Obloy, the music minister for the CSA.

Father Paul A. Burke comes to Berry twice a week to preach and offer confession of sins for Catholic students. During his silent retreat in April, Father Todd Belardi stepped in.

Photo courtesy of Pope John Paul II Catholic Center at Kennesaw University
Father Paul Burke, regular priest for the CSA.

The Background of Roman Catholicism
The Catholic Church is the oldest branch of Christianity and it is headed by the pope.

“Historically, the Catholic church traces its history back to the New Testament. It has a strong sense of centralized authority,” said Dr. Edwin Dale McConkey, the Berry College chaplain.

Photo courtesy of chaplainchat.blogware.com

Dr. Dale McConkey, Berry College chaplain.

Even though Catholicism has a long history, it continues to call and welcome people to convert.

Clearing Misconceptions
Belardi said non-Catholics may not know the inner workings of the Catholic faith and be misled by their lack of knowledge.

“A lot of people think that we worship statues or something like that,” said Belardi.

Catholics actually view the Virgin Mary and the saints as models for a good life. Mary and the saints had the same relationship with God that Catholics aspire to have, explained Timothy Nadolski, a Berry student who plans to transfer to seminary school next semester.

“We venerate them. We think of them as examples for life,” said Nadolski.

Members of the CSA seemed to agree that the biggest difference between Catholicism and Protestant denominations is the Eucharist, also known as The Lord’s Supper. The Eucharist is the sacrament of Holy Communion where Christians eat bread and drink wine in remembrance of Jesus’ last supper with his disciples.

“As Catholics we believe that Christ is fully present in the Eucharist, whereas Protestants see it as symbolic,” said Nadolski.

In the past, Berry’s students showed lack of understanding towards Catholics because of ceremonial differences in Catholic and Protestant services.

“10 to 15 years ago, there was a lot of mistrust and suspicion about Catholicism on campus,” said McConkey.

The good news is that, thanks to CSA and events like the Explanatory Mass, students can better understand Catholicism.

“There is still a lot of misunderstanding on campus about Catholics, but CSA has helped clarify a lot of that,” said McConkey.

The CSA meets in Barnwell Chapel on Sundays at 7 p.m. for mass and meets in Krannert on Thursdays at 6 p.m. for Bible study.


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