Catholics Respond to Peninsula

To the Editors of the Crimson:

Last month, The Crimson reported the appearance of a new right-wing magazine, Peninsula, the editors of which declare that they are in pursuit of "the truth." To this end, two of the six articles in their first issue offered a long and winding "history" of Catholics at Harvard.

The author's data, culled from persons "closely tied" to the active Catholic community, seems to have suffered serious reconstruction between the hearing and the retelling. This has led to confusion and concern in recent discussions about Catholics on campus. We the steering committee of the Harvard-Radcliffe Catholic Students Association (CSA), believe that this "history" calls for some correction.

Contrary to McLaughlin's revisionist view of past "good times" versus the "less-spirited" present, Catholic alumni returning to Harvard rather consistently point out that the number of students involved and the variety of opportunities offered to Catholics have never been greater.

What makes this so at a time when most church participation in the U.S. has suffered a decline, and when an attitude of skepticism pervades campus life? We believe that two groups are primarily responsible for this success.

First, there are the dedicated Catholic students who opt to undertake the difficult task of being and building the Church in the modern worldfrom within it, rather than outside it.

Second, there are the committed chaplains and staff of the Catholic Student Centrer (CSC) who are appointed to this ministry by the Archdiocese of Boston to serve the community in a variety of ways.

The author asserts that the student group has "eclipsed" the chaplaincy, and he presumes that the role of the chaplains is to DISPLAY MEMORY discipline "strident lay groups." He seems unable to understand that student involvement in Catholic activities at Harvard is a collaborative effort, chaplains and students sharing their respective competencies to incarnate the gospel.

The author also claims that student leadership in the CSA is so invisible that many Catholics are "indifferent" and "ignorant of the group's very existence." This seems to blatantly contradict his other claim that the students leadership is so visible that it eclipses the CSE chaplaincy.

Not only do these two claims contradict each other, but they are also incorrect by themselves.

Among students, we see an enthusiastic leadership group which has included 25-40 students for each of the past five years, as well as several hundred students who participate in CSA activities and vote in annual elections.

These active members of the CSA serve the community as lectors, euchristic ministers, members of the student choir or paricipants in groups that provide education, prayer, social activities and service projects.

Also, more than one thousand students worship weekly at the masses provided jointly by St. Paul's and the CSC, including the Sunday 5 p.m. student liturgy. In addition, the CSC chaplains work in one-to-one situations, counseling, teaching and helping people in need.

In recent years,leaders in the CSA and the chaplains have consistently focused on outreach to students. To this end, we have maintained a fluid definition of membership whereby persons who checked off "Roman Catholic" on their United Ministries religious interest cards are de facto members (nearly 25 percent of Harvard Undergraduates.

Membership is not defined as a function of mass attendance as McLaughlin erroneously asserts. Furthermore, the leadership does not tout the large number of Catholic undergrads to "turn the assets of the group toward their own personal agendas." If someone respnds to the CSA's outreach, as the author does, by choosing not to help, how can his apathy or neglect be blamed on those who have sacrificed so much of their time for others?

The author admits that "it is easier to criticize that which one has not helped to change." We heartily agree. And so, we invite the constructive contributions of McLaughlin and ohers who share his concerns, as we try to do the work of Christ.

Perhaps the challenge to him and anyone who wants to know "the truth" is simply this: look beyond your own personal agenda. Anthony R. Picarello '91   John M. DeAngelis '91   Monica Gomez '92   Joseph M. Perez '91   Thomas B. Watson '91