Student Formation

After Synod, Faithful Schools Ready to Lead

Over at Catholic World Report, check out this article on the great value of faithful Catholic schools as an example of true “accompaniment”—a key theme during October’s Synod on Young People. The Newman Society’s own Dr. Denise Donohue, associate director of K-12 education programs and manager of the Catholic Education Honor Roll, writes: […]

Teenager with hands in prayer

College Student to Synod Organizers: Don’t Listen to Me!

Even as the bishops attending this month’s Youth Synod in Rome strive mightily to demonstrate that they hear the wishes and concerns of young people, I was surprised when a Catholic college student told me that he doesn’t much care if the Church listens to him. Isaac Cross first heard […]

7 Key Things Lacking in Youth Synod

Yesterday the Vatican convened its first session of the Synod on Young People, the Faith, and Vocational Discernment. But judging from the working document that will guide the month-long meeting, seven key things essential for its success are lacking. Instead of guiding young people along the narrow but rewarding path […]

Editorial: Youth Synod Goes Forward, Seemingly Headed on a Wide and Dangerous Path

It’s underway. Despite Archbishop Chaput’s call for a delay or cancellation—which the Newman Society supported—the Synod on Young People, the Faith, and Vocational Discernment is proceeding in Rome. We have grave concerns that too many Synod organizers and gadflies with the ears of powerful officials are using it to advance […]

Youth Need Truth! A Better Way for the Synod

The Vatican’s “working document” that will guide the discussions and directions of October’s Synod on Young People is flawed. It puts tremendous emphasis on personal experience and accompaniment as the primary means for reaching young people today. But what young people most need—what, deep down, they most desire—is the Truth […]

Authentic Accompaniment: A Better Way for the Synod

The working document guiding the Synod on Young People, the Faith, and Vocational Discernment focuses on encouraging adults to accompany youth as they face new experiences and challenges. Regrettably, its accompaniment/discernment model falls short in three respects: it downplays the role of the adult, it downplays Church teaching and objective […]

Should the Church Be a Permissive Parent?

With concerns swirling around the Vatican Synod on Young People this October, the Church’s appalling failures to protect its young from predators, and the growing scourges of pornography, sexual activity, and STDs among even Catholic youth, it’s the right time to reconsider how the Catholic Church should be attending to the […]

Catholic Colleges Should Lead Charge Against Sexual Assault

The news is filled these days with reports of sexual assaults against college students, even at some of the most committed and faithful Catholic colleges. The numbers are disputed, but it’s appalling that even one parent’s daughter would suffer such a violation during what should be happy years of growth […]

Storm Clouds Ahead for Youth Synod?

As a follow up to the controversial 2014-15 Synod on the Family, the Vatican is preparing to convene a new Synod on Young People, the Faith and Vocational Discernment next October. And for the first time, they have invited the faithful—in particular young people aged 16-29—to fill out a questionnaire […]

New Sexual Revolution Requires Faithful, Parent-Centered Solutions

Catholic families need the Church’s help facing what amounts to a second “sexual revolution” in America. To that end, there are many good efforts to understand and rebuff the radical “gender ideology” and false ideas about sexuality, marriage and the nature of the human person that are taking hold in […]

Serving “LGBT” Students in Catholic Schools

How do Catholic schools best serve students who struggle with same-sex attraction or gender dysphoria (popularly called “transgendered”)? What should a school’s policies prescribe in order to prevent confusion, disputes and even litigation? Previously, these questions were often addressed behind closed doors, as administrators worked quietly on a case-by-case basis […]

Encourage, Enact, and Enforce: A Residential Blueprint for Witnessing to the Church’s Teachings on Chastity during the College Years

Clearly, then, Catholic identity is not dependent upon statistics… It demands and inspires much more: namely that each and every aspect of your learning communities reverberates within the ecclesial life of faith.  Only in faith can truth become incarnate and reason truly human, capable of directing the will along the […]

dorm room

New Dorm Visitation Study Reveals Need for Reform

In a hyper-sexual society, once-traditional morals have eroded even in our Catholic institutions—and especially on many Catholic college campuses. Research shows that the pervasive “hook up” culture on the typical American campus is found even at many Catholic colleges, a fact that will not surprise most Crisis readers. Given the […]

Visitation Policies at U.S. Catholic Colleges

Introduction This report presents the results from a Cardinal Newman Society study of the visitation policies in student residences at residential Catholic colleges, not including seminaries, in the United States.  Data used in the report was collected during the summer of 2015. The report primarily evaluates visitation hours—the times during […]

SPECIAL REPORT: Planned Parenthood Offices Located Near Half of Catholic Colleges, Alarming Pro-Life Leaders

Half of all four-year, residential Catholic colleges in the U.S. are within five miles of Planned Parenthood facilities, a study by The Cardinal Newman Society has found. Catholic pro-life leaders warn that the close proximity of these Planned Parenthood centers threatens the well-being of students and the culture of Catholic […]